So for my birthday, my girlfriend and some of my friends got me gift certificates at a Petco. I think I am going to put it towards buying a 40 gallon bowfront. I am new to the cichlid world and I have been reading a TON. I know I'm going to do sand (whether it's playsand or black sand I do not know), and I know I'm going to do big rocks for cover/caves. What I don't know is my stocking list. I would like Yellow Labs. One question I have is, are there any other mbuna's that are just like the yellow labs but different colors? Orange, blue whatnot. I mean like BRIGHT blue, ive seen pale blue and i'm not a huge fan. What are the cichlids that are black with the bright blue stripes?

So finally, given 40 gallons, how many of those fish would you put in there? I think i would like to do yellow labs, any other color labs (if there are any), acei, and whatever that black with blue stripes is. does this sound ok? probably 12 fish?

at a guess i would say the (blue striped fish) you are looking at may be a demasoni. but then agiain could be anything. if it was me, i would say no...not for a 40 g anyway. maybe metriaclima estherae would work but with labs but they may crossbreed. 40 gallons isn't alot for mbuna, someone else maybe able to advisse you further, sorry I cant be more help, I am just back from the pub and my team got beat in the UEFA Cup final, so I am a bit drunk and seeing double lol, but fpr the record I would say in a 40 g you could get maybe 10-12 mbuna certainly no more than that.

chish


oh yeah and acei would be a no no in my book, they get to about 7 inches and need alot of swimming space....you know.

This post has been edited by chishnfips: May 15 2008, 12:17 AM

i would say, yellow labs and demasoni and yellow labs would be amazing in that tank

i would go for 3-4 yellow labs and 12 demasoni

If so, there'd need to be alot of filtration as I think that's kinda overstocking it. At least 10x tank turnover, so that'd be 400 gallons per hour minimum. You could get by with a little less as they are juvies, but it will need to increase as the fish grow and put their full bio-load on the tank.

i know a few guys that have the same stocking in a 33 gallon, with 250gph or so and everything is fine but yeah, 400 gph would be good, just remember demasoni get 2" long

A little less is probably alright....but it's definitely better to be a tad overfiltered than underfiltered. According to my calc. that size tank could house about 12 fish with the calc's that ferris and others gave me when I set up my tank...so according to that more filtration is better, imo, if he ends up with 15-16 fish in there.

As long as the 40gal you buy is a 4-foot tank, I'd say go for it. Here's a great place for species suggestions in a 40gal. Another thing you can do is go to Petco, write down all the names of the fish you like, and we can help with stocking.

well i plan on going there tomorrow to apply for a job as well as to look to see if they have any bogwood for my 6 gallon

EDIT - kj what is that blue fish in your avy?? cichlid no?

This post has been edited by ThatGuy: May 15 2008, 06:45 AM

I wouldnt do daemonsi in the 40 gal, from what I hear 70 gallon+ is the minimum for daemonsi as their agression levels are far greater then alot of mbuna, and even if you did it would either be 1 Daemonsi or a colony as they will literally rip each other apart, I have two in a 80gal and they really really dont get on....

But you could go for more peaceful species (by mbuna standards) such as Yellow labs, Acei, Scolofi

This post has been edited by Ace Of Spades: May 15 2008, 07:41 AM

Thanks everyone. I am still curious as to what kj has in her avatar

you have to keep either one or ten to be safe, there conspicific agression level are high


but im going to stop, cause im probably wrong

You could do a breeding colony of demasoni in a 40gal long (4ft), as long as they are kept in groups of 12 or more, the aggression is kept down, that's why your two won't get along in no matter how large a tank. Also, acei need a minimum 75gal, they're peaceful, but they can reach 7 inches or more and need the swimming space.



Don't stop caboose, you're not wrong.

any news on the fish in kj's avatar?

Looks like metriaclima callainos to me, but the pic's a little too small to tell for sure, I'm sure the next time kj is on she'll let us know.

Oh and fyi, they wouldn't work in a 40 gal.

it's "king"...LOL yea i name my fish....It's a cynotilapia afra cobue. They are blue colored, but he looks really blue b/c under actinic lights.



Here he is a little while ago under regular lights. He's a little bluer now, but the only way you'd get to see him dark blue is some actinic lights, imo.


This post has been edited by kj23502: May 20 2008, 07:12 PM

Yea...the first pic. and the avatar is the same picture. Just thought i'd let everyone know for sure