[Baustin12017]

Just got a wild pair of white top hara for my 55 gallon but not sure if my tank is to small for them. Also If my tank isn't to small what else would look good with them that they would still breed

Ps. they are beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[dielikemoviestars]

First, more females. Second, they can pretty much hold their own (unless you want to mix something like chipokae/auratus). Just make sure you don't stock with another blue barred fish.

 

[kyboy]

Yeah, definitely more females. A 55g with Yellow labs & haras would look good - that's what I'm going to have when I re-home my Mainganos.

 

[Baustin12017]

How many more females and the place I got them only sells them in pairs wild ones anyway and I would like to keep them wild so do you know were I can get wild ones singular.

 

[DJRansome]

1m:4f would work well. I had a male-heavy group for 2 years, took me two batches of 6-8 juveniles to end up with a couple females. Only now is the dominant male remaining colored up most of the time.

 

[Baustin12017]

want number of fish should I have In the tank I read that your suppose to have it very stocked to lower aggression

 

[Glaneon]

Yeah, definitely more females. A 55g with Yellow labs & haras would look good - that's what I'm going to have when I re-home my Mainganos.

Why rehome the Mainganos?

 

[Kanorin]

Cyno sp. Hara
I have a breeding group of Cyno sp. Hara and have kept the following species with them successfully for at least a year:

Metriaclima Msobo
Labidochromis Caeruleus
Labeotropheus Trewavasae (55g may be too small for these)
Pseudotropheus sp. Elongatus 'Spot'

I keep 1 male + 6 females. Definitely try to get at least 4 females for your male. You will probably need to vent them as subdominant males appear exactly like females.

I bet Met. Estherae (Red Zebras) would also look and coexist great with the hara.

 

[cjacob316]

Why rehome the Mainganos?

mainganos can get mean for a 55, and there are some reports of fish like maiganos and dems preventing haras from reaching their full color potential

want number of fish should I have In the tank I read that your suppose to have it very stocked to lower aggression

the overall number doesn't matter, just wouldn't go over 15. you can do 5, 10, or 15 as long as the ratios are correct for each group. you could buy more pairs and sell the males. I wouldn't buy from a place that forced me to buy pairs knowing that you need harems so you can produce f1 fry you need more wild caught females, if you don't care about having f1 fry you can use their offspring to increase the harem, or find hara elsewhere.

 

[Baustin12017]

whasts f1

 

[Nina_b]

First tank bred generation from wild parents.

 

[dielikemoviestars]

F1 = the only justification for buying WC fish. First generation removed from wild lineage. You can command a much steeper price with F1 than with a fish of unknown lineage.

 

[Baustin12017]

cool i really like the white top hara but when i get other fish i want the to be rare, not seen much in the hobby ya know so any recomend dations.

Ps. thank you guys so much for all the help it is very helpful

 

[cjacob316]

if it's rare, it's probably hard to get

 

[RRasco]

They will be fine in a 55. I have a 2m/3f ratio in mine, was 2m/1f (and 3m/1f for a while) for the longest until I found some more females recently, never had any issues. I do have another large male I had to remove though, he and the other male fought for subdom. My producing female was holding as of yesterday as a matter of fact.

I have them in there with a yellow lab, rusty, red cheek, acei, red zebra, socolofi, auratus. Hara is and has been the dominant species. They don't take **** from any of the others. I'm moving my breeding group to their own tank as soon as I can get it setup though.

 

[Baustin12017]

what would be a good combination of the most species anf the best colors in a 55 with the most chance of breeding.

 

[DJRansome]

Three species with 1m:4f of each and stay away from anything overly aggressive. If you want rare fish, Cynotilapia sp. hara does not fit the criteria anymore. :thumb:

Seems like the latest craze is Pseudotropheus williamsi. I don't know if you would categorize them as "best colors" though.

 

[Baustin12017]

I think I decided maybe
White top hara 1m 3f
Pseudotropheus sp. Elongatus 'Spot' 1m 3f
Metriaclima Msobo 1m 3f
Metriaclima sp kingsizei lupingu 2m
All wild
What do you think

 

[DJRansome]

IMHO too many species for a 55G and not enough females. The hara and the msobo would make a nice combination.

Kingsizei is too much of a look-alike for hara. Two males without lots of associated females is close to a guarantee of crossbreeding. You would not want two Metriclima species if you want to avoid cross-breeding risk.

 

[Baustin12017]

i cant find one place that will sell me just wild female white top hara, do you guys know any were?