Unfortunately since even a single female of any species in a prediominantly male tank will cause great havoc, you kind of have to go one way or the other. All Malawi fish can interbreed. The mbuna seem to be very good at that. Even if you plan on never saving any fry from such a tank, the social dynamics will be a disaster. The most domiant males (reguardless of species) will spawn with whatever females are available and ready. With labs and acei being some of the least dominant fish in your mix, the females will be trowing hybrid fry left and right. Not to mention the male labs and acei being being regularly escorted to the back of the line by the more aggressive greshakei and zebra males.
Is all male + groups of labs/acei possible
3
Hi group,
I am trying to decide what stock I want for my new cichlid tank. I bought a 75G used and it came with fish. I brought all fish home to learn about them and see who I liked before making any changes. From what I have learned you usually keep a cichlid tank one of two ways. First you can keep a few different species and stock one male to several females. Second is you can stock all males of different species. My problem is that I kind of want a little of both.
So I was wondering if I could do a male tank with 1 group of labs and 1 group of acei and that maybe they will breed and indulge the part of me that occasionally wants to see babies while still getting to see the beautiful males. This option would allow me to keep most of the fish I have if having adults would be okay to add stock to. Or would doing this and having ANY females in the tank cause hybrids and WWIII?
These are the fish I have now:
2- Metriaclima greshakei- 2 males
1- Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei"
1- Pseudotropheus elongatus- male
2- Labidochromis caeruleus
1- Metriaclima estherae (Red zebra)- female
1- pearl fish I asked for ID on, maybe Metriaclima estherae (o)?
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1- female red zebra's oldest fry
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2- female red zebra's youngest fry
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The elongatus is king of the tank followed by the dominant greshakei. The pearl fish hides ALL the time as when he comes out he gets violently chased by the elongatus. Would this change if there was no female red zebra?
So I was thinking I could remove the sub dominant greshakei, the female red zebra, probably her three kids then add to the acei, maybe 4 total, and labs, maybe 6 total, and then various other male species.
Would this work at all?
Would my existing fish tolerate new juvie males being added?
Could I have any peacocks or haps in this male mix?
I am trying to decide what stock I want for my new cichlid tank. I bought a 75G used and it came with fish. I brought all fish home to learn about them and see who I liked before making any changes. From what I have learned you usually keep a cichlid tank one of two ways. First you can keep a few different species and stock one male to several females. Second is you can stock all males of different species. My problem is that I kind of want a little of both.
So I was wondering if I could do a male tank with 1 group of labs and 1 group of acei and that maybe they will breed and indulge the part of me that occasionally wants to see babies while still getting to see the beautiful males. This option would allow me to keep most of the fish I have if having adults would be okay to add stock to. Or would doing this and having ANY females in the tank cause hybrids and WWIII?
These are the fish I have now:
2- Metriaclima greshakei- 2 males
1- Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei"
1- Pseudotropheus elongatus- male
2- Labidochromis caeruleus
1- Metriaclima estherae (Red zebra)- female
1- pearl fish I asked for ID on, maybe Metriaclima estherae (o)?
1- female red zebra's oldest fry
2- female red zebra's youngest fry
The elongatus is king of the tank followed by the dominant greshakei. The pearl fish hides ALL the time as when he comes out he gets violently chased by the elongatus. Would this change if there was no female red zebra?
So I was thinking I could remove the sub dominant greshakei, the female red zebra, probably her three kids then add to the acei, maybe 4 total, and labs, maybe 6 total, and then various other male species.
Would this work at all?
Would my existing fish tolerate new juvie males being added?
Could I have any peacocks or haps in this male mix?
1 - 16 of 16 Posts
Uh-oh. You are begining to show symptoms of MTS (Multiple Tank Syndrome). Being unable to decide is why so many of us have way too many tanks. 
Hey there- I just noticed that my thread was brought back up after all this time. . .
I took the advice of other posters and decided that I preferred groups of fish rather than an all male setup.
I kept the labs and acei that came with the setup, culled the thought to be hybrid, and returned the remaining fish to the LFS. Then I purchased more labs and acei, a group of OB Fuellborni and a group of white tops.
In my opinion the tank is stunning and everyone gets along great! I am very pleased with my choices and the advice I received here which was so instrumental to me in my african beginnings.
![]()
I took the advice of other posters and decided that I preferred groups of fish rather than an all male setup.
I kept the labs and acei that came with the setup, culled the thought to be hybrid, and returned the remaining fish to the LFS. Then I purchased more labs and acei, a group of OB Fuellborni and a group of white tops.
In my opinion the tank is stunning and everyone gets along great! I am very pleased with my choices and the advice I received here which was so instrumental to me in my african beginnings.
1 - 16 of 16 Posts
