My zoo

So I decided against the undergravel filter on my fish tank. I kept the filter in place, and all that gravel, but took off the powerhead. I just wasn't happy with how it was moving the water (too much current, and not enough agitation on the surface). So, now the tube that the powerhead was attached to has an airline with an airstone pushed all the way to the bottom, so I have some bubble action, and a new Wisper power filter. The kind with two baskets hanging over the back. I had that same one before taking the tank down to move, and I was really happy with it. That kind of filter, with the carbon and the white fiberfill is really easy to change. So, with a new filter in place and the tank having sat for like two months cycling, I finally got some critter to put in. This is going to be a Cichlid tank. I have 5 so far, and two that I have read that shouldn't be mixed but I've had the Yellow Labs before and just love those guys! Anyway, the list:

1 Yellow Lab, also electric yellow, also lemon yellow (the shit-stirrer)
Labidochromis caeruleus
Malawi Mbuna

1 Hap Ahli, also electric blue (the one that shouldn't be mixed with an mbuna, and I have three!)
Sciaenochromis fryeri
Malawi Haplochromis

2 Kenyi, male and female
Metriaclima lombardoi
Malawi Mbuna

1 Dutch Orange (the oddball, being from a different lake)
Neolamprologus leleupi
Tanganikya Laprologines

There is the so-called "shit-stirrer" in there because, aside from the fact that I just love 'em, they can stir up the pecking order to induce good color from the male competitors, namely the Hap. Even though the site those links are to says that the mbunas are too aggressive for the Haps, I have had experience with the lemon yellows and they didn't seem that aggressive to me (now the Brichardis during breeding, look out! The lemon yellows were in the corners the whole time the Brichardis were breeding, which was often. But that was my last tank.) Apparently you want enough aggression in some other fish in the tank to induce the competitive spirit, so the Alpha can be determined. But, you don't want a fish that will harass so much that the others are automatically the submissives (like if one was much bigger than all the rest. You need to match sizes). You want competition. Also, you don't want actual fighting, because that will lead to injury.

So far I've seen normal getting-to-know-the-tank swimming around, and sure sometimes someone get chased, but I haven't yet seen one fish totally dominating the others. They've only just figured out that the one who sticks her fat face in the window is the one who gives food. Oh yeah, that's another thing. Some of these fish are herbs, some are omnis, and some are carnivores. So, I only had algae pellets (veggie) for a pleco, shrimp pellets (meat), and flakes (?). The two types of pellets sink, meaning cichlids will be attracted to it, and they won't touch the flakes or any other food that floats. So I found some slow-sinking "for all cichlids" food. It's perfect because the shrimp pellet sank so fast they didn't notice it. The slow-sinking stuff though, sinks at the right rate for them to notice and gobble it up.

The fish are young and don't have all their color yet, so I'm excited to see how they turn out!