[Aramz]

Hey,

I am setting up an mbuna tank. I have a little experience with Lake Malawi cichlids and am restructuring most of my tank. i have a 270 litre tank. Currently i have:
4 x Yellow Labs
4 x Hongi
3 x Acei
3 x Blue Auroras
1 x pulpican
1 x Polit
1 x Zebra Long pelvic
1 x C. Afra
also have

3 x borelyi
1 x Electric blue

I wanted a tank with lots of attractive male zebras and also some groups. i know this cant always be achieved. The single fish are all males. they are all fairly young but you can tell they are males for sure. I was wondering if this was a good mix or if you guys think there would be any problems that would arise. I hope the hongi's and yellow labs dont mix. Do you see any problems with the single male mbunas? Some of them are fairly similar in colour but i thought with a few of individuals around they would disperse certain aggeression.

I am also looking at purchasing some more. Possibly more a few more single male mbunas? Or a group of Saulosi? Would this be unwise.

Also do you think a lone male demasoni would be allright in this tank. There are quite a few fish that can hold their own and i can get some more to disperse aggression. Or would a group of demasoni be more avisable... noting the fish above already present in my tank.

I have lots of rockwork and have layed out heaps of caves.

Your thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated. Thankyou

 

[Gibbs]

G'day Aramz, I to am from Perth :thumb:

Aparently the Labs and Hongi's aren't that likely to mix so long as you have the correct male female ratio. I hope that all goes well with the auroras and acei. Very close resemblance so keep an eye out there.

I have a species only tank of Saulosi, so don't no to much about mixing these fish, but if you were to mix them i would remove all the single males. Saulosi are really soft and i could see them getting bossed around a fair bit. I think they would mix with the 4 Mbuna groups you already have though.

Keep an eye on the single males they might get extremely aggresive, if you want a group of demasoni you will need atleast 12 or they will kill each other

 

[DJRansome]

A single Demasoni should work in an all male tank, but the females in the groups will be harrassed by all the other males. I think you need to decide all male or groups and then go with it.

Mbuna or any fish that look alike in an all male tank are likely to fight.

 

[jhunbj]

What is a blue Aurora(Metriaclima Aurora?) and what is the scientific name of ur Electric blue? The only group of fish I will keep on ur list r the Acei & YL.

 

[cichlidaholic]

A single Demasoni should work in an all male tank, but the females in the groups will be harrassed by all the other males. I think you need to decide all male or groups and then go with it.

Mbuna or any fish that look alike in an all male tank are likely to fight.

I agree totally...

 

[jhunbj]

What is a blue Aurora(Metriaclima Aurora?) and what is the scientific name of ur Electric blue? The only group of fish I will keep on ur list r the Acei & YL.

What I meant was the only fish I will keep as a group on ur list r the Acei & YL. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Aramz]

Yeh the Aurora Blue is Metriaclima Aurora and the electric blue is an S. Freiyrei (i think thats how you spell it, formerly S. Ahli) a very nice hap i had to have in there.

I will probably purchase a couple more young mbuna males. I hope a few more will disperse aggression among them as there will be a few of similar colour. Maybe another C. Afra of another variety, L. Mbamba and i'd like to get a male P. Demasoni. Your thoughts?

With the groups i will just keep it to yellows and Acei, I may get a few more. Will the single male mbuna's harrass the female yellow labs and P. Acei's alot?

I will take a chance and see how the 4x L. Hongi and 3x M. Aurora go. I may need to get a few more if they do allright with the other mbuna but need more females etc. Or i may have to get rid of them all but the 1 male.

Do you guys think adding a sulpher crest would be allright (taking into account i have an electric blue) Also thinking of adding 1 male peacock - Maleri Gold, not sure tho...

Thanks for the advice it is much appreciated. Also to Gibbs whereabouts do you live? Do you mostly order over the net or do you visit any fish stores here in Perth such as Morley aquariums or Seaview. I recently discovered one in Wangara which is awesome! Has everything you need and a great variety of cichlids.

 

[DJRansome]

Not just the single male mbuna, but all the male mbuna are likely to harass any mbuna female in the tank until sick or dead.

If they are juvies you might have 9 months or so until problems start to arise, that's what happened to me.

 

[Gibbs]

I live in Armadale....The sticks :lol:
I have few really good local fish shops in my area which i am on very good terms with and quite often stop in for a chat.
Vebas aquariums in Fremantle usually has a good range of fish which is were i bought my elongatus, very worth while poking your head in, and i also buy from a few good local breeders.
I am very interested in buying over the net which i may do in the future. Afra, Demasoni and L. Mbamba will probably only be found on the net. They all start from about $40 in stores, when available

 

[Aramz]

Cheers DJRansome. I will prob get rid of the females if problems arise or wen i re-decorate my tank. I am hoping to keep the female yellow Labs and the Acei for just a group with these 2 species.

Hey Gibbs, yeh i just purchased an L. Mbamba a L. Perlmutt and a P. Demasoni just now. All males too, small but you could tell they were male. I got them from Morley auariums. They get fish like this all the time and are really goodat stocking all types of African cichlids. , excellent store. That and one all the way up in Wangara are the pick of the bunch, although i've never been to Freo etc. i have heard elsewhere that these 2 stores have the widest range of cichlids. This fish i bought today were about 18 Bbucks each and you could tell the males.

 

[Gibbs]

$18
Thats **** good compared to some other places. I might have to take a drive up there and check them out