[Ten]

I currently have a 75gal. I didnt know to much about African Cichlids,so when i purchased the fish i went with a LFS's recommendations. I told them i wanted fish that would stay relatively small and would be compatible ie not to aggressive with each other. After doing some research i found this forum. I found that the Bumble bee cichlids i have will grow large and are very aggressive. I would like some help on which fish i should take back and if i do take them back what should i replace them with? My plan was to have about 30 fish total.

This is the list of fish:

2 Pseudot. Kenyi
4 Lab. Cae. Kakusa
4 Pseudot. Cherry Red
6 Psdtrop. Crbro Bumble Bee
2 Cyno Afra Minos Reef Mozambique
2 Cynot. Afra Red Top Mara
2 Otopharynx Zimbabwe Rock
2 Cynotilapia AfraBlue
2 Melanochro. Maingano-True
2 Pseudotropheus Magunga Red

All the fish are 1-2". Again this is a 75gal with lots of lace rock.
Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[cater20155]

Personally i was told the same thing by a LFS about the bumblebee and the kenyi. I still have one bumblebee but have gotten rid of both the kenyi i bought. So far the bumblebee is rather laid back, so im keeping it for awhile, while the kenyi were terrorizing my tank. So removing the kenyi is a good start, after that im not sure.

 

[DJRansome]

Do you want all male or breeding groups?

 

[Ten]

Thank you both for your replies. I dont have a preference either way. I dont think i can tell what sex they are anyway. I just wanted a nice tank with a nice variety of colors and shapes. I wanted the fish to be relatively small so that i could have about 30 or so in the tank. Of course i want the fish to be compatable also.

Two of the Bumblebees seem to be the biggest bullys in the tank. The Kenyi are rather small and dont bother any of the other fish. There is plenty of rock work but none of the fish seem to use it for cover. They mostly stay together in the open. The Bumblebees try to nip but do not really chase any of the other fish yet.

 

[DJRansome]

Well here comes the hard decision part. If you want breeding groups, then your tank is likely to work better if you get rid of a few species.

If you look at the cookie cutters, you will see that most recommend about 4 species in a 75G tank. I'd consider getting rid of these: Kenyi, bumblebee, otos and all Cynos except for one species. So that would leave you with the labs, estherae (red zebra), cynotilapia and maingano.

If you keep the labs and estherae, you will not be able to collect fry from them as they hybridize. So have a plan for the fry. A group of 5 Synodontis Multipunctatus do a nice job.

Then since mbuna are harem breeders, you need to get more females of the four species you retain. Many of us buy unsexed juveniles and weed out the extra males as they mature and gender can be determined. I'd shoot for 1m:5f for each group.

If you are shooting for all male, wait until they mature and remove females and extra males so that you have one of each. Also the males should not look like each other (look-alikes will fight). There is a nice article on all-male tanks in the Library.