mbuna tank

[bluefire]

for christmas my parents are buying me a new tank
i have decided that i will go for a mbuna setup
the largest tank i can get is a 55gal. i am going to have agrogite substrate and i will get heaps of rocks and silicone them together to make lots of holes for them to hide in.
i have decided on getting yellow labs and cobalt blue cichlids, i was just wondering how many of each i should get and the male/female ratios?

 

[Aussie_Star]

well i would have 3 females to 1 male but in a tank that size , i would go with 2 females to 1 male

 

[JeremyD]

In my 55g mbuna tank, I went for slightly more agressive species. I ended up with a final stocking level of about 16 fish. Excessive filtration is EXTREMELY important when considering stocking levels such as this. High stocking levels are needed to spread agression out amongst the fish so that no one particular fish gets picked on. Of course, with your less agressive species, you will not need such a high stocking density. I'd say a group of 10-15 fish would look great in that tank. Ideally, you'd probably want a 1:3 male:female ratio. Its is nearly impossible to attain this though unless you are stocking with fully sexable adult fish (not likely).

 

[bluefire]

ok...... 2 completely different answers, could i plz have some more opinions?

 

[samthefishman]

go with the second idea

 

[JeremyD]

ok...... 2 completely different answers, could i plz have some more opinions?

??? We both recommended the same male:female ratio ???

I just commented on the stocking densities needed for an mbuna aquarium.



These ratios are ideal and not always attainable. Try to get as close as you can to that and you should be ok. Its not always easy, especially when stocking your tank with juvi fish.

 

[bluefire]

i think that i will add 2 males and 5 females of each species would that be ok???

 

[gixer]

i think that i will add 2 males and 5 females of each species would that be ok???

you might be missing te point about stocking 1-3 females. it is a lot easier on the females for one (and i think you understand that bit) But also males are quite often intollenerent of other males especially the same species. Not really a problem with the labs but still not the best idea.

 

[bluefire]

yeah i understand what you mean, do you thaink that 1 male and 5 females of each species would be better

 

[gixer]

for a 55g i would go with a quad of 4 or 5 different fish as long as you have good enough filtration and plenty of rockwork.

thats unless you just want the 2 types..then thats fine.

 

[bluefire]

yeh i only want those two species.
also i was wondering how i could make the tank look as good as possible?