[Dewdrop]

I saw someone here post about having an auratus that didn't have any yellow on it. I was thinking at the time that they either had a male or not an auratus at all but.... I found a fish distributer that sells a black and white auratus called Pallarelus. Really neat looking fish.

I have regular auratus and albino auratus and would really like some of these Pallarelus. My question is would a small breeding group (1m. 3-4f.) of each of the 3 morphs? species? of the auratus work together in a 55g. tank or would it need to be bigger? Is it a bad idea in general because of cross breeding?

So far my reg. auratus and the albino ones don't pay any attention to each other.

 

[freddy1477]

do you have pics of the albino one if u do please post thanks.

 

[iceblue]

My brother-inlaw had the Pallarelus in his tank and it went hyper and killed almost everything else in the aquarium before he could remove it. I explained to him that most Melanachromis species are aggressive by nature and he would be better off with the yellow labs available in his area.

Any of the Mbuna will crossbreed if given the chance. My auratus has bred with my socolofi on numerous occasions. In a 55g with that many Melanochromis species the chances will be very high that they will crossbreed and imho you will have huge aggression problems somewhere down the line. They may ignore each other right now but as they get older this will change dramatically. If you can I would recommend getting a 125g 5-6' long with a greater than average depth compared to hieght. These fish are very territorial and a large footprint with a lot of rockwork is a must to keep them away from each other.

 

[Dewdrop]

Here's a pic of the albino. Taken when I first got them and trying to find out what it was lol. The pic isn't the greatest though. They are a real pretty yellow with white stripes and red eyes. When they got older, one lost the yellow color and is pretty much all white although you can still kinda see the stripes if you look close. I've determind that this one that lost the yellow coloring is male.

Thanks for the info Iceblue. I really didn't think a 55g. was big enough for 3 such aggressive fish. Was dumb to even ask that but did wonder about putting them together. So far I've been lucky and mine haven't shown much aggression except for the reg. auratus. I have 3 albino and 3 regular in a 55g. with lots of other fish . The 3 albino are 1m.&2f. (I'd like to get at least another female). The 3 regular all turned out to be males and one was picking on another pretty bad so I removed the one getting picked on and the other 2 are fine now, for the time being. I have some smaller reg. ones in a grow out tank hoping for more females out of them. I keep a close eye on the adults and look at the tank every morning to see if there has been a killing spree during the night.

I'm upgrading to a 75g. tank soon and will keep the 55g. too and divide up the fish among the 2 tanks. Eventually I'll get an even bigger tank and probably set up another empty 55g. that I have too. So many fish so little room lol. I might need to move or build on another room :wink:

 

[cichlidaholic]

I wouldn't house these species together, Dewdrop, period...It doesn't matter how large the tank is, it's not something with much probability of working out. Maybe with a 6 footer, but you'd still risk hybridization, even if the aggression worked out.

I think you're going to need alot more than one more 75G tank long term for the fish you are collecting!

Kim

 

[CICHLUDED]

Eventually I'll get an even bigger tank:

I have seen your fish list...

and you may want to consider an indoor lake...

 

[Dewdrop]

A fish house? I am thinking of cutting my list but at the same time thinking of others I'd like to add so there ya go :roll:

Yeah I didn't think putting 3 types of auratus together would be a good idea but it sure would look neat! Aha :idea: Since the males of this species is oddly not as good looking as the females, what about an all female tank with one of each...plus some other nice looking female species of course in a 55g.?

 

[cichlidaholic]

I repeat...

I wouldn't buy anymore fish until you have somewhere to put them! :thumb:

I am so afraid this tank is going to blow up on you one day soon...I just don't want to see it happen to you, or the fish!

Kim

 

[Dewdrop]

Hey Kim,
Don't worry. I wasn't going to buy anymore until I had more tanks in place. I'm trying to decide what to keep and where. I'll for sure be thining out extra males. That's a start. :fish:

 

[cichlidaholic]

The best thing to do is make a list of everything you want to keep, then post your tank sizes (I'm confused as to which size you decided to go with...) and get help sorting what you have left out into those two tanks.

I know you're short on space, but you might want to consider a couple of 40G breeders for single species tanks for some of those you just can't part with but can't safely house with other species. You could get a metal stand that will hold both tanks, top and bottom.

Kim

 

[Dewdrop]

Oh you're good! LOL I was thinking I might do that if I can't part with enough species to fit in a 75g. & 55g. but I think I can part with enough because there are other fish I'd really like to try too lol. I also need a 20-29g. tank for the N. brichardi. I'm watching craiglist for used smaller tanks & waiting on pay day for the 75g.. A same sex tank is still running through my mind too because it could hold alot of different species and might be nice for the pretty 75g. that will kinda be a show tank in the livingroom. Life would have been so much simpler if I had stuck with my original plan of an all male tank but I started finding out that there wasn't a great selection availible locally. I'm going to try it all out on paper and see what I can come up with. :fish:

 

[Dave]

Is it a bad idea in general because of cross breeding?

Yes.

 

[Dewdrop]

I figured so Dave. It would look so neat though. I won't try it unless it would be in an all female tank. The females are oddly the prettiest anyway.

Still working things out on paper :roll:

 

[CichlidWhisperer]

Hmmm... I got an idea for you.. Why not get a swimming pool with a heater and cooler... Dump in a bunch of rocks, declorinator, and buffer... Then you can put anything in it you want and just go swimming with them..

If you do it though, please let me know... I want to come swim with them too!!!