Melanochromis chipokae

[crazywolf]

75-150US gallon tank I haven't bought it yet so it depends on what I learn. I would like to keep several types of mbuna. I want to find out what these guys would work with. Like I said the tank isn't setup or purchased yet so suggestions are welcome.

 

[gixer]

you deffinatly dont want more than one male. very agressive mbuna that WILL kill anything they take a dislike too. keep at the very least 3 females to the 1 male I wouldnt keep another male of any other melanochromis species in the same tank (some will dissagree)

only keep with the larger more aggressive mbuna.. possibly perlmutt and Labidochromis sp and some psuedotropheus species

if you are going to mix them make sure you add them a long time after the tankmates..they will soon dominate any tank. be prepared as many who try to keep them soon try to get rid of them. Males will even kill the females in a species only tank.

Take great care,

 

[ProGolferCL6]

the bigger the tank the better

i wouldnt put yellow labs...i had a bunch of them and they were all killed by my other mbuna...they arnt as agressive as the others i have kept

there are tons of fish u could keep with them

melanchromis johanni
maylandia estherae (my favorite....they are just sooo bright and beautiful)
iodeotropheus sprengerae - very pretty fish

maybe an auratus

just about any will go

 

[semper fi]

okay, would not put an auratus in with a chippokae. both are highly aggressive fish. they also both like to be king of the tank. could have a battle that would result int he others death.

i. sprengelae is another less aggressive species i would not keep with this either. you could keep pseudotropheus with them. p. crabro and zebras. kennyi would also work. johanni also.

would go with the biggest tank you can afford. get a good filtration system also

 

[gixer]

iodeotropheus sprengerae - very pretty fish

maybe an auratus

just about any will go

hmmmmmm. not convinced.. auratus would be a recipe for dissaster imo and wouldn't say "just about anything would go" at all.

 

[crazywolf]

Ok so say a 150US with 1 male 3-4 females I was going to order a Fluval 404. However maybe 2 404's? They are rated to 120US gallons.


Tankmates

pseudotropheus saulosi maybe with the same ratio?

I like the pseudotropheus zebra too do they also need the same ratio?

I also like the johanni.


I know overstocking to a degree is recommended to spread the aggression around more. Using the 150US which is 48" x 24" x 31" how many fish should I go with? I will be building up the rocks in the corners to create more room by having them go up some. Making sure of course to have them secure against digging and such. I want to make sure I do this right for the fish's sake. I appreciate everyone's advice so far. I know these are not the most popular mbuna however I really enjoy the look of this breed but would like a larger mbuna community style tank instead of one with 4-5 chipokae.

 

[semper fi]

if you are going with that, you could get some rusties. iodotropheus sprengelae. i would keep the ratios the same 1m for every 3-5 f. more females the better.

i got 2 magnums on my 180, stagger the maintenance on them. also a few heaters instead of one main works better. more uniform temp. might want to also look into powerheads with sponge attachments

 

[crazywolf]

So 2 300W heaters and 2 404's

The 404's create a decent amount of current if left full blast do you think I still nead the powerhead's?

 

[freshmike]

I have 2 404's on my 180 and 2 powerhead 802's....definitely want to stagger the maintenence on the filters....as for wanting to know if you NEED powerheads, no, you don't ....but the fish will love you for it.

 

[thecichlidaddict]

In an aquarium as large as 150 gallons the options will open up immensly, however I still would never put Iodotropheus in the same tank is Chipokae.

Melanochromis Chipokae are as aggressive as mbuna get, and you must be very careful in your selection other mbuna--varieties such as Iodotropheus may have problems handling this aggression, even in a very large tank. To deal with this hyper-aggression it would be best to also stock many females to each male, as many as 10 or more would not be unheard of.

Auratus would not be a good choice at all, they are much too similar to Chipokae, and aggression issues will be amplified because of this. Choose one or the other, but not both. On the smaller end of your choices (75 gallon), I would not go with either of these varieties.

Good luck,

TCA