Mbuna Tank

[dthoffsett]

As subadult fish, how do i tell if they are male or female? do the egg spot apear on you males?

Sexing really depends on the species, p.acei for instance can only be reliably sexed by venting or observing spawning, or some are simple to tell such as p.crabro where the females and juveniles are yellow with brown vertical stripes and males turn dark blue with darker stripes.

Egg spots aren't a reliable method of sexing, females can have them as well as males, and males lower in the pecking order may not have any at all.

 

[hungryguppy]

are there any red cichlids out there that can go in a tank like this?

 

[Ferris]

The closest you'll get to red Mbuna is actually bright orange - Metriaclima Estherae. There are a few strains of Aulonocara with red colouration but mixing them with Mbuna brings up many more potential compatibility problems.

 

[hungryguppy]

Metriaclima Estherae, is this a Mbuna fish from lake malawi?

 

[Ferris]

Yep - here's a link with some info: http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1730

 

[hungryguppy]

the three fish i have decided on are, the pseudotropis saulosi, labidochromis caeruleus, and the Metriaclima Estherae. any forseeable problems? are these fish easy to get a hold of? How expensive are they? once my tank is cylcled how many fish am i going to want to add a week?

 

[Ferris]

I don't see any problems with those 3 species - i've kept them together on a couple of occasions in the past. All 3 species should be readily available and fairly inexpensive - anything between £3 and £15 depending on their size.

 

[hungryguppy]

will a fluval 305 be fine for filtration?

 

[Ferris]

I use 2 of those and an upgraded Jewel internal on my 65 gal so i would say no for Mbuna. A 305 with another equivalent or slightly smaller external would be much better.

The 305 will however be plenty whilst the Mbuna are juveniles buit i would aim to increase the filtration before they reach adulthood.

 

[hungryguppy]

would a 405 be okay?

 

[Ferris]

Yep should be OK - I like to have 2 filters on all my tanks but the 405 should be big enough to cope - it's rated for tanks larger than 55 gallons.

 

[hungryguppy]

on bigalsonline.com, i saw an eheim2217 filter rated for 160g, for cheaper than the fluval. will this be too much filtration?

 

[Ferris]

You can't have too much - the bigger the better.

 

[dthoffsett]

the three fish i have decided on are, the pseudotropis saulosi, labidochromis caeruleus, and the Metriaclima Estherae. any forseeable problems? are these fish easy to get a hold of? How expensive are they? once my tank is cylcled how many fish am i going to want to add a week?

Sounds like a nice colorful and fairly peaceful mix. If you want to add them in groups, I'd add 1 species(4 individuals) per week, or you could add them all at once since you're fishless cycling.
If you add them in groups, you should add the m.estherae last, they'll be the most aggressive of the bunch (though not very aggressive by mbuna standards).

 

[hungryguppy]

thanks for all your help guys.