I have a 33 gallon tank running a sponge filter and 2 aquaclear 150. Substrate is sand and there is currently a leopard pleco 2 peacocks and an acei, I would like some ideas as to what I could put in here with these fishes.

I'll let someone who knows more than I do about Africans comment but here's what I got for warnings on your setup from Aqua advisor.

Note: Leopard Pleco needs driftwood.

Warning: Leopard Pleco is not recommended for your tank - it may eventually outgrow your tank space, potentially reaching up to 15 inches.

Warning: At least 5 x Grants Peacock are recommended in a group.

Warning: Grants Peacock is not recommended to be with Leopard Pleco - lake Malawi species should not be mixed with other groups including mbuna species.

Warning: Grants Peacock is not recommended to be with Pseudotropheus Acei - lake Malawi species should not be mixed with other groups including mbuna species.

Warning: At least 5 x Pseudotropheus Acei are recommended in a group.

Warning: Pseudotropheus Acei is not recommended to be with Leopard Pleco - mbuna species should not be mixed with other groups.

Warning: Pseudotropheus Acei is not recommended to be with Grants Peacock - mbuna species should not be mixed with other groups.

Note: You have selected mbuna species. These species in general, need to be overstocked to control aggression (over 100% stocking level). Make sure your filtration is sufficient and keep up with water changes. (Read more about beginner mbuna species here).

Warning: Your selected species may eventually require 161% of your aquarium space. You may need to deal with territorial aggressions later on. Try removing some of (Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps) or get a larger tank.

I never seleted the fish in this tank they came with the tank, they have been together for 2 years. Lake malawi species are in the same lake as mbuna, so why cant they be housed together? I am looking to rehome the leopard pleco as he is already 8-9 inches. I have done alot of reading and they all recommended that p. acei be housed with peacocks. Thank you for your info I will for sure do some more reading on these species before buying anything.

OK I am going to speak on the majority of peacocks compared to other Lake Malawi fish, Mbuna in particular.

Peacocks are for one Carnivores and have diet requirements that will kill most Mbuna. Peacocks are peaceful and even the most peaceful Mbuna will likely harass the Peacock to the point of major stress or death. Most Mbuna are going to need to be kept in groups of five or more 5F/1M, most Mbuna females are ugly, another reason to just have a Mbuna tank or a Peacock tank. Most Peacocks stay smaller than most Mbuna which means the smaller fish will get picked on. Now if the Pleco is already 8-9 inches he would be fine with those fish but not in that size tank. In general if you want to house a pleco with Africans make sure it has similar diet and is much bigger than the Africans.

Just because a fish has a tank mate for two years and are "fine" don't mean they should be housed together. Once full grown and mature trust me fish will die even in a perfectly set up tank (with Mbuna Cichlids in particular. You can pretty much house any fish together when they are young, I can't stand when people tell me this excuse, especially when discussing Cichlids. Now the other issue you have is your tank is only 33g...IMO way too small for any fish from Lake Malawi period. In order to house Mbuna or Peacocks You will want minimum 55g preferably 75g for a nice group and dependant on aggression.

I don't think I have much more to say, feel free to post in the forums if you have any more questions.

I agree with re-homing the pleco. As far as the other info...it is not my info. It is from aqua adviser. I would recommend waiting to hear from someone who has more experience with Africans as I said before.

Thanks for chiming in with additional info MC.

Ok so in everyone's opinion I should quite while I'm ahead.

Brisch wrote:

Ok so in everyone's opinion I should quite while I'm ahead.

Yup.

WYite

fantastic

I've seen some odd couples in the past as far as what can be kept with what, but for the most part, cichlids (both SA and African) can be kinda douchey, and just because they're getting along today doesn't mean they won't beat the everloving crap out of each other tomorrow.

If MC and Wyite are telling you it's a bad idea. It's a bad idea.

That being said, Internet says the Acei only gets out to 4ish inches. I would think you could keep that one in the 33, and maybe someone has some sort of recommendation on something else that could get along with it. Maybe one smaller variety of pleco or if the internet is to be believed and the acei is actually fairly peaceful, maybe a few cories or something?

Bigger tank but for the longest while I kept a single pseudotropheus socolofi in with an adult razorback musk turtle, and they got along great. Algae would grow on the turtle's shell, and it was like a roving snack cart for the fish.

My peacocks harass my p. acei....

Well sounds like that acei shouldn't be in with 'em.

Short term, pull the Acei, throw it in a 10 to get it separated, or you could go grab some eggcrate, or whatever it is they call the plastic squared light fixture stuff up in Canada and divide 'em.

Again, I'm not sure about the requirements for 'em, but you might be able to keep a single acei in a 10 long term.

I agree with MC ,except i would get a 75 or larger for any malawi fish or a wide 55. That tank you have would be great for a lake tanganyika tank! you could have a colony of shellies some regani, marlerei, lelupi, and a couple red lefubu and a nice pleco. There are alot of species profiles we have wrote in the profile section that will help you out a lot if you wanna read thru some Brisch.

would a 70gal be a good starting point? I have rehomed all the peacocks but kept the acei+ picked up a few other things, still quite small. I am picking up the 70 this weekend and would love to put the mbunas in there. Can demasoni be put with anything? they are beautiful but I dont want something thatll kill all my other fish

The foot print of the tank should be at least four feet, a tall tank wont do you any justice with Cichlids.

So I picked up my tank today and to my surprise its actually an 80 gallon tank, 48"x16"x24".....now I just need 80 lbs of sand hahah

Nice that should work out nicely...good luck and keep us posted.

how many mbuna can I put in an 80 gallon?

By my calculations if you don't have much substrate or decor you could fit about 1,500 +/- ...of course you probably wouldn't be able to fit much else in the tank...like water. And there wouldn't be much swimming room either. Maybe you should wait for an answer from someone more experienced with Mbuna.

Dawg you are hilarious!!!

Depends on what Mbuna you are speaking about, if you plan to have a breeding colony, if you plan to have all males, what else you plan to keep with them? In general about 20 would be fully stocked but be more specific cause "mbuna" is pretty general.