Johanni Help

[LineDropper]

Two questions:

1) What is the best substrate for Johanni?

2) What should I do about this --> I have a 30g tank (currently with blue gravel frm PetSmart and plenty of cover). After it cycled, I started with 4 johanni. I waited 10 days for the filter to catch up to the new bio load. While I was waiting for the tank to catch up, I did all kinds of research on johanni. I learned that the males and females have completely different coloring. Armed with this knowledge, I went back to my LFS and asked if they had female johanni. The store expert told me the light blue ones were females, dark blue were males. I told him about what I read online and he said that's the problem with the Internet --- too much info. So I purchased 4 light colored ones to try and get my female population greater than my male pop. (Just bought these today). So I start googling again tonight and everything I find shows the females are yellow/gold/orangish.

Can anyone help? Could the light blue ones be female???

If not, should I take 4 back? I would like to eventually have a total of 12.

thanks

 

[Ferris]

Unfortunately the light blue fish are just sub-dominant males - females are distinctly different in that they are a yellow/orange colour. Really bad advice from the LFS i'm afraid.

More of a concern though is your tank size, you really need a 4 footer (preferrably a 55 gal) to keep Mbuna and you certainly shouldn't aim for 12 Johanni in a 30 gal - i personally wouldn't keep any Mbuna species in less than a 55 gal, including some of the smaller species like Demasoni as their aggression more than makes up for their smaller stature.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news on both issues.

Here's some more info on Johanni:
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...t=0#entry941952
http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=760

 

[LineDropper]

Unfortunately the light blue fish are just sub-dominant males - females are distinctly different in that they are a yellow/orange colour. Really bad advice from the LFS i'm afraid.

More of a concern though is your tank size, you really need a 4 footer (preferrably a 55 gal) to keep Mbuna and you certainly shouldn't aim for 12 Johanni in a 30 gal - i personally wouldn't keep any Mbuna species in less than a 55 gal, including some of the smaller species like Demasoni as their aggression more than makes up for their smaller stature.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news on both issues.

Here's some more info on Johanni:
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showto...t=0#entry941952
http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=760

No, I need to know this stuff - I appreciate it. I am going in circles because I am getting conflicting info from different sources. My LFS recommended Johanni for my 30g because they are on the smaller side. And although they obviously have given me bad info (told me those light blue ones were females), their store has been there a long time and the guy I was talking to has supposedly been dealing with cichlids for over 30 years. He told me to either do one male and 3 females or like 12 total in a 30g. This is frustrating... because now I should really take back the 4 I purchased yesterday. And besides that, (based on your message and other stuff I have read) I really need a bigger tank anyway.

How many Johanni would you keep in a 55g??? My wife will freak, but I think I'll just get a new 55g and then use the 30g for other purposes.

Aug 1st - I had 0 tanks.
By Nov- 2 55g, 1 30g, 2 10g, 1 5g

 

[Ferris]

Johanni actually get pretty big - more bad advice . There are plenty of Mbuna species that stay much smaller than Johanni - Pseudotropheus Saulosi and most of the Cynotilapia Afra species would be better examples.

Overstocking is a good idea with Mbuna as it helps to spread the aggression around the tank but you really need to start off with an adequate size and a 55 gal or bigger is ideal.

Getting a 55 gal sounds like a great plan - you could do something else interesting with the 30 gal and put the Johanni in the 55. 12 Johanni would be fine in a 55 gal or you could mix it up and go for 3 different species with a 1M/3F ration of each.

To convince the wife - you could always tell her the 30 gal is hers now and she can choose what goes in it.

 

[LineDropper]

Johanni actually get pretty big - more bad advice . There are plenty of Mbuna species that stay much smaller than Johanni - Pseudotropheus Saulosi and most of the Cynotilapia Afra species would be better examples.

Overstocking is a good idea with Mbuna as it helps to spread the aggression around the tank but you really need to start off with an adequate size and a 55 gal or bigger is ideal.

Getting a 55 gal sounds like a great plan - you could do something else interesting with the 30 gal and put the Johanni in the 55. 12 Johanni would be fine in a 55 gal or you could mix it up and go for 3 different species with a 1M/3F ration of each.

To convince the wife - you could always tell her the 30 gal is hers now and she can choose what goes in it.

thanks Ferris -- one more question for you. What substrate would you recommend? I did some reading and learned that Lake Malawi has a sandy bottom and also a stoney bottom and that Johanni are native to stoney regions. I picked up Crushed Coral (w/aroganite (sp?)) for my saltwater tank and I really like the way it looks. Would you recommend this for Johanni? Or shoud I just go with small stones.

 

[Ferris]

Personal choice really - i've pretty much always used marine sand as i like the look of it and it's close enough to a natural environment for Mbuna. They love to dig so anything except larger gravel should do just fine. If you like the crushed coral/argonite sand, then i would stick with that as it should help buffer the Ph a little too.