Cichlids And Barbs

[jayjay]

only by mbuna standards, by tropical fish standards

Mbuna are tropical. I am fully aware of aggression and comparisons to other fish.

Mbuna simply aren't compatible outside of a mbuna community

I can think of many none Mbuna fish that are compatible with them.

Rams would not work with tiger barbs, if you want the best out of your rams. The 4' length is debatable, we shall leave it at that.

however since mbuna generally only occupy the lower part of the tank, dimensions are more important than gallons (ie. more floor space means more fish)

Not quite, I see many Mbuna species using all levels of the tank. The dimensions are normally the best way to get more fish, though if your overstocking, smaller amounts of water will be harder to maintain, needing more frequent, larger water changes.

Also I'm not the biggest fan of cichlid-forum cookie clutter setups suggestions, it recommends fish that shouldn't be kept together, a pair of convicts and shoal of tetra for example.

Food is also not the main 'growth limiter', water change schedule affect it hugely. You are also reccomending yellow labs which, before you said weren't happen in a smaller tank, which is it?

I would agree with waiting for the larger tank and maybe getting just the pair of convicts for this tank, or even better in my opinion, lake Tang.s, N. Brichardi, Calvus, shell dwellers, Juli.s would all work.

 

[kribensis12]

Rams are too shy, and with tigers the will get massacerd. Tigers dont do well with most any cichlid from my experience. For a 30 you could try this: 10 tetras, 10 danios, 1 royal or regular pleco, 2 kribs/ male and female, and 2 brichardi/ same sex perrferably both female. Then you have fish that take all levels of your tank and there is aleays excietment going on. I have a tank set up like that and have had no problems. In that tank you would have your cichlids, carcharins, and catfish.
The perfect set up. And for anyone wondering, the brichardi arnt that mean because when the kribs spawn the kribs level out the brichardi and you dont have to worry about fry because the tetras, danios,brchardi, and pleco will eat them. Good luck.

 

[SG-1]

[/quote]
arabballin: Mbuna simply aren't compatible outside of a mbuna community, so if you really want tiger barbs, I would suggest finding something that is compatible with tiger barbs and work with them as the center piece. I'm not too sure but would rams work with them? I think they are less aggressive than convicts.
[/quote]

Thats not necessarily true, I have a mixed mbuna tank.

 

[dthoffsett]

SG-1: I probably should have been more specific as mbuna can mix with haps and peacocks, though something larger than 30gal would be required, and it probably wouldn't be the easiest beginner tank.

However, it seems his/her parents have vetoed the bigger tank, and africans. http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=170822

 

[SG-1]

SG-1: I probably should have been more specific as mbuna can mix with haps and peacocks, though something larger than 30gal would be required, and it probably wouldn't be the easiest beginner tank.

However, it seems his/her parents have vetoed the bigger tank, and africans. http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=170822

lol, sometimes being a kid really sucks

 

[arabballin]

yes sg-1 it really does. who knew they would actually do the research on all this.

 

[arabballin]

http/www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Di...cfm?pCatId=1832

how about a pair of those with...
6 tiger barbs
a red tailed black shark
a bristle nose pleco

 

[kribensis12]

That should work, but I would only suggest 2 tigers instead of 6 and alot of dither fish( fish that are great distractions on aggression) such as tetras, guppies, goldfish, danios.

 

[Ferris]

Sorry to contradict you Kribensis12 but getting 2 TB's is asking for trouble. Unless you get a schoal of at least 6, they will harrass most of the other fish in the tank, nipping at fins etc. Larger schoals of TB's tend to keep to themselves and leave the other fish alone.

If you want to keep Tiger Barb's, 6 is a minimum IMO, preferrably 8.

 

[kribensis12]

That is okay, I have only kept tigers once before and I had 2 with a breeding pair of cons( I know water parameters and all but i did it anyway) and they mostly kept to themselves until ick took the lives of the Tigers. So I am sorry if I gave any false info.