Getting A Rio 300

[chishnfips]

Hi folks,

for those that dont know, I currently have a jewel vision 180 the stocking is in my sig, I am hopefully this week picking up a jewel rio 300 and was wondering how many more mbuna I could put in it. At the mo there are 13 fish in my vision, would it just be a case of doubling the stocking, or could I only add say another 8-10 fish.

I dont want to add anymore of the same fish that I have except maybe a few more demasons, but I want variation, I ws thinking off these:

demason x 2

Pseudotropheus acei x3

Pseudotropheus socolofi x 3

and probably a large pleco of some sort and another syndontis upside down cat.

oh also I dont think two of my labs are actually yellow labs, I think they may be some sort of socolofi or saulosi, or a cross between them and a lab, will try and get pics.

what do you reckon dudes, I could probably work this out on my own but I like different opinions on stuff.

cheers chish

 

[dthoffsett]

I'd aim for 15-17 fish as long as you have plenty of filtration. That that is around 78 gallons, I have a 75 with: 6 l.caeruleus, 6 m.callainos, 4 p.acei, and 1 female p.crabro, with a Fluval 404 and an Aquaclear 70 (total gph of 650). I do weekly water changes of around 40%, but have been able to put them off to two weeks on occasion when I do a lot of overtime with no problems.

So for your stocking:

I wouldn't add any more demasoni, they do best in groups of 12 or more, or singly, if you buy just one or two more, you'll eventually end up with just one again, so you might as well save your money.

Although I'm not a big fan of kenyis, you'll want to add 2-3 females, if you have just one male and one female now, the female is going to get picked on to breed constantly and can be killed. If you have two males, you're in for a world of trouble.

You'll want to add a couple of m.greshaki females as well (ice blue zebras), lack of females will cause the same problem as above.

Labs do best in groups of 5 or more, but adding extras will be up to you.

Ok, so if it were me, so far we'd be up to: 1 p.demasoni, 1 male, 3 female m.lombardoi, 1 male, 3 female m.greshaki, 3 m.estherae, 4 l.caeruleus for a total of 16 fish. Which gets you pretty much stocked.

I realize that doesn't inclue any new species, but you really need to fill out the species you have.

 

[chishnfips]

cheers for the reply mate, I may take the red zebras back, and maybe the kenyis too. I want more colour and things in the tank,

is that stocking you suggested, including the syndontis cats and pleco I want to add, or is it just on their own?


cheers again

 

[dthoffsett]

Oh yeah, forgot about the synos, I don't see any reason why you couldn't add a few synos and a bn plec to what I suggested.

If you return the kennyis and the zebras, here's what I suggest.

5 l.caeruleus
1 p.demasoni
1m/4f m.greshaki
5 p.acei
3-4 synos
1-2 bn plecs
plenty of filtration

That would give you a nice colorful combination of blue, purple, and yellow, and also enough of each species to be able to see some nice interaction. The greshaki will rule the tank, but should leave the labs and acei alone, except for a little chasing.

 

[chishnfips]

yip that sounds like a nice combination of colour and things, hopefully getting the tank this week, my mate just bought a rena 700l job for his arowana so I am getting his old tank. canny wait. lol. It takes a while to figure out what goes best in an mbuna tank so cheers for the advice.