[peppezic]

Hi there,
I own a 150x50x50 cm tank with 4 adults Aulonocara about 7cm.
Two of them are OB male peacocks (one orange dominant and one yellow).
The third is a female which is breeding with the dominant orange OB, but I don't know the species.
The fourth (grey colored) might be a female...but I'm not sure and I don't know the sex either.
Here a few pics: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1i57Tf ... Uh_EikY2wz

Now I'd want a more populated and colorful tank and promote breeding.
I know I should not mix Aulonocara with mbunas, but I'm deciding to add 2 males and 4 females, 5cm sized, of Pseudotropheus Saulosi to the tank.
To let the OBs have more females and promote breeding I'm thinking to add 2 o 3 other OB females.

Questions:
1) Do you have experiences or opinions about mixing adults OBs Peacocks with younger Saulosi?
2) could you please help me out finding the species of the orange female and the last not coloured aulonocara?
3) Finally: what if I add 2 gyrinochelius, 1 plecostomus and one otocinclus all medium/large sized?

Any help would be precious.
Thanks

 

[DJRansome]

OB peacocks are hybrids of peacocks and mbuna...so there is no species for them.

It would be possible for the OB peacocks to spawn with the saulosi...not sure how likely it would be.

If you want to try it I would have 4 peacock females for every colored OB peacock (the colored ones are male).

And 1m:4f of the saulosi...so the one male has plenty of females of his own species to choose from. Also 2 males of anything are likely to fight or not color well...3 works better than 2 but then you would need 12 saulosi females.

Bristlenose pleco is OK, do not add the otos...Malawi are too aggressive for them. It sounds like the gyrinochelius would not be a good fit either.

With one BN you would not want other algae eaters in the tank anyway to allow maximum algae for the BN to eat. Why so many algae eaters?

 

[Iggy Newcastle]

The tank looks great.

Impossible to know what the brown/grey fish is. The females of Aulonocare are so similar. It's possible that it could be a male. The female OB is looking pretty battered. I'd add a bunch more OB females. Need to spread around the attention of 2 males.

 

[peppezic]

Hi guys and thanks for your prompt reply.

If you want to try it I would have 4 peacock females for every colored OB peacock (the colored ones are male).
And 1m:4f of the saulosi...so the one male has plenty of females of his own species to choose from. Also 2 males of anything are likely to fight or not color well...3 works better than 2 but then you would need 12 saulosi females.

So Ransome starting from my situation you are basically suggesting to add 6 or 7 more OB females for the current OB males + 5 saulosi (1m, 4 f).
In this case I would have about 15 cichlids + cleaning fishes. Do you think it will be too crowded also considering they all might breed?

Bristlenose pleco is OK, do not add the otos...Malawi are too aggressive for them. It sounds like the gyrinochelius would not be a good fit either.
With one BN you would not want other algae eaters in the tank anyway to allow maximum algae for the BN to eat. Why so many algae eaters?

I often fight against brown/dark algae in this tank (see the sand on the left part in the pic).
This might be caused by one of these factors:
1. direct sunlight exposure
2. too much phosphate in the water I add
3. no algae eaters
4. Water temperature? I keep it about 26 celsius degrees, but in the summertime here is very hot and it reaches 30 degrees.

So I definitely need algae eaters. The point is which species and sizes best fit with this OB and Saulosi project.
I might renounce to get Otocinclus and Gyrinochelius if they get killed and get two bigger Plecos maybe...
Here is the full list of the possibilities I have.
https://www.universoacquari.it/epages/9 ... ei_fondali

Maybe the 5-8 cm Ancistrus might have more possibilities to survive?

Thanks again.

 

[peppezic]

Sorry guys there's one last question about the females for OB males:
should I try to find OB females only or any kind of Aulonocara females will be ok for the OB males?

 

[DJRansome]

Six peacock females and don't save fry from the peacocks. Do not sell or give away any of the adult peacock females.

Or if you want to breed the peacocks trade in the OB's and choose a pure species.

Because your tank is 60" I would shoot for 20 cichlids. So 1m:4f peacocks and 3m:12f saulosi might work.

I would work on your tank maintenance...you should get a little algae on the glass but nothing on the sand. One BN will not have enough to eat after he eats all the algae...adding more algae eaters is not helpful. BN seems to be the best fit with Malawi.