[rmiller]

I was reading thru profiles last night and I think I have decided on having a species tank. I have been wanting to have a Malawi tank with yellow labs and some species that is blue. Why not Ps. Saulosi? The males are beautifully blue barred and the females a bright yellow. They seem to be highly suggested throughout the threads that I've read. How many should I have? Standard 1:4 m/f ratio? I would like to have as much blue as possible.

So far I have my tank (standard 4 footer)and some rock decorations. I still need to build a stand and I would like to get some cichlid stones.

I want a sand substrate but have yet to decide between a light color or black.

I plan to put in some fake plants just for looks and some air stones. I have two HOB filters which I plan to run with polyfil for mechanical filtration. I have thought about a koralia or maxi-jet for added circulation.

What do you think of this setup? Is there anything I have over looked?

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

[GaFishMan1181]

I had 55g saulosi only tank(12 fish total) and got bored with it. I ended up keeping my best male and 5 females than added two other species instead of more saulosi.

If you want all saulosi i would go 3m 9-12f.

If you want more species go 1m 4-5F saulosi and then two groups of other fish.

 

[newforestrob]

It sounds good,as for stocking a 55 ,I think starting with around 25 fry would be the cheapest way,remove extra males,end up with a fianal stock of 3 males and 12-15 females,you could also add a synodontis group of cats they dont get very big and clean up any uneaten food,they may also cut down on fry survival though

 

[dielikemoviestars]

Yeah, 3-4 males and ~12 females sounds right to me.

Replace the plants with rocks.

 

[rmiller]

Just saw ps. demasoni's. Any thoughts on them? I'm not rushing out to by fish today I'm still looking.

They are supposed to be pretty aggressive so if I had them I'd need something else that could hold its own against them.

 

[newforestrob]

thats not the case, theyre known to be agressive to their own,many people keep them with yellow labs(labidichromis caeruleus)(lions cove)and they are probably amongst the most docile of mbuna

 

[rmiller]

Thanks. I read on the profile that they are aggressive, but I have never kept them so I am going on advise from everyone here.

They profile also says the are monomorphic, male and females have same coloring. Is that correct? Ultimately I would like to have blue and yellow in my tank. Preferably fairly equal numbers of each color. Which wouldn't happen with saulosi because of m/f ratio needs.

Can a mod change the subject to something more accurate. Maybe "help me make my mbuna tank blue and yellow"

 

[newforestrob]

dems/yellow lab seems to be a popular combination

 

[Glaneon]

You could make a new thread...

But yeah, in a 55, Demasoni (get 12+) and Yellow Labs (1:4 or even 2:6) and you'll be fine.

 

[dielikemoviestars]

Yep. Labs and dems. Keep in mind that the labs will get a little larger than the dems, so having fewer of them will still give you a balance of coloration (by surface area). Glaneon's numbers are dead-on.

 

[rmiller]

I won't be able to get all of them at the same time so what number of each would you recommend starting with. I could add more every 4 weeks.

 

[Glaneon]

Get labs first.

Dems first could let them get too used to owning everything.

 

[cantrell00]

My Labs & Dems are still juvenile around 2" & in my tank but - if I had to pick two species that are the most apathetic towards each other, it would be these two.

But Glaneon is right, Labs first would be the logical progression but not necessarily a requirement IME.

Honestly, my dems aggresion is almost always directed towards one another. All of the other fish literally swim directly through the dominant dem's zone & he pays no notice. I hope it stays that way.

 

[dielikemoviestars]

I got my dems first (about a week) and they did give the labs a bit of a rough welcome. Nothing too serious, but a few torn fins. So +1 for labs first.

 

[Glaneon]

From what I've read, Demasoni conspecific aggression (towards own kind) is higher than others... but it doesnt take much to kick a yellow lab out of a territory.