[jgleason19]

Hi everyone, I'm a new member of the forum (although I've been reading stuff on here for 5 months). I had a 30gal tank set up and had some juvi mbuna in there and recently purchased a 55gal and set it up. It's already cycled (thanks to some already awesome bacteria from the 30gal) and I wanted some suggestions/comments as to what I have it stocked with. It's undoubtedly not the best stocking and I'm open to moving some back to the 30gal if any problems arise, but let me know what everyone thinks. I have aragamax sand as a substrate and various rocks/caves at the bottom. For filtration I'm running a fluval 404 cannister and a Whisper 60 HOB. My current stock (I only know a couple of the sexes of them):

2 Yellow Labs (no idea whether they are male or female, still small)
2 Cobalt Blue (no idea sex, very small)
2 female OB fuelleborni
2 red top zebra (no idea sex)
2 red zebra (I think one's male and one's female)
2 maingano (I think one's male and one's female)
2 Auratus (one male and one female, I know this because the male has turned black, and despite everything I read, really isn't that aggressive, yet)

Let me know what you think,
Thanks!

 

[Cardiff]

pictures???

 

[jgleason19]

I'll try and get some pics up tonight or tomorrow

 

[CichlidWhisperer]

Hi jgleason,

I think the mix is probably very pretty! I love a mix of many mbuna as well and that is why I went with an all male tank. I have two concerns with you tank though:

1. Aggression: unless you are going to remove all the females and make it an all male show tank, I think you will need more than one female per male and less species in the tank. Also, I think some of the mixes, such as maingano with auratus, may be of concern. Also, while the auratus is not aggressive yet, a 55 gallon is rather small for such a fish. Aggression may not be an issue at this time as they are probably not fully mature yet, but it may be a very sudden change from a peaceful tank to a terror over night. How big are the fish?

2. Hybrids: you have multiple potentials for hybridization, which I suspect you don't want.

Just my opinion.. I hope whatever you decide to do works out for you.

 

[harris4097]

hi there,
stocking list seems quite reasonable, in my big community mbuna tank I have red zebras, yellow labs, cobalt blues, fuellebornis, trevasses, crabbos, hongi's and greshaeki females.

depending on what you mean by red top zebra - is that a hongi red top or a greshaeki, if its a male greshaeki he could cause problems - i've just had to remove mine into an isolation tank as he was terrrorising the tank. whereas the hongi male is fine with all.

The aureutus is the only possible problem in the future, mine were fine untill they became sexually mature then he became a nightmare, he killed one of my females through constant pestering and was a community tank nightmare ! I also didn't really take much notice of what everyone said as mine was fine for ages then one day he just flipped - think damien in the omen !! he' now nicknamed ASBO - I would suggest getting hold of at least 2 more females for him if you do want to keep him in with the rest - BEWARE just because 1 is blue/black and 1 is yellow/black doesn't mean the yellow black one is a female - it may be a sub-dominant juvi in which case his days are numbered......

 

[harris4097]

ps - a few caves / rocks at the bottom is not enough for a mbuna tank - I had low rock formations initially but they need to go at least halfway up the tank with a few higher points - this all helps break line of sight and simulates the natural environment

 

[cichlidaholic]

Welcome to CF!

Before addressing your stock list, it's important to know what you want from the tank?

Do you prefer having alot of different species? If so, I would go all male, attempting NOT to have any two fish who look alike.

If you're interested in breeding and salvaging / distributing fry, then you have far too many species. My recommendation would be 3 species maximum for a 55G. (The 3 species that you have with the least risk of hybridization and tearing the tank apart would be yellow labs, fuelleborni, and Cobalt zebras...This would also be your most appealing to look at, IMO.)

 

[jgleason19]

I believe the Red Top Zebras are Maylandia emmiltos. Right now the rock formations are very low and I wanted to have at least one half of the tank with rocks going up at least 3/4 the height of the tank, but I didn't realize how many rocks that would really take, and I haven't had the time to take another trip to the local hiking trail to gather more rocks. I'm still planning on adding more in the future.

As far as what I'm looking for in the tank, I guess a show tank, with lots of colors. I'm not really interested in raising and keeping fry. Maybe the all male tank would be the way to go. The fish right now range in size from less than an inch cobalt blues to 2+ inch red zebras and male auratus. I'll try to post some pics tonight or tomorrow

 

[jgleason19]

 

[jgleason19]

Ok apparently I did that wrong? One more try...

 

[CichlidWhisperer]

They are such pretty fish! You really need more rockwork though... there are not enough caves and hiding places. Plus it is really fun to watch the fish swim in and out of a rock jungle gym.

(I cut and pasted the internet addresses and was able to see the pictures fine.)

 

[jgleason19]

I guess I don't know how to post pictures, but those web links work if you cut and paste them to get to the pics

...Sorry[/code]