African reccomendations

[MonteSS]

No, I am not switching to the dark side!!!

So, my newbie buddy just got a 75g. I reccomended SA.

I want to show him other options. What are some colorful africans that will work. Yellow Labs look nice. What else go with them and how many?

His fiance wants a fish that looks like Nemo

Thanks...Bill

 

[verbal]

If I was starting an african tank for a beginner, I would probably go with yellow labs and 3 or 4 male peacocks.

Rusties(Iodotropheus sprengerae) are another peaceful mbuna. If you want a fish with some orange, some female labeotropheus are OB(orange blotched). I would stay away from male Labeotropheus to start with, due to aggression(especially if breeding or trying to). With most mbuna you want the diet to be more vegetarian, although labs are omnivoires.


A common recommendation is labs and demasoni, but I would stay away from demasoni as a newbie. You need a large group and that makes it harder to maintain water quality.

One key to success is to avoid the "assorted african cichlids". They often are pretty fish, but they include some very aggressive ones that are not suitable for beginners. The list I would specifically avoid is: Kenyii, auratus, johannii, the bumblebee cichlid. Zebras(like the Red Zebra) might work, but they can be pretty aggressive.

id.

 

[UNCLERUCKUS]

KENYI GET A BAD RAP BUT ARE NOT HARD TO RAISE WITH OTHER FISH AS A BEGINNER AS LONG AS YOU GET THEM ALL SMALL AND HAVE A NICE ROCK STRUCTURE FOR EVERYONE TO CLAIM AS THEIRS YOU WON'T HAVE TOO MUCH OF AN ISSUE. I SAY THIS CUZ I STARTED OUT UNKNOWINGLY WITH 2 KENYI AND 2 LABS IN A 55. THEY GREW UP FINE. NOBODY GAVE ME A WARNING AND I DIDN'T KNOW A THING ABOUT FISH. (I went for the pretty colors lol) I DID LEARN DOWN THE ROAD ABOUT THEIR AGGRESSION BUT I NEVER SAW ANYTHING BAD. TO BE HONEST MY LABS WERE THE BULLIES UNTIL I GOT BUMBLEBEES AND VENUSTIS AND AFRAS. GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR TANK AND I HOPE YOU GET SOME NICE STOCK.

 

[Tony]

I'm with Jesse. Three groups of very different mbuna would be pretty cool. Yellow labs, Salousi and rusties would be pretty cool and not uber violent. Definitely avoid the larger, more aggressive mbuna (Ps. crabro, any Melanochromis, cobalt blue zebras and yes, Kenyi - sorry DQ, they're dicks.)

Lots of color, action and breeding with not too much a chance for crossbreeding. If he does up some decent rockwork, he can also toss in a smaller syno and some of the fry will still survive.

Alternatively, single male peacocks with a group of more laid-back mbuna would be an eye-catching setup, but may cost a bit more to start out.

 

[illpoet]

kribensis (Pelvicachromis Pulcher) mix well with yellow labs, they get territorial during spawning but usually won't kill anything. They are also inexpensive easy to keep and kind of look like nemo. At least they are little cute and orangeish. this avatar is a krib.

 

[Rasta Fish]

I would stick with one group of Mbuna and mix with Peacocks
I would go with the group of yellow labs or Rusty or Salousi, or any one group of your favorite Mbuna and male peacocks for a show tank.
the cool thing with the Salousi is that you get 2 colors, Males are blue and females are yellow so it looks like two different types of cichlids, but you have to like what you have in your tank also.
you can also add a few other odd balls that will go great with cichlids like Kribs, Red tail shark, Clown Barbs, Arulius Barb.
Get a nice pleco also

 

[fischfan13]

I like the "Classic" Mbuna tank of Yellow's with Blue's.
Yellow Labs with Polit or Maingano's would be nice, and the Rusty's as a third group.
Elongatus Chewere is also really nice with the Labs. Look at pics of Metriaclima's. Make sure that you do not pick one like Msobo's, which are really nice but have females that might look too similar to the Labs and precipitate a fight.
Demasoni is my favorite choice but more times than not with newbies they witness a bloodbath with the Dems, possibly leading them to not keep Africans.
Stay away from Kenyi (I 2nd that)...they are nasty and almost all of the time you see people trying to give them away in disgust.
Something that adds life to any African tank are Syno's...especially Petricola or Lucipinnis.

 

[MonteSS]

Thanks all. Sounds like the info we are looking for. Can a group of cories work? Or stick with Synos. Also what about tetras or barbs?

Thanks again...Bill

 

[verbal]

Thanks all. Sounds like the info we are looking for. Can a group of cories work? Or stick with Synos. Also what about tetras or barbs?

Thanks again...Bill

Even if you pick peaceful cichilds, cories primarily prefer more moderate water parameters. I think most tetras would be a similar story.

There maybe some barbs that would be comfortable with harder more alkaline water.

 

[Rasta Fish]

I have been keeping Clown Barbs, Arulius Barb with my cichlids for years no problem with them

 

[DiscusnAfricans]

Thanks all. Sounds like the info we are looking for. Can a group of cories work? Or stick with Synos. Also what about tetras or barbs?

Thanks again...Bill

Most cories are too docile to tolerate the African'a aggression. The water parameters are another issue. You're better off sticking with synos, just avoid the ones that get over 6".

Congo tetras could work, some barbs might work also. Rainbows are another good choice. Most of them prefer hard water and are fast/big enough to hang with the Africans if you want to mix up types of fish.

 

[Tony]

I've had cories "de-barbelled" and otherwise fubarred by juvenile Africans. Not good.

 

[Charlutz]

For something different and something that will have a WOW effect, you could do yellow labs and several male sc. fryeri. Only thing would be getting a newbie to wait while the fryeri grow up and color up. Set them up with two daylight bulbs and one actinic and you'd have an eyepopper of a tank. The ECC or another auction might be a good place to score a few of the fryeri. Lastly, you can also throw in a few big clown loaches or a red tailed shark to add color you don't see in the africans. Agree on the syno multipunctatus or petricola too.

 

[WendyFish]

For another blue choice, I have a group of cyno sp. Hara that are very pretty. The males are awesome colored up and the girls are a nice slightly purpley blue. Mine are quite mellow.