Thinking About A Mbuna Setup

[24mikeyb]

Hi all

I have been keeping fish for roughly 12 years now but have never kept anything difficult other than the usual community tanks which I still have about 5 of. I have recently purchased a Juwel Vision 260 litre dimensions 48" x 18" x 24" with a bow front and am looking at stocking it with Mbuna/Malawi. I have been reading virtually every post on this forum this year to do with Mbuna but I have a few questions that I would like to ask while I am cycling the tank.

First of all I haven't put any rocks in yet which I read is a big must for keeping Mbuna but being that they are going to be large rocks how do you stack them on top of each other without them falling?? Is it ok to lean some of the rocks on the back and sides of the aquarium??

I am trying to cycle the new tank with Bactinettes which I know some of you may not like but the readings have all been good so far so I put 6 danios in to carry on the cycle but they will be moved on when I deem it the right time. But I was wondering how you would recommend starting to stock Mbuna??? Ideally I would prefer to get 1 species at a time starting with Yellow Labs then slowly putting more fish in gradually, is this advisable???

I know that I will need to specify what other Mbunas I will be putting with them and will come on here to discuss it with people once I have looked around LFSs.

Many Thanks

Mike

 

[thomasp9021]

personally i believe it is best to put most of your fish in at the same time to stop them forming teritories if money is an issue then start withe least aggresive first
best way to stack rocks is largest at the bottom smallest at the top although if your woried you can use some aquarium silicone to stick them together and the the glass
plus when you put your rocks in remove the substrate so your rocks are on the bottom/eggcrate because the cichlids will dig and cause them to tumble.

 

[kj23502]

Stacking them so a few are leaing on the back should be fine. A few of mine were that way w/no ill effects. I wouldn't lean them all on the back.

Stock w/the least aggressive to the most aggressive if you can't do it all at once. I reccommend 1 fish per 3.5 us gallons at the high side. So take however many usg your tank is divided by 3.5 and there's the recommended # of fish. Rough guess is 20ish fish w/out doing the math. Due to the size of your tank, you could keep a lot of fish in there. Some common ones to caution you on are melanochromis auratus, pseudotropheus demasoni, and metriaclima lombardoi (kenyi). They are common sold and are highly aggressive. With the size of your tank you may be able to house them, though. Usually 75usg is minimum for Auratus and Kenyi. Demasoni can be done in tanks a bit smaller. Look around the pet stores and see what you like.

Another note, it's generally not good to combine peacocks, haps and tanganyikans with Mbuna due to different feeding requirements and in the case w/tanganyikan different water requirements.

Don't trust what the lfs tells you. They are there to sell you to fish. Double check first on here or another reliable source of info.

 

[24mikeyb]

personally i believe it is best to put most of your fish in at the same time to stop them forming teritories if money is an issue then start withe least aggresive first
best way to stack rocks is largest at the bottom smallest at the top although if your woried you can use some aquarium silicone to stick them together and the the glass
plus when you put your rocks in remove the substrate so your rocks are on the bottom/eggcrate because the cichlids will dig and cause them to tumble.

Thanks for the help!! Money is a small issue but mainly I'm not too happy getting a load of fish in one go and having a few or many fatalities. With the issue of forming territories I have read that its a good idea to move the rocks in the tank around and forming new territories.

Thanks again!

 

[24mikeyb]

Stacking them so a few are leaing on the back should be fine. A few of mine were that way w/no ill effects. I wouldn't lean them all on the back.

Stock w/the least aggressive to the most aggressive if you can't do it all at once. I reccommend 1 fish per 3.5 us gallons at the high side. So take however many usg your tank is divided by 3.5 and there's the recommended # of fish. Rough guess is 20ish fish w/out doing the math. Due to the size of your tank, you could keep a lot of fish in there. Some common ones to caution you on are melanochromis auratus, pseudotropheus demasoni, and metriaclima lombardoi (kenyi). They are common sold and are highly aggressive. With the size of your tank you may be able to house them, though. Usually 75usg is minimum for Auratus and Kenyi. Demasoni can be done in tanks a bit smaller. Look around the pet stores and see what you like.

Another note, it's generally not good to combine peacocks, haps and tanganyikans with Mbuna due to different feeding requirements and in the case w/tanganyikan different water requirements.

Don't trust what the lfs tells you. They are there to sell you to fish. Double check first on here or another reliable source of info.

Thanks for replying!!

Your calculations are bang on!! Thanks for the list of fish to avoid much appreciated!

Mike

 

[24mikeyb]

Stacking them so a few are leaing on the back should be fine. A few of mine were that way w/no ill effects. I wouldn't lean them all on the back.

Stock w/the least aggressive to the most aggressive if you can't do it all at once. I reccommend 1 fish per 3.5 us gallons at the high side. So take however many usg your tank is divided by 3.5 and there's the recommended # of fish. Rough guess is 20ish fish w/out doing the math. Due to the size of your tank, you could keep a lot of fish in there. Some common ones to caution you on are melanochromis auratus, pseudotropheus demasoni, and metriaclima lombardoi (kenyi). They are common sold and are highly aggressive. With the size of your tank you may be able to house them, though. Usually 75usg is minimum for Auratus and Kenyi. Demasoni can be done in tanks a bit smaller. Look around the pet stores and see what you like.

Another note, it's generally not good to combine peacocks, haps and tanganyikans with Mbuna due to different feeding requirements and in the case w/tanganyikan different water requirements.

Don't trust what the lfs tells you. They are there to sell you to fish. Double check first on here or another reliable source of info.

Thanks for replying!!

Your calculations are bang on!! Thanks for the list of fish to avoid much appreciated!

Mike

Hi again,

Tank is still going through the cycle but I am looking around some LFSs and trying to decide on stocking. So far I am looking at the following :

Labidochromis sp. "Hongi"

Labidochromis caeruleus

Metriaclima estherae

Pseudotropheus saulosi

Iodotropheus sprengerae

From what I have researched these fish are relatively mildly aggressive and would be ok to stock together although if they were looking to breed at all then the labs may produce hybrid fry?? Is this correct??

Would there be any aggression due to colouration?? Would you suggest stocking all these each with 3 females per male??

& Finally I was looking at the Metraclima Lombardoi (Kenyi) which as KJ virtually predicted and said that it was one to be cautious of and while I was looking at the LFSs tank and writing names down of stocking ideas and reading the notes on it. A relative newbie with family pulled an assistant over to discuss the first fish they were putting in their Lake Malawi Mbunu tank which had a good water reading. I was hanging around to hear what the assistant was advising they put in and he advised them to put 2 yellow labs (1 m & 1 f)in with 2 Kenyis again with 1 of each!! I have read on the internet from a source that the Kenyis were the most aggressive Mbunu that he had ever kept and I thought that to house them alone with the yellow labs would be suicidal , am I right??

Many Thanks for your help!!

 

[kj23502]

The two lab species could cross along with the metriaclima and lab crossing. Bad deal down the road for anyone ending up w/hybrid fish that didn't know they were when they bought them.

You can have Kenyi's. I'd drop the saulosi b/c the fish are simialr coloration. The estherae can be an orangey color too. Hmmm....I'd have 1m:4f for the kenyi. Plenty of rock work so the other fish can hide from them. They really aren't for beginners but with proper research you have a good chance. A lot better chance than the people that buy on a whim and plop them in the tank and wake up to a barren tank the next morning.