Mbuna Id Please

[Lisa67]

Attempting to post some pics. Thank you!!! According to the LFS these fish are the same type, the white being less mature (thus have not changed color yet. I'm not so sure because the white ones are bigger than the blue ones.

 

[clay]

my guess is male and female electric blue johanii cichlids

 

[elisew]

They do look like melanachromis johanni. One of the most aggressive of the African cichlids so you may possibly have made a bit of a boo boo adding these to your tank

It's not a cichlid I would have chosen for my tank as I believe these are more suitable for an experienced keeper, not a novice. You're going to have to keep a very close eye on them I think

http/www.aquariumlife.net/profiles/cichlidae/electric-blue-johanni/100038.asp

 

[Lisa67]

Definately not good. I'll keep my eye on them. What is a similarly colored mbuna that is relatively peaceful? Also, are Red Zebras highly aggressive as well? (Also, are they actually orange)?

 

[Aedes]

yup that'll screw you up everytime - call something red when it's orange or blue. My (orange) red zebra is the most aggessive in my tank, chasing the others anytime they swim past his hiding spot.

for a good site to see the different colours of male/female ...

http/www.african-cichlid.com

http/malawicichlids.com/

 

[Lisa67]

Thank you for that sight, I will check it out. I wish I could find a list of all the mbuna that are frequently sold for aquariums with pics of male and female and aggression levels for each.

I don't know what fish stores are like elsewhere, but every LFS that I've been to (and I've checked out all of them within two hours of me) have all the mbuna in a few big tanks, all mixed and no one who works there can properly ID all of them. I did just find an online sight yesterday that looks good and will likely have to go that route although I'm not thrilled. Don't like the thought of fish showing up by mail while I'm in the middle of a work streatch where I'm working 12 hour nights.

I guess the next time I'm headed in that direction I will see if the store where I got the Johnnis and Red Zebras can take them back, then I will replace them with mail order fish. Thank you again!

 

[rifty]

good beginner mbuna ive owned are
Saulosi males are black/blue stripe females yellow
Acei yellow tail blue yellow tails both sexes
Cynotilipia Hara white blue stripes both sexes
Afra lion sanga yellow black striped females again a bit duller
Afra cobue blue black with yellow tops femalaes brownish
Ndumbi red tops males are pale blue orange tops females brownish
everyone says yellow labs but my adult male is a pain and murders tons of other labs!

the thing with mbuna is there is no sure fast rule to aggression but more fish seems to generally work
i keep between 6 and 20 of each fish
http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/index.php
i use this site too

 

[Lisa67]

OMG... thank you so much for the list. That's exactly what I need. I will look up all of them tonight.

 

[rifty]

you wont be able to keep them all together btw!!! go for colours that are not too similar and only one type of afra and cyno as they will cross breed for sure!

 

[elisew]

The hardest part of setting up a Malawi or Mbuna tank is the compatibility of the fish. To be honest without being horrible, you really need to go to the shop, make a list of the fish you see and like and then ask on here. It could save you a lot of money and time in the long run to get it right

Have a look through my thread at the fish I have together:
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/352272-380l-malawi-setup/

I`ve gone through and put names to the fish in the photos so you can see which are Malawi (peacocks) , Mbuna and Victorians (hap species.44) The pseudotropheus elongatus neon spots are probably the chillest of the Mbuna that I have, the Ndumbi red tops are pretty aggressive towards each other, my new Mpanga are still settling in but are happy to chase each other in a slightly aggressive way.
Out of all my fish I think the Aulonocara`s (Peacocks) are the most peaceful.

 

[Lisa67]

Elsie, I went through the entire link you sent and can't find you fish pics. Where do I click? Or could you possibly have sent the wrong link?

 

[char la]

Hang on a minute guys, thats not a female johanni. That looks like an Auratus to me! Its much more common to see only male johanni in aquatic shops and lots of auratus. Female johanni are plain yellow to orange, and if they do show their stripes they are much more fainter.
How big is it? If its 3" or less if could be a male that hasn't coloured yet and if you think johanni are aggressive, male auratus are worse!

 

[elisew]

It's definitely the right link, page 3 onwards has photos of my fish, the pages might take a little while to load as there's a lot of pics but they're definitely on there

 

[Lisa67]

OK, I will check out the pics. Thank you!

A few more questions. From the list posted by rifty, is the saulosi also called pseudotropheus saulosi (sp?). I also liked the Afra cobu and Cynotilipia Hara but couldn't find either of those on the web site that I wanted to order from (at this point I just wanted to put them on a wish list) Do they have another name? Also, when I searched Ndumbi Red top "Pseudotropheus-Perspicax Orange Cap" came up. Is that the same thing? I think the multiple names for every fish is what's realy messing me up.

I'm trying to stick to strictly mbuna but want to keep the most peaceful tank possible. If I did 2 males to 4 females of each would that be OK?

 

[char la]

Just out of interest, has anyone actually read my post??? Beware auratus!