[SpeedFreak]

I was at Petsmart today and was looking at their Pseudotropheus crabro and they had about 5 of the normal yellow and brownish stripped ones and then there was one that was almost all black. it had a little bit of goldish brown on it but it was basically all black. I know they can change colors but do they do that in the fish tank if theres no catfish in sight? At first I thought it was just a male but it seems like the males and females look the same from the species articles. Does anyone have them and know why this might be. Has anyone seen one like that before?

 

[redzebra24]

This is usally a sign of stress. Not only with crabro but with many other fish.

 

[SpeedFreak]

This is usally a sign of stress. Not only with crabro but with many other fish.

yeah thats what i hear. it looked really good i was kind of hoping it was a male. tomorrow i will try and get some pictures and post them in hear. the fish seemed calm and was acting the same as the others. i guess i really need a pic. glad i stayed away from it though. thanks

 

[DJRansome]

A lot of us stay away from crabro altogether! You will find some advocates, but in general, they are very aggressive. Between that and the fact that they get larger than other mbuna (8"), they need a larger tank and occupy a proportionally larger part of it than other species. If I wanted a yellow barred fish, I'd go with P. Flavus. Just my two cents.

 

[cichlidaholic]

What size tank do you have again?

How big was the crabro in question? Males are much darker than females, in fact I've seen them that would appear almost completely black. Catfish have nothing to do with it!

 

[SpeedFreak]

What size tank do you have again?

How big was the crabro in question? Males are much darker than females, in fact I've seen them that would appear almost completely black. Catfish have nothing to do with it!

ok then it was probably a male because it didn't seem stressed it looked perfectly healthy. If anything I would have said it was a different species before I would have thought stress. I'm going to look into the other fish suggested. I wasn't aware that they got that big. I haven't had that much time to research them. My tanks a 75. I wouldn't want them. Thanks

 

[SpeedFreak]

How big was the crabro in question?

1.5''-2''

 

[SpeedFreak]

If I wanted a yellow barred fish, I'd go with P. Flavus. Just my two cents.

hey thanks i researched that and when looking through Ad Konings Malawi Cichlids book I found the Pseudotropheus cyaneus and actually like them a lot better. I found that you can distinguish male from female by their colors but i'm wondering if they are brown like the flavus females. I'm going to repost to get some more info on them since there isnt a species article write up on them.

 

[cichlidaholic]

I don't think that's a fish you will be able to find very easily. And, I'm not at home with my books, but I wonder if that is one of the ones reclassified as Cynotilapia? (help...why_spyder - I think you've got the books memorized!) They are very nice, but I think you might have difficulty locating them.

Flavus females are pretty drab, the dominant ones can colour up pretty good, but the males are amazing.

Refresh my memory...What's already in the tank?

 

[SpeedFreak]

I don't think that's a fish you will be able to find very easily. And, I'm not at home with my books, but I wonder if that is one of the ones reclassified as Cynotilapia? (help...why_spyder - I think you've got the books memorized!) They are very nice, but I think you might have difficulty locating them.

Flavus females are pretty drab, the dominant ones can colour up pretty good, but the males are amazing.

Refresh my memory...What's already in the tank?

Right now it has 6 yellow labs which are going to get reduced to four when I can sex them and 18 demasoni which I think if everything is going well with them I'm going to give 3 to a friend who lost most of his colony. so right now
6labs
18demasoni

I would like to end up with:
15demasoni
4labs 1m3f
4cyaneus or flavus 1m3f
4fuelleborni 1m3f
4 acei 1m3f

Let me know what you think about that combo

 

[cichlidaholic]

I wouldn't advise keeping more than 4 species in a tank that size if you plan to dabble into breeding.

And the yellow labs will be happier in a larger group!

 

[SpeedFreak]

I wouldn't advise keeping more than 4 species in a tank that size if you plan to dabble into breeding.

And the yellow labs will be happier in a larger group!

If I strip the fish and they don't spit in the tank why would it matter? I don't get how it would make a difference. I was trying to keep the numbers down and from everything I read 1m3f seems to be more then enough. I just don't like it when you see a couple males picked on because they're the non-dominant males and they don't color up as much.
Either way it looks like the new fish I was looking into aren't going to be easy to find so 4 species are fine and plenty enough for me. I got offered more labs so I can def. add more and I do really like them. How many would you recommend??? Is it good just to keep one male and have 6 or 7 females or is a non-dominant fish not so rough? I'm still eager and learning so just let me know what you'd recommend and I'll take the advice . Thanks again Cichlidaholic!!

 

[DJRansome]

Some fish like to be in groups, such as labs and acei. They are social creatures and will be out and about more in a group of their own kind. Aggressive fish need lots of females to spread the aggression. Three females to one male may not be enough for an aggressive species like Demasoni or fuelleborni or flavus.

Finally, if you browse through the cookie cutters, you can see that most of the recommended mixes suggest 4 species for a 75G and 3 species for a 55G, etc.

 

[noki]

The Catfish you are thinking about must be from how Crabro are suppossed to turn very dark when stealing giant native Catfish eggs (or fry) in Lake Malawi. I've never heard of this behavior being imitated in a fish tank.

Males can get very dark. Crabro for some reason can really overgrow in a fishtank, a bulky big 8"!. They can get huge, and large adults are often an ugly dull brown... two reasons to avoid them.

 

[SpeedFreak]

yeah i want to stick with what a pasted above. i might kick out a species we'll see what i can get and what price

 

[SpeedFreak]

Some fish like to be in groups, such as labs and acei.

If I keep the 18 demasoni and add 4 labs to get to 10 will that be enough. How many fish would be too many for my tank? i Know crowding is ok with Mbuna with the right filtration. I'm open for working the numbers I posted above. Just throw out the recommendations

 

[DJRansome]

I'd do the 18 Demasoni, 6 labs, 6 acei and 6 fuelleborni 1m:5f. If I were going to add more fish, it would only be to increase the # of Demasoni. But start with the above and see how your nitrates are. 20ppm before a water change and 10ppm after would be good.

 

[cichlidaholic]

I'd do the 18 Demasoni, 6 labs, 6 acei and 6 fuelleborni 1m:5f. If I were going to add more fish, it would only be to increase the # of Demasoni. But start with the above and see how your nitrates are. 20ppm before a water change and 10ppm after would be good.

I agree 100%.

Having the large group of demasoni takes up alot of your "space", but IMO, they are well worth it.

As DJRansome explained earlier, your more aggressive males (like the demasoni and fuelleborni are going to be less of a pain with more females, and this will make for a very interesting tank with a better chance for long term success.

While your male/female ratio won't matter so much with the acei and yellow labs, you will enjoy their bahaviour more in the larger groups DJR has suggested. They are more easily intimidated by other fish, so keeping them in the bigger groups of 6 each will make them feel more secure and they will exhibit more enjoyable behaviour.

 

[SpeedFreak]

I'd do the 18 Demasoni, 6 labs, 6 acei and 6 fuelleborni 1m:5f. .

OK that sounds good then. If the Labs and Acei do better in larger groups and the nitrate lvls are ok then could I do 18Demasoni,8Labs,8Acei,6Fuelleborni? I only asked because I was recently offered a couple more Lab Juvies. As long as the nitrate is ok and theres no aggression problems in theory I could add more fish right? I have tons of tunnels and caves and hiding places. Everyfish at least as 1 if not 2 or 3 places each of them hide. I added a lot of rock... :roll:

 

[DJRansome]

You will not know if there are aggression problems or nitrate problems until they are mature in about a year. If I were going to add more fish to that mix, I'd add Demasoni because THAT would help with aggression. Or maybe fuelleborni. Adding labs and acei is just going to add fish load for no benefit.

Also, you have a 48" tank and Acei are very large fish who like a lot of swimming room. I'd try for just the right number of those in your tank.

Of course if you wanted to get rid of a species, you could increase the groups.