Cant Find Afras :(

[Binge]

So In my recent post about my mixed african cichlid tank The new addition to the tank was going to be Cynotilipia afra (jalo reef). Sadly Finding any of those here seems to be moot unless I get lucky at the local fish groups auction next weekend. most of the local fish stores carry waht they call an ice blue zebra. It looks like the Pseudotropheus sp"zebra long pelvic" chesese in the cichlid profile section here. My wife and I do like the look of these. sO i wanted to see what some of the more experienced keepers thaught of adding them to a tank with yellow labs Succofali and 2 hybrids that are passive and get along with the other members of the tank already. They also have what they are calling an electric blue cichlid we have been considering because they are very pretty.

Thanks again.

This is a link to the electric blues from thier store. http/www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3954158
I am not able to find a pic of the others on thier site

 

[Malawi MaD]

So In my recent post about my mixed african cichlid tank The new addition to the tank was going to be Cynotilipia afra (jalo reef). Sadly Finding any of those here seems to be moot unless I get lucky at the local fish groups auction next weekend. most of the local fish stores carry waht they call an ice blue zebra. It looks like the Pseudotropheus sp"zebra long pelvic" chesese in the cichlid profile section here. My wife and I do like the look of these. sO i wanted to see what some of the more experienced keepers thaught of adding them to a tank with yellow labs Succofali and 2 hybrids that are passive and get along with the other members of the tank already. They also have what they are calling an electric blue cichlid we have been considering because they are very pretty.

Thanks again.

This is a link to the electric blues from thier store. http/www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3954158
I am not able to find a pic of the others on thier site

First of all if your really wanting afra's could you not get some shipped out to you?
What size tank are your fish currently in? The Pseudotropheus zebra long pelvic chesese shouldn't be a problem been added to the current fish you have. I've got a trio of these myself and they seem to be pretty placid fish as far as mbuna go, but that could be the fact that i already have a couple of tank boss's in my setup already not giving the long pelvic chance to be the dominant male and 'sure his true colours' shall we say. So you couldn't predict how they will react as each fish is different but if you do introduce them to your tank as long as there's enough rock work and hiding places things should be ok. Although keep an eye on the hybrids as they may try to interbreed with long pelvic's if you get females. How many you planning on getting? As for Sciaenochromis fryeri (electric blue cichlid) these do get quite large and would need a large tank(if your's is a good size then thats ok) with plenty of open swimming space, personally though i wouldn't mix the mbuna with haps/peacocks like the electric blue cichlid but plenty of people do so its upto you .. Hope this helps

 

[Binge]

The tank is a 55 it has lots of rock work already and is about to get more as I have about 30 more pieces of slate that I can use now. I was considering waiting till I added more fish since the scenerey change some times resets boundries. I looked into the afras on aquabid if I were to buy them this way after shipping it is a touch out of a price range that I am comfortable with .

I kinda figured the electric blues were gonna be a bad idea but figured I would ask as my wife was in love with the color.

If I do the zebras I will get 4 to 5 of them I intend for the tank to have between 13 and 18 cichlids in total with around 30-40 caves somne interlocked and some not. The slate has allowed me a lot of freedom to build as I wish. Right now the caves run all the way across the back of my tank about 6- 8 inches high. Im am going to extend it so thath it is taller and comes across the sides at an angle up around 6 inches. and on one side I have one of thos white and orange shaped stones with 2 holes in it that will be behind the slate allowing kind of a cave behind a cave sort of deal. The front of the tank is fairly open now but will be planted slowly with tough leaved plants the ciclids will not destroy. I will post pics of the current set up in a little bit been meaning to any way .

 

[Malawi MaD]

The tank is a 55 it has lots of rock work already and is about to get more as I have about 30 more pieces of slate that I can use now. I was considering waiting till I added more fish since the scenerey change some times resets boundries. I looked into the afras on aquabid if I were to buy them this way after shipping it is a touch out of a price range that I am comfortable with .

I kinda figured the electric blues were gonna be a bad idea but figured I would ask as my wife was in love with the color.

If I do the zebras I will get 4 to 5 of them I intend for the tank to have between 13 and 18 cichlids in total with around 30-40 caves somne interlocked and some not. The slate has allowed me a lot of freedom to build as I wish. Right now the caves run all the way across the back of my tank about 6- 8 inches high. Im am going to extend it so thath it is taller and comes across the sides at an angle up around 6 inches. and on one side I have one of thos white and orange shaped stones with 2 holes in it that will be behind the slate allowing kind of a cave behind a cave sort of deal. The front of the tank is fairly open now but will be planted slowly with tough leaved plants the ciclids will not destroy. I will post pics of the current set up in a little bit been meaning to any way .

Yeah that's the issue when you start looking at shipping the price starts to bump up. Sounds like your doing a nice job with making some decent caves for your fish and your doing the right thing in waiting to rearrange your tank for when you add new fish. If your wife really likes the colour of the Sciaenochromis fryeri there is a lot of mbuna out there with similar colours.Yeah a pic will be nice, be good to see how the tank looks

 

[Binge]

Tank
http/www.flickr.com/photos/13739571@N00/6186788335/
Tank again
http/www.flickr.com/photos/13739571@N00/6186789085/
all occupants
http/www.flickr.com/photos/13739571@N00/6186790671/

When I change it the stones on either side will be used as a base for the slate to start building upward. The stones in the center on top will be shifted to the sides to continue the slate upward as well. The ciclids have moved the sand around a lot and hidden some caves while making others deeper They still have access to the ones they have hidden from the back just how they wanted it I guess

I still need 3 more succofli and 1 more lab also.

 

[Malawi MaD]

Looks good now but does need more rock as you say. You can certainly see where they have been digging. You will have to keep the pics coming when you rearrange your tank i think it will look good, I can kinda get an image in my head of how your wanting the tank to look but will be better to actually see it when it's done .. Can see you got some metriaclima lombardoi females as well luckily no males as they are soo aggressive its unreal.

 

[Binge]

Think those are the ones people said were hybrids because of thier pinkinsh hue if they are the light blue stripey ones.

 

[Malawi MaD]

Ahh i see. Well to me i wouldn't say they are hybrids they look like perfectly normal metriaclima lombardoi female's (quite big to) how big are they?

 

[Binge]

Those two are around 4 inches one of the two has a slight dolphin nose and a pinkish hue that the other is lacking and the one lacking it has a rounded face shaped like a ")" With my ID post I did a while back I Figured the two were hybrids

heres 1
http/www.flickr.com/photos/13739571@N00/6143467512/

Heres 2
http/www.flickr.com/photos/13739571@N00/6142913547/

if theres an id for them then spiffy.

 

[Malawi MaD]

Nope their definitely metriaclima lombardoi common name (kenyi cichlid.

 

[Binge]

cool then I will grab 2 more of them as well for the tank so end stocking will hopefully be

5 Ice Blue Zebra
5 Yellow Labs
4 Succoffli
4 Metriaclima.

With the added caves and the eventual plants (thinking amazon swords, one of the wider bladed vals,some other grasslike plants). They should be quite cozy The filter on the tank is rated for a 90 gallon tank so can handle the bioload just fine. I am considering trying to find a long twiggy bit of driftwood to lay across the middle front of the tank just for added hiding ect.

 

[Malawi MaD]

cool then I will grab 2 more of them as well for the tank so end stocking will hopefully be

5 Ice Blue Zebra
5 Yellow Labs
4 Succoffli
4 Metriaclima.

With the added caves and the eventual plants (thinking amazon swords, one of the wider bladed vals,some other grasslike plants). They should be quite cozy The filter on the tank is rated for a 90 gallon tank so can handle the bioload just fine. I am considering trying to find a long twiggy bit of driftwood to lay across the middle front of the tank just for added hiding ect.

Would you not want to swap the metriaclima lombardoi for maybe another species??Then at least you can have a male and 2 to 3 females?? If your wanting to keep the lombardoi on the other hand then try and get females as the males are really really aggressive. Apart from that then i think the tank should progress nicely. Although the driftwood may effect your PH and lower your general hardness of your water which isn't ideal for malawi's but you can boil the driftwood in a bucket or soak it for a while to release tannins so that should be ok. If it does soften your water putting some crushed coral in the filter will sort it out and should raise the hardness of your water. Looking forward to seeing this when do you plan on rearranging the tank??

 

[Binge]

Soon as I get a number of the fish I am adding perhaps this coming weekend. All of those being added except the succofali are easily found here the succofali I have to drive 40 min for though ..

 

[Malawi MaD]

Ok cool, well don't forget to keep the pics coming as you update your tank