tanganyikan compatibility

i have 4, 4-5 inch frontosa in a 60 gallon tank. i want to buy 6 or so 2.5 inch calvus and a few alto. comps at 2.5 inch from bluegrass aquatics. I'm also wanting to add a few (6) Julidochromis transcriptus at 2.5 inches. and maybe some cyprichromis and ventralis.

i know that its a lot of fish but i have a pretty decent canister filter.

finally i want to feed New life select 1mm pellets and krill and cichlid excel. (krill less often).


and i just bought a 3d background from designs by nature and it was sooo easy to cut to my tank dimensions and looks great.

 

The issue will arise later with territorial dispute between the fish and the small tank size. Only issue I foresee

 

I agree, too many fish not enough territory.

 

so do you think i should add more to create territorial confusion? the overcrowding technique?

i never seem to overcrowd enough because usually one dies every three months or so. how many fish would you recommend for my tank?

 

is there by chance a formula for inches of fish to overcrowd the tank and cause territorial confusion??? could i add a group of 6-7 tropheus??? and not feed krill...??

can trophs eat nls and cichlid excell?

 

could i also put 1 neolamprologus brichardi
??? or daffodil?

 

and even a few neolamprologus cilindricus????

 

Ok let me try to offer some help here. First I suggest joining and posting in another forum. I am not sure if I am allowed to point you to another forum or not, if not sorry mods just remove the link.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/african_cichlid_genus_gallery.php

They have a lot of articles relating to different types of cichlids and their care along with a library of species information and forums packed with information. The reason you are not getting many responses here is because this is mostly a SW forum. Cichlidforums is where I went when I got into cichlids and it helped me out a lot, I will say they are just like us here though when it comes to what they suggest for minimum tank sizes and stocking levels.

With that said in my opinion you are set up for failure.
Frontosa are beautiful fish but get very large and need at least a 125 gallon tank with most suggest even larger such as a 180 or some sort of 8foot tank. Also most of the fish you have listed will become expensive snacks someday.
I myself have cyprichromis and bred them for awhile, loved them, but they are the natural diet of fronts and anybody that has attempted to keep them together will tell you that no matter how well fed they eventually lost all of their cyps.
Calvus and Comps are awesome fish I have a black calvus and an orange comp with my cyps. Any fry produced WILL be found and eaten. The main problem with them is they grow slower than anything else I have ever owed and in time could become a snack as well for a front. Some report success but the calvus you buy have to be bigger than the fronts you already have or the chances of the fronts growing to large to fast for the calvus to make it to a decent size and avoid predation is to large.
Tropheus are a neat fish with high levels of aggression. Their diet is also very specific. All the other fish you mentioned are carnivores, trophs are strict herbivores. To feed your other fish properly you will end up causing bloat and digestive issues for the trophs that will lead to their death. They are usually kept in a species tank in large numbers of 20 or so because of how aggressive and territorial they will be.
With the brichardi complex you have it right in only getting 1. Any more than that and you will most likely end up with either 1 or a million and no other fish. 2 females would be ok but 2 males would fight and a male female pair will kill off any extras and breed like rabbits. After breeding they will allow their offspring to live with them and form a large colony but kill every other fish in the tank.

Basically think of Tangs and a reef tank. They are not like your typical freshwater tank, they have special requirements with food and water conditions with the natural pH being the same or higher than the ocean and the amount of dissolved minerals in the water being very high making it very hard. Unlike malawi ciclids where you crowd to reduce aggression, Tangs require special consideration with fish selection do to feeding and territorial issues. If I were you I would ditch the fronts and get some calvus or comps. Comps can be a little bit more aggressive so make sure they would each have their separate territories. You can add a large group of cyps ,not jumbos like black bees or blue orchids, but a regualr sizes variety like Unita or Mpulungu.

 

I've successully kept all those fish together and fed the same diet, except krill. I've also had many other species in the same tank, frontosa, yellow lab, mbuna, peacocks and many others. I fed NSL pellets and seaweed. The only difference was my tank is 75 gallons, but I always had upwards of 40 fish in there. I also recommend posting to another forum for advise on these fish, and good luck. A tank full of colorful cichlids is definitely a great setup to watch.

 

How long was your tank setup and how large were your fronts?