Would you rather have one massive tank or two big tanks?

I also prefer multiple tanks.
Because I kept mostly Central American, and Malagasy cichlids, keeping more than one or a couple species per 6 ft tank, is the only realistic way to keep them, so my house became quite crowded with tanks (up to over 20 at one point).

And because I am also an aquatic plant lover, and cichlids and plants don't often commingle well, there had to be even more tanks, just for the aquatic and semi-aquatic plants.

What turned out to be the perfect solution for me starting in the late 80s, was using the planted tanks for filtering the cichlid tanks, as sumps/refugiums. And I still do today, getting the best of both worlds.

I kept nicaraguense when in the states, I found a 75 is an OK tank for a pair, or maybe a trio, and some non-cichlid dithers when adults, or as a grow out tank. But a bit wimpy , for more than two and some adult other geographically species, unless chosen very carefully. Male left, male and 2 females right.

Especially if they are a mated pair and spawn.

One way to work 2 or more tanks, is to connect with a sump, and work it so all tanks water is changed at once.

knut_ said:

Only drawback I see to two tanks is you'll be doing 2x the water changes unless you hook up a rig that lets you change both at the same time. Might be worth looking into. Also not all peacocks and haps are the same, there are some that get along better with mbuna than others. Not all mbuna are the same for that matter! You will definitely have more options for both if you do separate tanks though.

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I'm planning to do water changes with hoses and pumps so shouldn't be too bad as long as I can fill up quickly - should just be able to lay a hose from the tank to a drain empty 100 or so litres out and refill from a tap/pump in the sink. I've got a few smaller planted tanks that take a lot longer I'd bet with all the scrubbing and the trimming.

dstuer said:

I kept nicaraguense when in the states, I found a 75 is an OK tank for a pair, or maybe a trio, and some non-cichlid dithers when adults, or as a grow out tank. But a bit wimpy , for more than two and some adult other geographically species, unless chosen very carefully. Male left, male and 2 females right.
View attachment 147733 View attachment 147734
Especially if they are a mated pair and spawn.
View attachment 147735 View attachment 147736
One way to work 2 or more tanks, is to connect with a sump, and work it so all tanks water is changed at once.

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I might do a pair but also might just keep a small group of females as I'm not too bothered about breeding and its the females I love. I'd love to do a Central American biotope around them but we just dont get the species imported - Blind Cave Tetras and Swordtails or Mollies are probably my best bet - maybe some rarer live bearers but you don't get the true Central American diversity in the UK like Sycidium Gobies, Pimelodella cats etc or even the none cave dwelling Astynax species. I think its that frustration that might push me towards more Malawi.

I'll likely go with one 4 foot for now with one set up, get used to the maintenance and commitments of that and if that goes well get the second.

Wills

djr955 said:

Personally I would go for separate tanks, set up specifically for what you plan to keep there rather than a single do it all tank

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Exactly that. Two tanks offer you options that you don't have with a single tank. This fishroom, with a total capacity of ~1000 gallons, offers more flexibility and interest than a single tank, irrespective of the size. The only time I would opt for one big tank rather than two would be if it was primarily a show tank, for example, a centerpiece in a living room. 🐟🐟🐟

Wills said:

I've got a 4 foot 300 litre tank that I'm in the process of setting up as an Mbuna tank. But at the same time I also really want a Peacock and Hap tank, and my wife (surprisingly) came up with the idea of doing both... The wall the tank is on is about 10 foot so definitely space to put in 2 4 foot tanks or... an 8 foot tank. The costs are basically the same for two tanks and all the equipment but I'm not sure which to choose.

Now I know the diet problems between Mbuna and Peacocks and Haps and also the different levels of aggression but would an 8 foot tank provide any options to combine them? I was wondering about a rock pile in one side of the tank and then open space on the other some kind of feeding strategy of keeping the two groups on each side? My initial thoughts are no but thought I'd ask the question.

I'm swaying towards going for 2 four foot tanks, not 100% though.

Wills

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You can mix some haps with some mbuna species quite easily. Choose a milder temperament mbuna species and a hap that is found around rocky habitats.
I have done numerous aquariums over the years with a large group of yellow labs along with a dominant male hap of some kind. I usually choose S.Fryeri (electric blue hap), but have used Protomelas species (Red Emperess,Taiwan Reef, etc.), and they work quite well too. Peacocks are a little bit trickier, but the more aggressive ones like A. Jacobfreibergi can work very well, and so can the hybrid ones such as OB, dragon blood, etc. Again, a single dominant male Peacock. Some of the Lake Victorian Haps (Nyeri Flameback, Thickskin sp. 44, etc) work well too.
Stay away from larger predatory haps (Aristochromis, etc), timid sand dwelling haps (Lethrinops, etc), and stay away from larger aggressive mbuna.
As far as feeding, a quality food like NLS or Northfin pellets can be fed to both. If you choose an insectivorous Labidochromis species (like yellow Labs), they require less vegetable matter anyway. And S. Fryeri will supplement its pellets with a natural high protein snack anyway….the fry from the mbuna.
That being said, it is easier to keep them separate, especially if you don’t have a lot of experience with aggressive/territorial fish.

Thanks for all the advice everyone I keep running it over in my head which I want to do at the moment I'm on the side of one 8 foot tank and have a pure Mbuna tank. It is a show tank in my living area so would make an impressive display and quite set on Mbuna really - feel like they connect with how I enjoy keeping fish more than most fish in the hobby, very excited to give it a go!

@DJRansome can I use some kind of ignorant logic and say if we were discussing 4 species in a 4 foot 75, 8 species in an 8 foot 150 might be possible? You mentioned 6 species in a 6 foot which I might be into - though I'd hope to have bigger groups perhaps more than one male of some species? Would an aim of about 40 fish be achievable?

Its not a plan to combine them but the species I'm into that I'd like to work into a plan

Maingano
Pearlmutt
Acei - Ngara or Itungi
Scofoli or Callianos
Msobo Mgunga
Maison Reef (appreciate this is a bit of a different league to some others here but bit of a dream fish for me)
White Labs
Labeotropheus Trewavasae Thumbi West (think I'd really like a Labeotropheus in here - not 100% on Thumbi West)
Rustys

There might be more floating around on my shortlist in my head.

Interesting what @oldcatfish says about the Fryeri but understand the diet issue. The one I was day dreaming of in this tank was Star Saphires, maybe with some Peacocks like Usisya? Not looked into if it would even work but stunning species.

Wills

Excellent I will check out that thread!

@DJRansome thank you as ever! I've been thinking for a while we need some sort of 'cheat sheet' to show visual similarities and how you avoid them etc - I've been using photoshop etc to mock up tanks to get ideas of what combos I like and what I think works but don't have original photos to do it with but maybe other people are less interested (more normal) in that side of things?

I hadn't thought of pearlmutt vs white labs interesting - saw the pearls as a black bar yellow fin and the white labs as a very pale blue/white but definitely will choose there - think the Pearls, as after seeing them IRL they have stuck with me. Same for the White Fin Acei - would they be ok with the Socolofi (sorry for my spelling earlier!) with them being the darker violet blue?

Metriaclimba sp. Maison Reef (5)
Labidochromis Pearlmutt (5)
Pseudotropheus Acei 'Itungi' (5)
Iodotropheus Sperengi - Rustys (5)
Chindongo Socolofi (5)
Pseudotropheus Cyaneorhabdos - Maingaino (8)
Labeotropheus sp. TBC (8)

For 41 fish sounds good? Assuming 1 male per species, only one species with drab females but a real stand out male. I'm missing a bright yellow and/or an orange which I thought I'd get from a female but these pics dont present that and I've cornered myself for something like a Yellow Lab, Saulosi or Estherae. Some of the Labeotropheus females are orange or OB but more of a redish orange than the brighter tones.

I've seen mention before of mixing barred and solid colour Metriaclimba before, would this tank be big enough to try that, so the Maison Reef for the barred fish but then an Estherae for the solid blue male and the orange females - or just go for the Red Zebra for all orange?

The Star Sapphire was just a day dream rather than an actual contender Its whats swung me a bit to go for the Mbuna as I like a lot of the bigger Haps but availability around me is tough and I'd want to do an all male tank but not sure thats for me as mixed gender feels more natural and a lot of the good places I have access to don't want to just sell single males either - though Star Sapphires are one of the species I'd do a mixed gender with but not right now... but decided on Mbuna

Wills

DJRansome said:

...It might be possible, but the problem will be finding species of different genera that look nothing alike. For example, you only want one metriaclima...so choose among callainos, msobo and maison reef. And you only want one Labidochromis so choose between white labs and perlmutt.

Look at it from a color/appearance point of view, both the perlmutt and the white labs are white. I personally don't like blue socolofi and acei together...too much mid-blue.

Ideally you could have the 40 fish but maybe not all 8 species...more individuals in each species group...

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@DJRansome- For some reason your post got me to thinking about the early days when Malawians first started to appear in the hobby. Initially only WC adults were available; they were expensive, had unusual water requirements, and male/female sexual dimorphisms often confused us, so only experienced hobbyists kept them successfully. That changed rapidly when F1 juveniles became available, and they took the hobby by storm because of their bright colours and interesting behaviours. Mbuna were great ambassadors for the cichlid hobby, so much so that Paul Loiselle once commented that more than half of the ACA membership could trace their interest in cichlid fishes to 'an early encounter with the Mbuna.'

But there was a downside: few people knew how to keep them properly. The beautiful colours of the Mbuna tempted all sorts of hobbyists to try keeping them, often under wildly inappropriate conditions. Furthermore, some of the early imports turned out to be among the most aggressive Mbuna species, Pseudotropheus auratus (as it was known at the time) and Pseudotropheus zebra (ditto) being cases in point. The consequences were predictable, and many people learned the hard way that the two-of-this and two-of-that 'community aquarium' approach did not work with Mbuna. All this long before the issue of hybridization raised its ugly head.

Now the community has years of experience, and we know a great deal more about how to keep these fishes in captivity, as outlined in your post. How times change... 🐟🐟🐟