Input About A Mbuna Tank

[zackcrack00]

If anyone would like to help even more, I will be waiting on chat. Please talk, anyone, on chat to me.

 

[zackcrack00]

I want 2 breeding group of cichlids to go with my Cynotilapia sp. "Mbamba" (Nkhata Bay). They only grow to 3.5" and are mildly aggressive. Here is what I like, (1 being my favorite, then 2, etc.):
1) Gephyrochromis sp. "patricki", 3.5", Aggressive
2) Labidochromis sp. "Hongi", 6", Mildly Aggressive
3) Iodotropheus sprengerae, 4", Peaceful
and 4) Metriaclima greshakei, 6", Mildly Aggressive. Which 2 are the best tankmates for my Cynos.?

 

[rupertoooo]

Here is a nice selection of fish which should do well together:

Metriaclima aurora

Pick 1: Cynotilapia afra Cobue or Labidochromis sp. "Hongi or Labidochromis sp. "Mbamba

Pick 1: Pseudotropheus sp. "Williamsi North or Metriaclima callainos (Pearl) or Pseudotropheus sp. Elongatus Chailosi or Pseudotropheus sp. Elongatus Chewere. If you choose Chewere do not use Mbamba as it may not be the best tank mate.



If you are up for an extremely aggressive but gorgeous group of fish I believe this grouping would be dynamite. This is not the best grouping for beginners however so proceed with caution.


Tropheops sp. "Red Cheek
Labeotropheus trewavasae, Zimbawe
Cynotilapia sp. hara, Gallireya Reef

 

[hollyfish2000]

Zack is a beginner. I do not recommend highly aggressive fish. My advice as stated before -- talk to Dave of Dave's rare fish. He will not steer you wrong nd you'll get quality fish from him

 

[zackcrack00]

I left Dave a message earlier today on the phone number the website lists. I like the list you gave me, Craig. It's perfect! I will choose the Cynotilapia afra Cobue and the Pseudotropheus sp. Elongatus Chailosi. I really like all of these, and have never seen any of them before. Now to my next topic: If I was going to get a small group of fry of one species to raise to young adults and eventually put in my 125 on December 30th, when should I get them as fry? And how big and how many?

 

[zackcrack00]

By the way, the fry will be in a 29 gallon.

 

[verbal]

I left Dave a message earlier today on the phone number the website lists. I like the list you gave me, Craig. It's perfect! I will choose the Cynotilapia afra Cobue and the Pseudotropheus sp. Elongatus Chailosi. I really like all of these, and have never seen any of them before. Now to my next topic: If I was going to get a small group of fry of one species to raise to young adults and eventually put in my 125 on December 30th, when should I get them as fry? And how big and how many?

Dave has Cynotilapia afra as Cynotilapia zebroides.

He has the Elongatus in the Metriaclima genera. So I would do one or the other with them and the Metriaclima aurora. I would probably go with elongatus, since the females of the aurora's don't have much color.

 

[zackcrack00]

I really like the list I have, and I don't want to keep changing. Thanks, though Jesse! I honestly don't care what the females and sub-dom. males look like as long as they're not brown!

 

[rupertoooo]

Zack is a beginner. I do not recommend highly aggressive fish. My advice as stated before -- talk to Dave of Dave's rare fish. He will not steer you wrong nd you'll get quality fish from him

No doubt about it in regards to discussing with Dave however its always nice to have a list of fish you are interested in to inquire about.

 

[Tony]

Wow. I hate my internet sources. I read just "aggressive" for the Yellow Fins, as well as the greshakei.... -_- This is horrible.

As a rule of thumb... any fish with the word "aggressive" in their name will likely act aggressively.

Metriaclima aurora

Now *that* is a mean fish... bred them for a bit and got rid of them. Other than demasoni, one of the worst mbuna I've kept.

 

[verbal]

I really like the list I have, and I don't want to keep changing. Thanks, though Jesse! I honestly don't care what the females and sub-dom. males look like as long as they're not brown!

The males are stunning, but the females look pretty much brown to me. Hmm we might have found an mbuna that Matt would be interested in keeping.

You might also think about your stocking in terms of where you will acquire the stock. Dave's October group buy would probably be a good time to get your first group of juvies and grow them out a little in your 29 until you get your big tank. I would start with the smallest fish you are planning for your stocking and add them first.
Assuming things go well with the grow-out, I would add a relatively common peaceful mbuna that is available in the club. Yellow labs and rusties are the ones that come to mind. Even if you get them at a larger size, you should be able to quarantine them in a 29. Assuming things are going well you probably have your tank stocked with 2 species in time for Aquamania.

If you want to add fish at a larger size, you may want to check with your parents about a temporary "tank" for quarantine for them, or you can quarantine smaller fish in the 29.

 

[dogofwar]

Keep in mind folks that this is a conceptual 125g tank hopefully in the not-too-distant-future, maybe.

That said, keeping mbuna in a 6' tank - and I've kept and bred plenty...brown and otherwise - is quite different than, say, keeping groups in a 30g or smaller tanks. A type that's basically un-keepable in a 30g (or even a 55g) might be manageable in a 6' tank.

The keys to mbuna are keeping large, female-heavy groups and packing them in (intentional overcrowding). You can keep A LOT of mbuna in a 125g...if you're doing lots of water changes and providing lots of filtration. Keeping MORE of them actually REDUCES aggression, even in aggressive species.

In a 125g you can set up multiple areas of the tank for different groups of fish. The Ad Konings vidoe that we were looping at AquaMania was about various mbuna feeding strategies and their relationships to behavior / aggression.

Finally, there are more mbuna in the world than yellow labs, rusties and Petsmart "mixed Africans". Just like any group of fish, they're all somewhat different. Someone like Dave or a club member who's actually kept them could provide good insight.

Or try something new - get an appropriately-sized group when you get your 6' tank and teach us about them! A tank that large is large enough for just about any of them...

Matt

 

[verbal]

Or try something new - get an appropriately-sized group when you get your 6' tank and teach us about them! A tank that large is large enough for just about any of them...

Matt

You do have a good point that a larger tank should make keeping pretty much any mbuna species manageable. Nimbochromis livingstonii and Copidachromis borleyi have reputations as being trouble makers. I haven't seen that in my 150 gallon tank, but the story would likely be different trying the same group in a 75.

I still think it would be best to stick to fewer and less aggressive species. While you may not have the killings you get with aggressive mbuna in a small tank, OTOH removing bullies/victims is much harder in a larger tank. Also the less aggressive species generally give you more leeway on the ratios.

Also the tank size will allow adding a more aggressive species, once he gets the hang of maintaining the tank and keeping mbuna.

 

[zackcrack00]

Thanks for the advice, guys! I will get the chailosi first in time for Aquamania to sell their fry.

 

[zackcrack00]

I will try the Aurora, still. No harm in tryin'!

 

[rupertoooo]

Quote:
Originally Posted by rupertoooo
Metriaclima aurora

Now *that* is a mean fish... bred them for a bit and got rid of them. Other than demasoni, one of the worst mbuna I've kept.

I personally never had an issue with an Aurora in my 100G all male Mbuna tank. But as dogofwar mentioned if you provide the correct husbandry practice and overstock the tank you can likely can get away with combining the more aggressive species with simply the aggressive species but than again Mbuna will be Mbuna.

For me the Aurora is the most beautiful species of Mbuna. Here is a pic of my baby.

 

[Tony]

I will try the Aurora, still. No harm in tryin'!

Glad you're hearing what you want to hear.

Good luck with them.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rupertoooo

I personally never had an issue with an Aurora in my 100G all male Mbuna tank. But as dogofwar mentioned if you provide the correct husbandry practice and overstock the tank you can likely can get away with combining the more aggressive species with simply the aggressive species but than again Mbuna will be Mbuna.

Keeping a single male and a breeding group are not the same thing.

Ever kept a single venustus? Ever bred them as adults?

 

[hollyfish2000]

The harm in trying, zack, is usually borne by the fish. Just so you know. And for those giving advice who don't know it, the op is a young teenager with lots of enthusiasm but limited experiences and I don't think parents who are knowledgeable or involved in fish. That information might change some of what you are suggesting. Going from a 29 gal tank to a 125!is a huge learning curve even for experienced adults

 

[zackcrack00]

Yes, I may have forgot to mention that. Haha, I am always forgetting, but NEVER when it comes to stripping, feeding, and dealing with fish! I just went to talk to the Marine Biologist on staff at my LFS, and he said that he kept a group of M. Aurora and discriminated his 300 gal. He said peacocks would be fine with my two other choices. I will look at species profiles now.

 

[Tony]

he said that he kept a group of M. Aurora and discriminated his 300 gal.

I knew they were mean, but had no idea they were racist as well....