African Cichlids at LFS

So im getting pretty close to enough saved up to almost get the 55 gallon up and running so ive been researching into different types of African cichlids. I have been to all of the LFS and all the africans they have are in assorted african cichlid tanks. I got some pictures of the ones that were in these tanks and determined they were Red Zebras, Yellow Labs, and Melanochromus Aurantus. There was also a fourth species that was completely white and had the same body shape as the yellow labs. I think it may be an albino of some sort. But I cannot find a similar fish anywhere on the internet.
With these four types of fish how many can be kept in a 55 gallon. These are the only four any store had other than some frontosa and Pseudotropheus demasoni. There is another LFS but it is a 45 minute drive from where i livebut i know there have a whole specialized african section.
Any suggestions on what that mystery white fish is?
And maybe a good stocking plan?
Thanks
Tyler and Amanda

 

I have recently got my 55 gal up and running and am going to begin stocking it soon. I found that generally having a few different fish with 1 male to 3-4 females is a good plan. Some fish are hard to sex at the size most LFS have them. I read that the red zebra's are supposed to be different colors depending on sex but, I have also heard that the males have egg spots on their anal fin. I don't know how to sex the other fish. Good luck and I hope to see pics of your tank once set up. I will post a pic or two of my tank soon hopefully. :mrgreen:

 

I wouldn't put auratus with the other fish. They tend to be much too aggressive. And yellow labs are a bit less aggressive than red zebras, but given enough fish to dispurse the aggression it should be okay.

I would aim for a total of around 12 fish and like dbltrubl98 said, 1 male/3 - 4 females would be good. Unfortunately red zebras and yellow labs are very difficult to sex. There is a form of red zebra that has blue females and orange males, but generally the ones in the mixed tank are the red/red kind and the spots on the anal fin isn't very reliable. For both those fish, venting is really the best method but it's difficult on small fish. You might just have to get several and either hope for the best or maybe make a deal to trade back some males later if you have too many.

Can you post a picture of the white fish?

There is an white yellow lab, but they're fairly rare (I've seen a few pictures, but none in real life). Might also be albino peacocks (they have a body shape somewhat similar to yellow labs). Or it could just be an albino version of some other mbuna (Generally mbuna have thicker, fuller lips than peacocks - yellow labs are a bit of an exception. So if they have thick lips, they're probably some other kind of mbuna. If they have a fairly pointy face with small lips, they could be labs or maybe peacocks).

-Chelle

 

the picture of the albino i have is extremely bad. they were all taken with my cell phone so none of them are that good.
I was doing more research and i found this site and it is almost the excat same. From what i remember of the fish i cant tell any differences between the two.
heres the website http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=1786
hope that helps
Tyler and amanda

 

Those are fairly common in mixed tanks so that's probably what they were.

They should be fine with red zebras and labs. Their aggression level is generally between red zebras and labs so they should work out fairly well. They are another difficult one to sex, though.

-Chelle

 

i think i will 4 of each and just hope for the best with the male to female ratio.
thanks
Tyler and Amanda

 

I think I saw some albino yellow labs at a local fish store but even the person helping me wasn't positive if thats what they were. They did have a similar body shape to the yellow labs but, they were babies still about 1" long so its harder to tell right now. I want to have 2 red zebras but I want them to go in last since they're more agressive so that the yellow labs and any other fish have some time to stake a claim first.