Lake Malawi Species • Mbuna or peacocks

[Jai'galaar]

What do you think would be better for a 55gal, peacocks or mbunas? I'm going for the least possible agression of course.

[DJRansome]

I would not do peacocks in a 55G unless you want mixed gender and a single species. If you choose a timid peacock species like kandeense you could stock 3m:12f. You would have 3 colored fish because peacock females are drab. Least possible aggression: yes.

For a low-aggression mbuna tank with more colored fish:
1m:4f Labidochromis caeruleus
1m:4f Cynotilapia zebroides Cobue
1m:4f Iodotropheus sprengerae

[Jai'galaar]

heyyy!!! i hve a question..
can flower horns be kept with malawi cichlids

I wouldn't call it a related question Can't really decide if it's serious or just a joke.
If it's a serious question... Most of the advices on keeping flowerhorns with other cichlids start with a "don't", and it's not a coincidence. A fully grown male flowerhorn would try to eat your smaller cichlids and the larger ones would be seen as rivals. And trust me, not a single one of Africans wants to have a fight with an Amphilophus hybrid. Flowerhorns are agressive as f**** and they have some nice teeth - the speciality of Amphilophus guys is to cause wounds on other fish that could lead to their deaths by bleeding out.
So unless you have a let's say 250 gallons tank, I wouldn't recommend it, not even with other Americans. Flowers are best kept as wet-pets in a single-fish tank or in a pair-only tank.
Maybe I'm wrong, but really, I wouldn't keep a flowerhorn with any other cichlids, except for his/her female/male.

[Jai'galaar]

I would not do peacocks in a 55G unless you want mixed gender and a single species. If you choose a timid peacock species like kandeense you could stock 3m:12f. You would have 3 colored fish because peacock females are drab. Least possible aggression: yes.

For a low-aggression mbuna tank with more colored fish:
1m:4f Labidochromis caeruleus
1m:4f Cynotilapia zebroides Cobue
1m:4f Iodotropheus sprengerae

What about all male peacock setups? I've been doing my research on this topic for a while and heard quite mixed opinions about it, even on this very forum.

[Fogelhund]

I would not do peacocks in a 55G unless you want mixed gender and a single species. If you choose a timid peacock species like kandeense you could stock 3m:12f. You would have 3 colored fish because peacock females are drab. Least possible aggression: yes.

For a low-aggression mbuna tank with more colored fish:
1m:4f Labidochromis caeruleus
1m:4f Cynotilapia zebroides Cobue
1m:4f Iodotropheus sprengerae

What about all male peacock setups? I've been doing my research on this topic for a while and heard quite mixed opinions about it, even on this very forum.

An all male peacock tank really needs a bigger tank for success. I mean, you probably could do it in a 55 gallon, but it would be an extremely limited list of fish that it could work for. Also keep in mind, that the smaller the tank, the less likely you are going to have many males coloured up. Fully, maybe 1-2 partially 3-4, and the rest no colour at all. You couldn't keep any jacobfriebergi types.. no eureka, no otter points, none of the hybrids, no OB, etc... None of the tougher stuartgranti types... so you'd end up with kandeense, ethelwynnae, maylandi, baenschi, malauna, hueseri, Neon Blue, maybe one of the mild Lethrinops, like albus... as your options... even then, things could easily not work out very well.

It's more the tank size, than the idea of doing an all male tank. While it doesn't seem like it, a 75 gallon offers a much higher chance of success.

[Arps1978]

For a low-aggression mbuna tank with more colored fish:
1m:4f Labidochromis caeruleus
1m:4f Cynotilapia zebroides Cobue
1m:4f Iodotropheus sprengerae

Hi, sorry to hijack the post but I have been doing some similar research on starting a tank of around the same size.

In regard to the above list would all 15no fish be generally suitable for a 55g tank? Or just 5? I assume the former but just wanted to check.

[DJRansome]

15 small peaceful fish is a good number for a 55G to properly overstock the tank to best manage aggression.

[Arps1978]

Thank you. I guessed that's what you meant but wanted to double check.