Auratus Compatability Question?

[odannyboy]

i like the male m auratus but there write ups say there serious bad boys! could i keep one male alone in a mixed community.tank is 48 x18x18. would be with salousis( 1m 3f) red zebs (1m 3f) and 4-5 other mellow-ish mbuna.would this work or is it cruel / wrong for him to be alone? would no females mean he would go for other females?

 

[Ferris]

He could (and probably would) quite simply go for anything and everything in the tank, regardless of gender. Best kept in a species only tank IMO - Not worth the risk unless you have something like a 5 footer with loads of space.

 

[odannyboy]

cheers ferris.answers that one!

 

[Scott MacAdam]

Well.... you may not believe this, I had a melanochromis auratus, also male, and it was about 3 inches at the time... he was givving my little labs absolute hell, so i netted him and rested the net in the corner of another tank (community with a golden gourami , some dainos, etc.) and he jumped out into the tank and was the most peaceful fish I had ever seen ...Insane I know....maybe he hit his head on the way down and thought he was a danio..... anyway he didn't even show any agression to any of the other fish, so I left him there.... he just died recently, but it was the craziest thing i have ever experienced in fish keeping.....

as for africans though, these fish can be nasty.... I wouldn't ever buy another for a african tank unless I had TONS of room because they want everything in thier sight dead it seems......

 

[jgray152]

Male aratus are pretty aggrasive once they turn black. Stunning though. Mine seems to have a issue with everyone in the take except the Non-Mbuna fish. The JD and Parrot put him in his place every time.

He is not real bad, and doesn't chase the others around all day, only now and then. I would try to lean away from them if you want a calm tank, or if you can, try to get females. I have one female that is great. Well. Atleast I think its a female. Its an adult and its not black. I suppose that doesn't mean anything though. Egg spots on my fish don't tell the fish apart either.

 

[Ferris]

Well. Atleast I think its a female. Its an adult and its not black

- It's a female.