Need Help With Color

[Josiah]

Okay I've been keeping africans for about 3 or 4 years now, started out with a 55g and about a year or 2 ago I upgraded to a 125g. Well I've found myself now with ALOT of yellow and orange, I have one p.socolofi he is the only fish in there that is not yellow or orange. So does anyone have an recommendations on what kind of fish I should get to add some color?

WARNING:I'm not good with proper names lol

Fish I currently have:
2 sunshine peacocks
1 P.socolofi
7 Yellow labs(Some are holding now, and I have some fry hiding out so it's hard to count those)
10 Rusty Zebras(That's what the store called them, like I said I'm not good with proper names lol)
2 yellow tail acei(should I get more?)
2 bumblebee's(again should I get more?)
1 Kenyi(The others had to be returned, they got way to aggressive)

Very heavy filtration, lots of texas holey rock. Aggression is normally very minimal. If you need anymore info just ask


EDITize ranges from newborn fry to 4 inches.

 

[kj23502]

I'd get more socolofi and bumble bee's....and acei's too You prob. have room for about 10 more fish or so. What about adding some synos? Like this - or this?

Just remember if you overstock slightly, which people tend to do w/mbuna to help spread aggression, it's great to have a filter that does 10x turnover of your tank volume and hour. So it'd be 1250 gallons per hour that you'd need. It's alright to have less when they are juveniles, but they need more when they grow up.

 

[WaterBender1995]

NOOOOO to more crabro, that is unless you like blood baths! lol

crabros are far too aggressive!!!!!!!!!!!

ACEI will bring you blues/purples and in great numbers (12+) they'll group up

 

[Josiah]

NOOOOO to more crabro, that is unless you like blood baths! lol

crabros are far too aggressive!!!!!!!!!!!

ACEI will bring you blues/purples and in great numbers (12+) they'll group up

Crabro?

 

[WaterBender1995]

You really need to learn to search for yourself. It's the best way to learn instead of asking forums only! After having cichlids for 3-4 years theres really no excuse for not knowing their proper names.


FOUND IN CICHLID-FORUM.COM by doing a simple one word search..."CRABRO" and a whole bunch of stuff pops up!

May 14, 2008

Pseudotropheus crabro​

by Tristan

Common Names: Hornet cichlid, Bumblebee cichlid


This large mbuna type cichlid, named after Vespa crabro the European hornet, has a fascinating lifestyle. In it’s native waters of Malawi, it serves as a cleaner fish to a large species of catfish, the Kampango (Bagrus meridionalis). In the wild it has evolved the distinct yellow/brown markings to advertise it’s cleaning abilities to the Kampango and presumably avoid ending up on the menu! There is a darker side to this relationship, the Hornet cichlid is an egg thief, it changes colour to a dark brown and sneaks past the Kampango to feast on the eggs in the cave nest, if it’s seen, it returns to it’s striped colour and resumes cleaning duties, waiting for it’s next chance…

In the Aquarium:

Hornets grow large (I kept a male to 14cms) and belligerent. Whilst not at the top of the aggression league like the Melanochromis family, Metriaclima lombardoi etc., it is unlikely to be the runt of a mbuna tank and as with most mbuna it should be kept ‘harem style’ with several females to each male. The fish I kept did well in a 75 US gall tank with an assortment of medium aggressive mbuna and bred frequently, producing approx 25 fry per spawn. I believe this fish may benefit from a slightly more protein based diet than the true algae grazers due to it’s diet of fish lice, insect larvae etc. in the wild. As the fish mature, the dominant male will grow increasingly dark, my adult male ended up a very dark slate colour but with some attractive iridescent blue markings around the gill cover and flanks.

 

[kj23502]

NOOOOO to more crabro, that is unless you like blood baths! lol

crabros are far too aggressive!!!!!!!!!!!

Not necissarily... He has a 125 gallon tank which is ample room to provide hiding spots and a good amount of footprint. 4 or so with only 1 male should be alright, I would think. I don't believe I've ever read or heard of a crabro killing something...

 

[dthoffsett]

Fish I currently have:
2 sunshine peacocks - most likely Aulonocara sp. "Stuartgranti Maleri" (Chidunga Rocks), but if you post a pic, we could give a positive ID.
1 P.socolofi - Pseudotropheus socolofi
7 Yellow labs - Labidochromis caeruleus
10 Rusty Zebras - Iodotropheus sprengerae
2 yellow tail acei - Pseudotropheus acei
2 bumblebee's - Pseudotropheus crabro, females retain the juvenile yellow w/brown strips (hence the common name of bumblebee), while males turn blue w/dark stripes.
1 Kenyi - Metriaclima lombardoi

To be honest I think crabros get a far worse rap than they should, while males are aggressive, females can be a wonderful addition to a larger tank.

I'd definately up the numbers on the p.acei, they like to be in larger groups, and so would the p.socolofi. I wouldn't add anything new, just increase the numbers on what you already have.

 

[Josiah]

Waterbender, I appreciate the push towards learning for myself, but I took it a little offensively. I realise I need to know the names but I just don't have to the gumption to learn all of them.

Anyways back to the topic, I believe the crabro are female, I tried to get females because of there aggression. I've been trying to get more P.Socolofi but I can't find any in my area. I'll definitely up the acei. About how long should I expect color from them?

 

[dthoffsett]

Anyways back to the topic, I believe the crabro are female, I tried to get females because of there aggression. I've been trying to get more P.Socolofi but I can't find any in my area. I'll definitely up the acei. About how long should I expect color from them?

If your crabros are over 3 inches and still yellow/brown they're girls. Not sure what you are asking about how long to expect color from the acei, mine have always been purple bodied w/yellow fins, their body color has gotten a little darker as adults and when breeding the male gets really dark, but have never changed or lost color.

 

[Josiah]

Well right now the acei are still small and the color hasn't really shown up yet, although there color has become more prominent since I got them.

 

[dthoffsett]

Well right now the acei are still small and the color hasn't really shown up yet, although there color has become more prominent since I got them.

Don't worry, they'll color up, as juvies they're a silvery blue-purple, but as adults they're a very deep purple.

 

[Josiah]

Good, I'm very excited to see them color up. Now to play the waiting game . How many acei do you think I should get though?

 

[darrel69]

Good water conditions and a good variety of quality foods will help colour them up (especially Spirulina rich foods).

 

[kubora666]

Metriaclima Callainos
the blue orchid zebra.
ive got a lovely ice blue male.
you can also go for Pseudotrpheus Sauloisi. they are very blue and unlike the melanochromis genus relatively peaceful.
of course you could go fòr some blue peacocks?
or perhaps Scianchromis Fryeri (electric blue Ahli)
ive never thought of colour in my tank but its all balanced nicely =)
do some googling on the species people have suggested and see if your LFS have them or can get them in for you
good luck!

 

[dthoffsett]

Good, I'm very excited to see them color up. Now to play the waiting game . How many acei do you think I should get though?

I'd add at least 5 more, they really like to be in groups.