150 Gallon Stocking

[erk628]

I have a 150 gallon tank that I will be setting up soon as a mbuna tank. I would like to overstock to help with agression. I went to my LPS the other day and made a list of all the ones they have here it is.

Frontosa cichlid
Demasoni cichlid
Powder blue cichlid
Maingano
Hap compressicep
Eb haplochromis ahli
Auratus
P kennyi
Cobalt blue
Ice blue zebra
Zebra obliquidens
Albino redfin zebra
Jewel
Red top cobalt zebra
Red fin borleyi
Albino socolofi
Accei
Haplochromis milomo
B b omatus
Eb johanni
Hap venustus
Rusty springeri
Haplochromis electra
P elongatus
Ob zebra
Red zebra
Yellow labidochromis
Asst african cichlid
Ornatus
Labidochromis
Chrysonotus

Would I be able to mix any of these? How many total do you think would work in my tank? Thanks in advance to those who reply.

 

[dthoffsett]

I would recommend picking one group and sticking with it. While you can mix mbuna and haps in a larger tank you still need to be very careful with mixing aggression levels and feeding requirements, it's something I'd only recommed for the experienced cichlid keeper.

Frontosa cichlid - Lake Tanganikya

Demasoni cichlid - Mbuna

Powder blue cichlid - Could be any of 6-8 different species

Maingano - Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos - Mbuna, Melanochromis species are the most aggressive group of mbuna, but tend to do well in a larger tank with other aggressive species.

Hap compressicep - Dimidiochromis compressiceps - Hap, known as the Malawi Eye Biter for a reason.

Eb haplochromis ahli - Hap

Auratus - Melanochromis auratus - mbuna

P kennyi - Metriaclima lombardoi - mbuna

Cobalt blue - Can be given to several species, but most likely Metriaclima callainos - mbuna

Ice blue zebra - Usually given to Metriaclima greshakei, mbuna

Zebra obliquidens - Astatotilapia latifasciata, aggressive Lake Victoria speices

Albino redfin zebra - Not sure what species that would be

Jewel - Riverine species

Red top cobalt zebra - Not sure what species

Red fin borleyi - One of the Copadichromis variants, hap

Albino socolofi - Pseudotropheus socolofi Albino, mbuna

Accei - Pseudotropheus acei, mbuna

Haplochromis milomo - Placidochromis milomo, hap

B b omatus - Not sure what species

Eb johanni - Melanochromis johanni, mbuna

Hap venustus - Nimbochromis venustus, hap

Rusty springeri - Iodotropheus sprengerae, mbuna

Haplochromis electra - Placidochromis electra, hap

P elongatus - Pseudotropheus elongatus, mbuna

Ob zebra - Metriaclima zebra (OB), mbuna

Red zebra - Metriaclima estherae, mbuna

Yellow labidochromis - Labidochromis caeruleus, mbuna

Asst african cichlid - It's best to avoid assorted tanks as these frequently contain hybrids.

Ornatus - There are both mbuna and hap species with ornatus in them, you would need a scientific name to be sure.

Labidochromis - Any one of the Labidochromis species, avoid mixing them due to their propensity to hybridize. mbuna

Chrysonotus - Copadichromis chrysonotus, hap