Advice Please.

[helsekia2]

Ok so Im returning tofish keeping after a small break,i have a 55g cycling and am thinking about mbuna.Ive been on cichlid form and read up a bit and used thecookiecutter Im thinking of;

metriaclima estheroe,
pseudotropheus saulosi
labidochromis cauruleus
pseudotropheus acei


so any thoughts on that stocking welcome,as well as any ideas for catfish/plecs for the tank.thanks

 

[Snake42490]

well i could say something about the stocking but i would most likely be wrong haha.. if your following the cookie cutter setup you should be all right as long as you dont get to many males or if you get a couple of the ones that says only choose one.. for catfish i would recommend some kind of synodontis... eupterus, petricola, or multipunctatus. i have honestly had no luck with plecos.. all though i only tried one once.. a long time ago when i was in my early early beginner stage haha.. but yeah you cant go wrong with those synos

 

[helsekia2]

wrong how?

 

[Ferris]

Should be a very nice combination visually and all 4 species are certainly compatibile with each other.

 

[fishytyke]

i agree, i nice choice, and all "should" live together ok, if you have to have catfish the multis should be ok, but would seriously reduce the number of juvies that survive!

 

[helsekia2]

could i go for something like a bristlenose plec?

 

[fishytyke]

to be honest i keep a couple of adult bristlenose in each of my malawi tanks, these do a good job of keeping the algea down, the bits that the fish miss anyway, and the adult mbuna leave them alone.

others may disagree but it works well for me

neil

 

[helsekia2]

oo thanks for that.ive kept bristlies before and theyve always been ok,left everything alone.heres the tank just after filling it uphttp/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=208748

 

[Ferris]

Yep - BN's tend to work well with Mbuna - they are tough enough to cope with the higher Ph and aggression levels.

 

[helsekia2]

ok so ive been told that my tanks not big enough?

 

[Ferris]

A 55 gal is normally perfect for Mbuna. What are the tank dimensions?

 

[helsekia2]

tis 36x15 oh and 24 high not that that matters

 

[Ferris]

OK - a standard 55 gal is 4 feet long, which is preferrable for Mbuna as they tend to spend more time near the bottom of the tank so length is more important and the height is less practical.

It's not a dead loss though - whlist your tank is perhaps not ideal, i don't see a problem with continuing - i'd simply stick to 12 fish, 3 from each of the 4 species you have selected.

Another plus point would be that P.Acei tend to swim at the surface, which is quite unusual for Mbuna and they are one of the species you have selected.

 

[helsekia2]

thanks forthe help and advice very much appreciated.Would you add the fish in any particlarly order?Im thinking if theres a way to reduce territory wars.

 

[Ferris]

I wouldn't worry about the order too much but try and add them in large numbers - avoid adding 1 or 2 fish at a time to a tank as they are likely to get picked on by any existing fish.

Add them in 2 large groups if you can and if your tank is fully cycled.