Ive Decided

[mark7616]

ive decided on
3x melanchromis johanni
3x auloncara jacobfreibergi
3x red zebra
3x Labodchromis caeruleus
3x red top ice blue albino

How do these sound?

 

[Ferris]

Looks OK except for the Aulonocara, they would struggle to cope with the agression in a tank with Johanni and Greshakei. I would change them for another Mbuna species, P.Acei would work well.

 

[mark7616]

My shop has zebra orange blotch should i change for these then

 

[Ferris]

Same species as the red zebra's and a bit too similar in appearance, that increases the risk of aggression and they may interbreed. What other species can you get hold of?

 

[mark7616]

pseudotropheus red zebra, blue callainos, red top ice blue, red top ice blue albino, auratus, elongatus
ob zebra???
melan eatern blue, johanni
nyassae peacock
hap ahli, electric blue, boadzulu, fusco, rostatus, brownae
yellowtail blue moorii
lamprologus birchardi
labodochromis caeruleus
duboisi???
and some different colour peacocks i dont think there all malawi i just copied the list he had.

What about if i just got a selection of say 12-15 varying ones?

 

[Ferris]

Callainos would be an option, not too similar to Greshakei, particularly as they get older and i have successfully kept these 2 species together in the past.

The most important thing though is the male/female ratio, try to ensure that you only get 1 male of each species and the rest as females.

Another option is to keep single specimins of different species as i do. Be warned though, it takes some doing and be prepared to return fish if agression levels get too high.

 

[mark7616]

yeah thats what i was going to do get one of each different type then i dont have to worry to much on different names my lfs is good at taking them back to be completely honest i was goingt o copy ur 55g but i was told these fish were to aggressive if i went with one of each species would it be possible to mix african cichlids from different lakes say i got one by mistake if it got on could i keep it in there

 

[mamafish68]

in my experience all it could take to screw that up is one good aggressive breeding pair of Brichardi. Everyone up to the corners cuz papa's a pissed off fish! lolol

seems crazy for such a gorgeous, smaller fish but believe me, they fight!!

 

[mark7616]

in my experience all it could take to screw that up is one good aggressive breeding pair of Brichardi. Everyone up to the corners cuz papa's a pissed off fish! lolol

which one is that sorry im learning im definatly leaning towards the selection of individual ones seems easier

 

[mark7616]

yep im going to go with a selection of singular so should i overstock to make this better if so how many fish would you recomend?

 

[mark7616]

Does this sound ok i could really do with the help as im now looking to buy my fish but dont want to mess things up

 

[Ferris]

You can go for around 15 fish in a 55 gal. I prefer the less is more theory so i only have 6 but it took some careful aquascaping and some problems along the way to achieve this. If you're going down the single specimin route, try to get them all as juveniles( as small as possible). Letting them grow up together can help reduce the aggression when they are full grown monsters. Try to avoid very similar looking fish like P.Saulosi males and P.Demasoni and IMO you're better off sticking with Mbuna as a beginner, mixing cichlids from different lakes is not easy.

 

[mark7616]

is that the same as in not the same colour or as in one could be green and one could be blue and be the same body shape do you mean the same that way?

 

[mark7616]

see the problem i have is in all my fish stores they have them in tanks labled malawi cichlids and there all £6.50 so i do not know whats what weather there haps mbuna or peacocks a man in p@h yesterday was telling me thats the albino cichlid i was saying but what type he said albino didnt have a clue but the manager who knows a bit told me that it was a albino peacock so you see im in a bit of a dilemma do i just get a large selection see how they get on post pics on here for you guys to help me and if i get one that is far top aggressive take it back and swap for another?

 

[Ferris]

Colouration is the main thing to avoid in terms of similarity. Body shape can be a factor but a lot of Mbuna are similar shapes so you can't always avoid this.

To be honest, i would look for some more local fish stores. Buying from tanks labelled "assorted africans" is not a good idea unless you know exactly what you are getting. If you're really stuck take a digi camera to the store with you and take some pics to post here for an i.d, thats easier than buying fish and having to return them.

Also having seen the fish in store, do some searching on google images to identify what you have seen, that should help.