which is the nastiest mbuna

Most aggressive would be Melachromis Chipokae

as above. :thumb: killers.

i just sold my chipokae. surprisngly it never harmed any of my other mbuna, and it was the largest at over 6".

I would say chipokae also. I had a 7" when I started keeping cichlids. It was the meanest fish
I ever had. It would literally fight every fish to the death in my tank. Never again.

cyno afra are pretty **** nasty in my experience but gotta agree with the others on that one

Demasoni are some nasty ones too...

I have had bad luck with an aulonocara as well...but my nastiest by far was a hongi...he would tolerate NO one else so he got a 10 gallon all to himself

I got to throw the kenyi in there. I will never have another

astatotilapia calliptera...even the females were nasty!!!

Without a doubt M. chipokae. I had this species in the past and the male killed everything in the tank. A beautiful species though.

Aulonocara + astatotilapia aren't mbuna. All my Hongi were super nice and tame.

Don't forget crabro.

Ps. demasoni can be aggressive to their own, but usually are not so aggressive as to try and kill everything else in the tank.

Some of the Tropheops can be very aggressive, but aren't a common cichlid that people keep. Again, they are typically more aggressive towards their own kind, than random acts of killing.

M. lombardoi (kenyi), Melanochromis johanni andM. crabro can also be very aggressive, and towards all fish, not just their own kind.

Next up the ladder is Melanochromis auratus who can be terrors in the tank.

However, I'll agree with those who say Melanochromis chipokae are one of the most aggressive, if not the most aggressive mbuna available for the aquarium trade. They can be killers, and I had one grow to 8", and big at that. Some males can be downright nasty..

*Just to clarify, in my above post when I put "aulonocara" I meant auratus...woops..I'm picking up a new batch today and have aulonocara and haps on the mind :lol:

I have had dems and crabros in a tank together and though feisty, they weren't horrid...but its funny how some fish reputations proceed themselves

IME Melanochromis auratus, never have kept M. chipokae.

How big do the auratus get before their real nasty? I have a couple, only about 2.5" now and they're only nasty to their own kind.

Mudkicker said:

astatotilapia calliptera...even the females were nasty!!!

Click to expand...

oops, not a mbuna i take it back
i change my vote to Pseudotropheus crabro

I was expecting to see melanochromis species mentioned never kept any myself probably for that reason, kenyi and crabro I have had in the past and havent had much problems with either.

I think with the kenyi and crabro tank size has a lot to do with it. We keep ours in tanks with plenty of room for them to stretch out their legs and stake out a bit of tank for them selves and they are quite content.

Now with the melanchromis tank size does not matter, they are just nasty by nature. Some though are no problem at all while others are the devils spawn. Funny that.