New Mbuna Tank Stocking

[sharpshark]

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Hi,
I have a 400litre 5'x2'x2' tank which I have gradually been converting towards mbuna, I am now at the stage where I think the tank decor etc is okay, the waters well cycled and thanks to southern water is naturally hard, I am now coming to choosing some fish for it and would like some suggestions.

The only real wishes are that they are colourful as poss (I have four kids), they are hardy (for mbuna) and will fill the tank up nicely.

The tank has silver sand substrate, and (lots of) slate stacked at the back, its well filtered by a Fluval FX5.

Thanks for your help.

 

[HappyGeorge]

I like the slate look looks like the makings of a good tank, if it were me I would be tempted to stack the slate higher at one end and maybe lower in the middle to break that straight line through the middle, but thats just my obsession with the photographers rule of thirds maybe. I have a 450 litre with an fx5 and find it to be a really nice, quiet and easy to maintain piece of kit, not sure if you may want some extra filtration once you get it stocked though, I also have an internal U4 and a 5500 newave powerhead to eliminate dead spots.
As for stocking think you have loads of choices here's my current stocking.

4 Labidochromis perlmutt - one breeding pair.
5 Labidochromis caeruleus - one breeding pair
3 Hongis Red Island - getting it on but not seen any holding yet.
1 Pseudotropheus Crabro
1 Pseudotropheus demasoni
3 Pseudotropheus socolofi
2 adult Cynotilapia afra "red top" (breeding pair) and approx 20 juves, babes not so small now and due to go to LFS this week.
6 Syno multis
1 Nimbochromis venustus
1 Cyrtocara moori
1 Nimbochromis livingstonii

No aggression, but know some people have major issues mixing Haps and Mbuna not currently any probs in my tank though, single specimens of crabro and demasoni due to their reported high aggression levels in small groups, The Labs seem more than happy. Originally had 3 Afra but turned out to be 2 males and a female and the 2nd male was seriously bullied.
Hopefully this may help you a bit or consider some fish you may not have thought about.

Good Luck.

 

[stang1]

I like the look of the slate in your tank, although I agree with HappyGeorge about stacking it a little higher.
As for fish, it is worth looking around to see what is available to you as some places carry very little stock.
Have a look at some of the following:

Pseudotropheus Acei and Acei "Black Ngara"
Pseudotropheus sp. "Msobo"
Pseudotropheus Socolofi
Pseudotropheus sp. "Elongatus Neon Spot"
Labidochromis Caruleus and caruleus "Albino"
Labidochromis Hongi "Red Top"
Metriaclima Estherae "Orange Blotch"
Iodotropheus Sprengerae
Cynotilapia Afra
Tropheops sp. "Red Fin"

I'd personally keep at least 2 females per male, although the more females the better.

 

[sharpshark]

Thanks, I think I will move some slate around, here's another shot of the old layout before I do, I have got a powerhead with a pre-filter on it I can use, which I normally had at the opposite end to the filter outlet for those dead spots, luckily I have a Maidenhead aquatics near me which has a large stock of Mbunas, so choice shouldn't be a limiting factor hopefully.

 

[reignofcheese]

I'm more partial to the more mild types, that way aggression is not as much of an issue. I've also found that keeping almost any species in a group brings out the best in the fish and decreases the chances of interspecies aggression. I would do something like:

15 Pseudo. Acei
10 Lab Caeruleus
10 Pseudo Saulosi
6 I. Sprengerae
8 Synodontis Multipunctatus
1 male Red Emperess (I love these fish and it would work in a tank with these mild mbuna with no problem, this would be my centrepiece fish)

All the fish are very different from each other and have compatible behaviour, and they look so amazing in their nice groups, and all are tough and easy to keep. I chose the biggest group for the Acei because they are practically schoolers in their behaviour. The catfish are an important addition to my Malawi setups, to add something different then cichlids and something really neat and beautiful in their own right.

Good luck with your tank, it's gonna be a beaut!

PS: a lot of people go through a lot of trouble to keep algae away, but if you let it grow on your rocks, your mbuna will show you their grazing behavour too - I've developed a deep green carpet of algae on my rocks across the tank and it really adds to the overall feel o the tank.

edit: The numbers are very rough of course, you may want it more or less stocked - and I always start with extra juveniles so that I get good male to female ratios. I also agree about making the wall less even for a better aesthetic affect. I also agree that an uneven water would have a nicer aesthetic affect.

 

[MikeO]

For colour you cant go wrong with:

Caeruleus
Mbamba Lake (if you can get hold of them - took me ages to get some!!) - These colour bueafifully.
Acei - Yellow tail and white tail
Saulosi


And other suggestions above.

When you say your water is "well cycled" what have you actually done to cycle your tank? It is the filter which you cycle, not the water. Have you been adding ammonia to culture your good bacteria in the filter?


Maidenhead aquatics are OK but pretty expensive and often limited with stock for mbuna - they tend to only have four or five of the more popular breeds..... a LFS that specialises in African Chiclids would be your best bet - where do you live?

 

[sharpshark]

When you say your water is "well cycled" what have you actually done to cycle your tank? It is the filter which you cycle, not the water. Have you been adding ammonia to culture your good bacteria in the filter?


Maidenhead aquatics are OK but pretty expensive and often limited with stock for mbuna - they tend to only have four or five of the more popular breeds..... a LFS that specialises in African Chiclids would be your best bet - where do you live?

The tank has been cycled with fish, it was a mature tank (around 3-4years) which I have decided to change the fish, it is well balanced, the filter is mature and cleaned when necessary, the waters ph and kh are all well within limits (good old Southern water lol..)

I live in Eastleigh near Southampton, Hampshire. My local Maidenhead in Fairoak, Eastleigh has a large range.. around 30-40 species of varying sizes, however like you pointed out they are not cheap, I have just bought six yellow labs for £24.00....not too bad I guess though they were by far the cheapest, so if I can fit 40-50 fish in the tank its gonna be expensive (and slow)...

I'm gonna phone around to see who stocks what around me, if anyone knows of any good shops in Hampshire let me know!