Here's My Stocking Options For My Tank........

[guppy_man]

my tanks dimentions are.........

length 4ft
width 1ft
height 1 1/2 ft
think its a 39UKgal not completly sure on that though

i was told that i could have these......

3x pearl of likoma (Melanochromis joanjohnsonae) 10cm
3x saulosi's mbuna (Pseudotropheus saulosi) 9cm
3x electric yellow lab (Labidochromis caeruleus) 15cm

aslong as i get 1 male to 2 females, for each species.

or would 4 labs and 4 Saulosi, be a better option?

what you think?

oh and it will be a new setup, totally redoing it lots of rock

 

[Ferris]

Your tank should be fine, length is the most important factor with Mbuna and a 4 footer covers it nicely.

I like the lab/Saulosi combination better, In my experience Joanjohnsonae can be aggressive little swines. If you fancy a Melanochromis species, check out Cyaneorhabdos - not too aggressive and should work well with labs and Saulosi.

 

[guppy_man]

ok thnx ferris, look at us lol 12:15am and we are still on here, talking about fish lol we must be fish addics

 

[Ferris]

oops 12:45 now

 

[Druchii]

personally if it where me i would not put yellow labs and saulosi together in such a small tank, purely becuase if you have 4 of each, your gonna have 7 yellow fish and one blue stripey one..

If it where me i'd choose one or the other in a tank so small with only 12 fish total.

I'd go, 4 lab's, 4 rusties, 4 kingsizei likomas

or 6 saulosi, 4 rusties and 4 something else

upto you mate there are loads of options, personally just feel you may overload on the yellow and miss out - in my tank (see seperate thread) i have both saulosi and labs and they kinda merge into one mass of yellow at times, thats only 8 fish out of a tank of 40 odd and your ratio will be even higher.

Just something to consider

 

[ozzy47]

i am a great beliver in the more malawi in a tank the better as it really does help reduce aggression having said that if you do over stock alot you have to over filter more.

stewy

 

[guppy_man]

well, i really want saulosi's, i think they are so colorful, and will brighten up my tank, i have read that at a young age they start off as a yellow color, and turn blue as they get older, is this true?

 

[guppy_man]

i forgot to add that i will be having both, internal and external filters, i have a fluval 4plus, in the tank now, and will be getting Eheim Ecco 2234, do you think the tank will be over filtered, is there any need for the fluval 4?

still have not decided on what fish to have, most deffinetly a few saulosi, around 6, 4 female 2 male, i just love their colors, and was thinking maybe 4 rusty's, what do you think?

and one more thing, do you know any sites in the UK that seel cichlids at a good price, and are reliable?



cheers

 

[Ferris]

Only the males turn blue, the females remain yellow, bit like having 2 completely different species.

Saulosi are fairly mild-mannered by Mbuna standards so you should be fine with more than 1 male and perfectly compatible with Rusty's.

 

[guppy_man]

i think 6 saulosi's and 4 rustys will look rather good don't you think
i was thinking of having red lava rock in the tank, or do you think white lava rock will look better, there will be a black background and crushed coral for substrate, can't wait to get started

 

[guppy_man]

im still not perfectly sure on what fish to have yet, ive just made a new list, check it out, see if there are any problems.

Melanochromis johannii 1 male 3 females
Johanni Cichlid

Pseudotropheus saulosi 1 male 3 females
Saulos's Mbuna

Labidochromis sp. "perlmutt" 1 male 2 females
Perlmutt Cichlid

do you think that they will be ok, ill do more research into these fish, sorry for being annoying i just want to be sure on what fish i end up with, i think that sellection will look very nice what do you think?

 

[Ferris]

Sounds good although Johanni can be unpredictable, a safer option would be Cyaneorhabdos as they are less aggressive but very similar to Johanni in appearance. Not neccessarily a problem, just something to think about.

 

[guppy_man]

well theres not alot of difference in them is there, i actually prefer them, they have better colorations, its better to go with the safer option, thanks ferris. you have been a great help.

haven't even got the tank sorted yet, haven't bought the filter, lights or rocks lol, i think id better stop spending money on stuff i dont need and save it for this new tank project so when i do start ferris, ill do a tank diary on it, and hope you will help me with anything i have trouble with.

thanks again mate

 

[Druchii]

The Johannis have yellow/orange females whilst the mainganos are all blue..

however it is my first hand experience that the johanni male and saulosi males will not get on, the coloration is too similar and they will spend forever chasing each other..


The mainganos are hence a better choice, however I'm not sure if you will still get the chasing due to similar colouration or not.

HTH.


BTW. why the sudden change/interest in pearlmutts?

 

[Ferris]

haven't even got the tank sorted yet, haven't bought the filter, lights or rocks lol, i think id better stop spending money on stuff i dont need and save it for this new tank project so when i do start ferris, ill do a tank diary on it, and hope you will help me with anything i have trouble with.

thanks again mate

No problem m8, look forward to the diary.