Looking for some advice from cichlid experts.

I have had my 120 G cichlid tank going for 4 months or so now. After having to remove several fish due to aggression issues I am now starting to think that my tank is under stocked. I have 2 Venustus (1M/1F), 2 Frontosa (1M/1F), 1M Sulfer head, 1M sunshine, 1M German red, 1M Lemon Jake, 2M OBs, and 2 Plecos. All fish range from 3"-9" except my Plecos which are both 10"+ now. I know now that trying to do an all male tank, as beautiful as it is, is just not in the best interest of the fish. My male Venustus is the biggest of the group and is definitely the alpha and doesn't really let anyone roam free for the majority of the day. My question is do I decide what species I want to keep and add females of the same species or do I sell off my stock and start over by buying groups of varied species. I have also considered going to an all frontosa tank as well. Any advice would be appreciated.

I am also tossing around the idea of going from the grey gravel that is in there now to all crushed coral instead of using small bags of crushed coral in my FX-5 and 405. I think all the fish would enjoy digging in the crushed coral more than the larger gravel that is in there now as you can see in the picture below.

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Permalink Reply by Nick T. on August 15, 2012 at 3:40pm

Hey Adam. I dont know a whole lot about african cichlids but i can tell you that it is not the best idea to mix lake tanginika and lake malawi fish. Also I think that you have plenty of room for more fish. One recomendation I have when adding new fish is add two at a time so that the aggresion is spread and your other fish and especially the venustus arnt just focused on one. I say get rid of the frontosa but I would definatly consult more experienced african cichlid keepers before listing to me.

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Permalink Reply by Adam Carbary on August 16, 2012 at 12:18am

Nick, Thanks for your response. I actually got the Frontosa's from someone I traded a few of my cichlids to and I asked him the same question as I had my doubts about combining the two lake types. He said that he has kept frontosa's with Malawai's for years and has never had issues. I love my frontosa's which is why I have thought about going to an all frontosa tank, but I also love my Malawi's. Every time I add new fish I try to add them in groups and I also completely dismantle all of my rock work and reassemble it so that my current stock no longer have their territories to help reduce the aggression on the new fish. It has seemed to work pretty well so far. I think that my biggest help would be to add more fish, it is just deciding what to add. Again thanks for your reply!