I'm getting a 55 gallon tank i need help.

sand, rocks and water.

Usually a nice rock pile looks great in african set ups.

If you do a quick google search of "african cichlids tank" you will see about 99% of those tanks are set up with a lighter colored sand, and rock piles. Looks great in my opinion.

Also if I'm not mistaken, they like relatively hard water.

Most are hardy enough to survive in a variety of different ph levels as long as it is consistent. Fluctuating ph levels will mess with just about any fish. In the wild they live in ph levels around 8.0, some a little higher, some a little lower.

Do you know what kind of africans you were wanting to get?

There's so many different species of cichlids that it's hard to answer, but generally they can only be housed with other cichlids of the same temperament and original geographical location. For example, African cichlids from Lake Malawi include Mbuna (aggressive and should only be with other Mbuna), Peacocks with Peacocks, and Haps with Haps, etc. There are a few exceptions, but in general. Now, it gets tricky because they can't tolerate their own kind either. :grinno:

Most of the time when people want "African cichlids" they are referring to mbuna. Mbuna are the colorful africans you usually see in pet stores. The yellow ones you mentioned are most likely yellow labs( Labidochromis caeruleus). They are a great species to start with! They are beautiful, hardy and are less aggressive than many other mbuna you come across.

Now for a 55 gallon you are looking at 2-3 species with 5 or more individuals per species. For a beginner I highly recomend rusty cichlids( Iodotropheus sprengerae), and yellow tail acei(pseudotropheus acei) for your other 2 species with the labs. These 2 species are less aggressive and more easy going than many mbuna. If you decide to keep these less aggressive species then you don't have to worry about gender ratios. They will generally get along and not kill each other.

As you get into more aggressive species you need to try and keep 1 male per 3-4 females. Multiple males will fight and sometimes kill each other and if you keep too few females, males will harass them to death. It can be difficult to tell gender when the fish are small so most of the time people buy more than they need and remove extra males as they mature.

Since not everyone likes rusties and acei here are some slightly more aggressive mbuna to consider, Pseudotropheus saulosi, Cynotilapia afra(there are MANY variations to this species and the males and just stunning), and cynotilapia sp hara. Just keep in mind the gender ratios with these guys and you should be fine. You can't mix these species though. When it comes to stocking a mbuna tank you want to stick to species that look nothing a like to cut down on aggression.

Another tank stocking I highly recommend is Yellow labs with Ps demasoni. Demasoni are gorgeous fish and don't get to be much more than 3 inches long. Their down side is they are HIGHLY aggressive towards one another. The way to cut down on that is to keep a lot of them. 12 seems to be the magic number but I recommend 15. Then add in 6-7 yellow labs and you will have a stunning display tank!.

Whatever you do I would avoid golden cichlids( Melanochromis auratus), Kenyi(Maylandia lombardoi), bumble bee cichlids(Pseudotropheus crabro) and Chipokae(Melanochromis chipokae). These guys are commonly available and are some of the MOST aggressive mbuna you can find. They are bullies and have been known to kill off a tank.

As far as algae eaters you may end up needing to do this yourself. There are some neat catfish you can keep with mbuna but they won't eat any algae. Mbuna will eat some since this is a natural part of their diet, but they won't keep it super clean. Some people have had success with keeping bristlenose plecos with mbuna but it can be hit or miss. Sometimes people have no trouble and sometimes the mbuna take out the pleco's eyes. I don't like the risk so I use a mag float.

what blue said haha.

Just make sure you have plenty of rocks/caves for hiding and territory and don't feed them too much protein and/or meaty foods. Spirulina is awesome for cichlid's I've discovered, and I feed mine that regularly with various seaweed stuffs every now and then. Piggies if you overfeed them...which for Malawis is a bad, bad deal.

As far as filtration goes they're relatively messy fish. I have a filter on each side with 750g cycled per hour in my 80g mbuna tank. Might be a bit much, lol, but better safe than sorry hope this helps!