New Member Seeks Advice !

[sc0tty]

I had a bit of luck at the weekend and found a Maidenhead Aquatics store near me in Arborfield, and they have a good African and American cichlids section and a nice marine section too. I saw many beautiful Lake Malawi Mbuna fish and got some good advice from the manager there who keeps Mbuna himself, so it would seem I have a good dealer on my doorstep.

I just love the fish, they are so colourful and lively and really interesting to watch. Next step is to decide on a tank and filtration etc...!!!

 

[Rick A]

Sorry, I didn't mean to discourage. Just that when I got my Synodontis Feather Fins - about 3 years ago - I was told that it wouldn't get any larger than 3" - 4". I know better than to believe everything LFS people say now and would research any new unknown fish. Just ensuring that he considers fully mature size of any new fish.

 

[sc0tty]

Thanks for all the advice so far guys. I sure there will be many more questions to follow....!

 

[kj23502]

Sorry, I didn't mean to discourage. Just that when I got my Synodontis Feather Fins - about 3 years ago - I was told that it wouldn't get any larger than 3" - 4". I know better than to believe everything LFS people say now and would research any new unknown fish. Just ensuring that he considers fully mature size of any new fish.

And with so many different species of synos, it's easy to get them confused as well

 

[Ace Of Spades]

Sorry, I didn't mean to discourage. Just that when I got my Synodontis Feather Fins - about 3 years ago - I was told that it wouldn't get any larger than 3" - 4". I know better than to believe everything LFS people say now and would research any new unknown fish. Just ensuring that he considers fully mature size of any new fish.

And with so many different species of synos, it's easy to get them confused as well

Lol Indeed, when I was looking for a synodontis I didnt realise there were that many that liked such a wide variety of water conidtions etc

 

[Ace Of Spades]

I'm not an expert, but here's my opinion :

I think that could work just fine. Keep in mind that melanochromis & psuedotropheus can be pretty aggressive(the Johanni/Socolofi), but it should be alright provided there are enough hiding spots and enough fish to disperse aggression between quite a few different fish.

200 liters=52 usg. I'd recommend 15 fish at the most. I'd do 5 Johanni, 5 Socolofi (1m:4f) and then 4 labs ()1m:3f).

If the fish are over 2.5 or 3 inches, I would think they'd be able to vent them if they know how. If they are under that, it may be anyone's best guess.

Tbh Id reconfigure this a bit

IMO I would have
5 Scolofi
4 Johanni
5 Labs

Just because the labs do so well together and johanni can get a bit more agressive, Scolofi are same as the yellow labs imo. I found they were very docile, obviously a bit of chacing but nothing to mark down in my books, even when breeding the male was only defending his cave, maybe its because I have them in a biggish tank but this is just my observation. The Yellow Labs are great little fish, so are the scolofi great choices imo. Id be tempted to swap the johanni for some Afra. Maybe C.Afra (coube).