African cichlid newb here

[Corona]

Im thinking or am probley going to make my 29 gallon a african tank and the first fish that comes to mind is the Yellow Lab, from what iv read they get about 5 " or so in home Aquariums so im think 1 or 2 of them. the Question here is what else would go good with them in a small tank like this, perferably colorfull and of course semi aggressive. Just give me a list of possabilitys and ill do the home work :P thx alot


corona.....

[Mbuniac]

L. caeruleus is one of the least aggressive of the mbuna. There are a number of compatible mbuna one that comes to mind is the rusty cichlid (lodotropheus sprengerae). A rusty reddish brown, but as the males mature they start to get a purple coloring on the sides. Do your homework on the internet and read what the normal behavior characteristics of a particular fish are. SGYPSYMERMAID and several others on this forum can make suggestions, they are very helpful.
LOL, Sam

[Overawed]

Yep, Labs would work out fine in a 29 and so would Rusties.

Another consideration and possibly more $$ is starting a colony of Sunshine Peacocks or something along the small peacock variety line.

A 29g would work good for a colony of Demasonis come to think of it. :)
That would be even more bucks though. But that would sure be sweet.

Maylandia Red Zebras and Cobalts might do well, but I would give them a larger tank.

[Frontosa29]

overrawed you took the words right out of my mouth demosonni....tiny...rediculously beautiful fish...29g ideal

[matt1066]

Aulonocras/peacocks would be nice contrast.

[grundle]

do u recon u could start a colony of sunshine peacocks in a 20 gal

[Corona]

I ussualy use a diferant forum for my fish questions and i post there that i wanted to put some yellow labs in a 29 G and they about flew off the handle , telling me that they need a way bigger tank and how there living creatures and it wouldnt be right to keep them in a small tank like a 29 G. Then today i was talking to the LFS manager today and she was saying that its best to keep more africans together then just a few as this curves the aggression so that just one or two fish are not getting picked on and the energy and aggression is dispursed through out the tank , did i make an sence there? i kinda forgot some of what she said. So anyways im like totaly confused now. guess i just need to get some books, and from what i hear about [Demasoni] they are really evil fishies.

[SGypsyMermaid]

you can also get a lot of information by reading the earlier posts in the forums. the more that you read, the better able you will be to determine which information is best-suited to your needs. while it is true that a larger tank is preferable for the yellow labs, i think everyone assumed that you were set on your course and just attempted to answer your questions. what your lfs told you is true--it is better to keep african lake cichlids in large groups of 7 or more to curb aggression. demasoni are dwarf cichlids and some have kept them successfully in tanks as small as 29 gals., but they do have a rep for being especially tough on one another. perhaps a better choice would be saulosi which are also dwarf african lake cichlids.