i think i over looked the mbuna!!!!what do u all think?

I consider all-male mbuna to be much trickier than all-male peacock/hap. Some species are tougher to tell male from female, so hybridization is always a concern. This can be taken care of pretty easily with the addition of some synos though. Aggression can also be an issue. I keep some mean predator haps, but they're not bad compared to some mbuna I've kept.

If you're just starting out, I'd pick out 2-4 different groups of mbuna (tank size again?). Ratio and total numbers will depend on your tank size and species, but generally somewhere around 1:3 - 1:5, depending on the species. I'm also partial to this setup because I like to watch the behavior and it's always fun when babies show up.

125 gallon 6foot long 18inc wide i dont mind gettin male and female so long as i dont get stuck with a ton of frey and they get eattin and all that lol. if i can get rid of some at lfs or sell theme just really to pay for the hobby that would be cool. most of all im lookin for the tank too have some nice size fish and color not huge fish but nice size.

and yeah watching theme in there natureal behavior is a big thing for me

With a 125, you could pick 4-5 very different types of mbuna (to deter crossbreeding) and have a heck of a display tank. I'd go that route if it were me. Pick some out on the profiles page or check out some other threads about mbuna compatibility and post up the ones you like for opinions on what will work. The "cookie cutter" tank setup section on the website is a good place to start.

Metriaclima sp. "dolphin" (Ndonga) im gonna see what other mbuna can go with this...yeah mbuna male and female is what i think i wanna do. i see with mbuna there all eith omnivores or herbivores. are they harder too feed then ? do i have to mess with plants so they can eat?

nwtwoTHEworld said:

Metriaclima sp. "dolphin" (Ndonga) im gonna see what other mbuna can go with this...yeah mbuna male and female is what i think i wanna do. i see with mbuna there all eith omnivores or herbivores. are they harder too feed then ? do i have to mess with plants so they can eat?

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I'm terrible with mbuna compatibility, so I'll let someone else address that. Most mbuna are herbivorous. An easy way to cover all your bases feeding-wise is to give them a high quality pellet. Most folks (including myself) swear by New Life Spectrum. You can change it up and give them a spirulina flake from time to time as well or as a treat, fresh vegetables (spinach, kale, romain lettuce, zuchini). Just make sure you remove any uneaten veggies so they do not foul the water.

Plants will be tough to maintain in an all-mbuna tank. Plastic plants are your best bet.

I opt for no plants in my mbuna tank.

yea screw fake plants lol i dont like theme anyway.... but ill build planty of caves i have sum good idea with that i think. but prob not to much i dont want my fish hiding all the time, anyway i can make sure of this being they are mbuna??

Mine are all over the entire tank all the time. I had a great 72" mbuna tank for 2 years.
20 Pseudotropheus demasoni
6 Pseudotropheus acei
6 Labidochromis caeruleus (yellow labs)
6 Pseudotropheus socolofi
6 Metriaclima estherae

The labs and estherae crossbreed. I did not save fry and I had a group of 6 Synodontis multipunctatus for fry control.

Still have many of the same fish in the 75G, just one less species. To swap Metriaclima dolphin for demasoni stock 1m:4f of them and lose the Metriaclima estherae.

i personally partial to cynotilapia sp hara... if i were to do mbuna one day i would def get them.. also i like pseudotropheus sp polit... and blueberry ob zebras and marmalade fuelliborni, pearl zebras, tropheops sp. elongatus broadzulu, elongatus kanchedza... lol long list i know.. but if i were to do a tank with a few species i would pick from them.. not sure about cross breeding.. maybe you guys know...

I have the hara with my Demasoni in the 75G now. It's a pretty good mix, but took a long time for the hara male to color up consistently.