[travisbundo]

Current setup is 60 gallon tank with sand substrate. High PH and very hard water.

4 - 2" Yellow Labs
6 - 1" Msobo
1 - 3" Synoptis Catfish
1 - 2.5" Kenyi(Female) (If turns male, will probably have to rehome)

Also have a 3" Maingano that I will be adding to the tank.

My main concerns are aggression due to coloration and similiar markings as well as crossbreeding.

I think a good number for this tank would be 15-20 fish to help curb aggression. (800 GPH filtration btw)

What species would you recommend, I was thinking about adding 3 Mainganos, also looking at Acei.

 

[travisbundo]

Scratch Acei, too large. Looking for 4 inches roughly max size.

 

[DJRansome]

What are the dimensions of the 60G?

 

[travisbundo]

48x13x24

 

[travisbundo]

I'm leaning towards going with 4 or so more syn. multis and maybe a couple more yellows.

Let the female Maingano and female Kenyi kinda be on their own and hope they don't crossbreed. I think my only crossbreed concern in this setup would the the female Kenyi w/ the yellow labs. Is that correct?

 

[travisbundo]

The plan was for the Msobos to be the main species in the tank, started with 8, lost 3 so down to 5 Msobos unfortanately.

 

[travisbundo]

How well do Plecos work with Mbuna tanks? Like an L200.

 

[JoelRHale]

I have no experience but was told when asking this same question by several members that mbuna have a habit of pecking the eyes out of plecos. Rhino plecos seem okay but I am currently getting ready to trade mine. My opinion is I'd rather play it safe and no endanger any of my fish.

 

[DJRansome]

With a footprint of 48" x 13" you will want no more than 3 species and around 15 fish. You should expect any fish in the tank without the right number of opposite-gender fish of the same species to crossbreed with whatever other mouthbrooder is in the tank. The kenyi will not limit to just the labs necessarily.

Maingano and acei would not be high of my list of choices for a 48" x 13" tank. Maingano due to aggression and acei because they mature at over 6".

I'd get rid of the kenyi. Two metriaclima in a tank can be troublesome anyway (kenyi and msobo are both metriaclima).

How about Cynotilapia sp. hara for your third species?

Even the tough plecos like bristlenose only have a 60% chance of surviving the introduction to a mbuna tank IME. I would not do plecos with mbuna except bristlenose for cleaning.

Which synodontis do you have? Some like to be solitary and some like to be in groups.

 

[travisbundo]

Right, I will be watching the Maingano and Kenyi very closely. If the Kenyi turns male I will likely have to rehome him, if I can get by w/ the Kenyi in there as a female I am going to try to do that. The female maingano is in another tank atm, once everything is full grown I am going to try to introduce her because unfornately she is in a 10 gallon. But she is fairly aggressive. I will check out cyn hara. I'm not sure what kind of Synodontis I have. To be honest it was bought at walmart in an assorted synodontis tank. It has a very round top fin, compared to all the others have a very pointed fin. Probably a high bred or some sort. I do not see him very often and seems to be fairly territorial for a catfish.

 

[travisbundo]

Would a group of 4 Cynotilapia sp. hara likely crossbreed with what else I have in the tank? If so I'm more likely to increase the number of species already in the tank.(Yellow Lab or Msobo). I want the main breeders to be msobo. Also looking at rusties but none in my area.

 

[travisbundo]

Added an albino bristlenose to the tank. I think the best thing to do is let the Msobos mature to see what ratio I have and go from there. How long do Msobos usually take to reach maturity, I know it can take 2.5-3 inches but what timeframe?

 

[RRasco]

Would a group of 4 Cynotilapia sp. hara likely crossbreed with what else I have in the tank?.

I don't think so. Of course, I've always had female Hara for them to choose from.

 

[travisbundo]

After I seen what ratio I need up with, with my 5 msobo I will likely purchase more adult msobo to fix that ratio. If the ratio is favorable I will likely either purchase 4 of the following: Cyno Afra or Hara, Rusties or more yellow labs.

 

[travisbundo]

Adding 5 Cyno. Afra "Jalo Reef"

Would that be a good combo with Msobo and Yellow Labs?

 

[Kanorin]

I have just recently tried Msobo in a 55 gallon tank (same footprint as yours). Once my male started breeding, he got too rowdy for the females - even with 5 of them. I'd save Met. Msobo for a 48' x 18" tank or larger.

 

[travisbundo]

Yeah, I'll have to watch it and see how it goes? What did you have for cover? And how many total fish in tank?