some SA cichlid questions

[b_artman]

hello everyone,
so im about to fully imerse myself in setting up a nice tank. right now im looking at 100 gallon tanks(around 100 anyway). for sure id like to have firemouths in there along with maybe another species of cichlid. im reading up on the acaras, flag cichlids and banded cichlid/severum. along with them id be keeping my existing small community of tiger barbs. what id like to know is how many of the cichlids i can keep in a tank of such capacity such that they do not begin to rip each other to shreds, and also allow my smaller fishies to survive. im going to be setting up some nice caves and rocks and fako plants for hidding spaces. any suggestions? and along with the number of the cichlids i can keep, what are some species i can keep along with them? thanks!

[pbutkovich]

Bartman, Where are you looking at tanks? Reason I'm asking is that there are cheaper places out there then the typical Big Als LFS. Do a search on this site about tanks and prices. There are some excellent choices that seem to be about half the price of others. North American Fish Breeders seems to be one.

[b_artman]

oh ok.. thanks! ill do a search. i was looking at Big Al's, but they have really high prices, and i looked at Pet Smart, but i was only looking at the 55 gallons for 150 bucks. id like to avoid paying huge amounts as much as possible, so any deals are great! :)

[pbutkovich]

Ya I have heard that you can pick up a 180 at NAFB for about $399. Same tank at Big Als would be well over $1000