The maingano are aggressive and work better in a tank that is 48x18 or larger. Length is most important...don't make the mistake of assuming if the square inches are the same, not a problem.
Even in a 36" tank I would think twice about doing demasoni...they are a difficult fish to keep. I did them in my first tank which was a 36" tank but my next tank was 72" because of the problems with the 36" long tank.
Personally I would not do mbuna in this tank at all. But if you really want to try SOMETHING, I would do Chindongo saulosi. Males have the blue bars and females are yellow orange. You could try 3m:9f and see if you can get multiple males to color in the small tank. Other species cannot substitute for the saulosi.
When we give you a stock number it is for the level of overstocking that has the best odds of success. More fish does not always make a more peaceful tank.
When comparing tanks to others...compare length not gallons. I have 33G tanks that are 48" long and they can handle more varieties of mbuna as well as a larger number of fish.
Even in a 36" tank I would think twice about doing demasoni...they are a difficult fish to keep. I did them in my first tank which was a 36" tank but my next tank was 72" because of the problems with the 36" long tank.
Personally I would not do mbuna in this tank at all. But if you really want to try SOMETHING, I would do Chindongo saulosi. Males have the blue bars and females are yellow orange. You could try 3m:9f and see if you can get multiple males to color in the small tank. Other species cannot substitute for the saulosi.
When we give you a stock number it is for the level of overstocking that has the best odds of success. More fish does not always make a more peaceful tank.
When comparing tanks to others...compare length not gallons. I have 33G tanks that are 48" long and they can handle more varieties of mbuna as well as a larger number of fish.
