Will This Stocking Work?

[b0b95]

2 male yellow labs, 4 female
1 male acei, 3 females
1 male rusty, 2 female rusty
3 male demasoni, 7 female
1 male red zebra, 3 female red zebra

This may not work at all, and mabye way over stocked, but how does it sound?

o and also a bristlenose pleco and some upside down catfish. tank is 75 gallons. argonite subsrate

 

[KittyKat]

What are the tank dimensions? How much rock (photo might be easier than explaining)?

I would say overstocked. How about (assuming tank layout allows)..
* 2m 5f Labs
* 1m 3f Iodotropheus sprengerae (Rusty)
* 15 Pseudotroph. demasoni

Maybe Psudotroph. acei instead of the Rusties? Altho I think that is less likely to work because the Acei might be too aggressive for the Demasoni (given Demasonis' size, not attitude).

 

[b0b95]

im starting to think less daemonsi unless someone kind find something cheap. I have plenty of rock mabye i could have these:
Tramitichromis intermedius they may not work at all, as i havent done research on this particular fish

how about;
2 m 5 f yellow labs
1 m 3f rusty
1m 3f red zebra
2 m 5 f acei
and 1 m 2f Tramitichromis intermedius (if possible)

srry to ask another question, but how would 1m 3f red empress work?

 

[KittyKat]

Demasoni are one of the old time favourites, well worth the cost, I think! You could start with a few and breed them, maybe?

Someone else should be able to tell you better than I if the Tramitichromis intermedius will work or not, given that they are Haps.

Edit:
I advise against mixing Labs and Zebras because they will cross breed.

What are the dimensions of the tank?

 

[b0b95]

whats wrong with cross breeding?

how about

2 m 5 f yellow labs
1 m 3f rusty
1m 3f red zebra
1m 3f demonasi
1m 3f red empress

and mabye 1m 2f auratus

yes i know it may be over stocked, but i have plenty of filtration 700 gallons per hour, and could possbily get up to 1000.

 

[KittyKat]

Cross breeding can, in extreme cases, lead to extinction of both species. Of course this is a bit drastic for your case. But what does apply here is the following: if any of the crossed fry are ever passed onto someone else, there is a good chance that they, or their descendants, will be introduced into a breeding project under the impression that they are of one or the other species.

Demasoni should be kept in groups of 10+ normally, although groups of about 8 can work if the fish are sexed (which is very difficult to do) and there is only one or two males in the group, in all other cases, they will beat the crap out of each other in groups smaller than 10. Groups of 4 never work long term.

Red Empress (assuming you mean Protomelas taeniolatus) is also a Hap, wait for a Hap expert to come along.

 

[b0b95]

okay, its jsut demonasi are 16 dollars apiece thats 160 dollars. Also i guess i will keep the cross breeds, but if i pass them along, i will make sure to explain. are the hybrids still fertile?

if so how about
1m 2f yellow lab
1m 2f red zebra
1m 2f acei
1m 2f red empress (if compatible)
1m 2f rusty
1m 2f aurutus (do u know if this would work?)

also any safe way to raise hardness, my ph is 8.2 but my gh and kh are not quite hard enogh, i think like 5-6 for both

o i found some for 12 a piece, mabye i could get 8 and let em breed

o i found some for 12 a piece, mabye i could get 8 and let em breed

 

[b0b95]

from what i hear, red empresses should be able to survive with mbuna

 

[b0b95]

mabye no red empress, but

1m 3f yellow lab
1m 3f red zebra
1m 3f acei
1m 3f rusty
1m 3f saulosi

 

[b0b95]

and Labidochromis Sp. "Hongi 1m 3f

 

[Squidward]

mabye no red empress, but

1m 3f yellow lab
1m 3f red zebra
1m 3f acei
1m 3f rusty
1m 3f saulosi

Sounds ok.
but the acei get quite big. I had 2 (was 3 but a female died)in my 55gal and they could have used more space. Also, acei prefer to swim in open spaces, and not utilise the rocks as much as other Mbuna, so I would keep a fairly large space in the front of the tank free of rocks.

 

[KittyKat]

are the hybrids still fertile?

Yes, because the species are very closely related.

also any safe way to raise hardness, my ph is 8.2 but my gh and kh are not quite hard enogh, i think like 5-6 for both

Buffers and suchlike are not a safe way to do it. The best, IME, is to use reef bones or similar rock for the base, potentially even adding coral/coral sand into the filter. I am surprised that the sand does not reduce it already. What are your tap readings and what maintenance do you do on the tank? How long has it been set up for?

o i found some for 12 a piece, mabye i could get 8 and let em breed

You need to make sure you get no more than 2 males then.

For the stocking, it would be very helpful if you could give your tank dimensions. Assuming that the tank is 120×45×50cm (48×18×20 inches) with a 50% of the volume rockwork, you're still pushing for too much stock, I think. It is quite a small tank for 6 inch fish (which a number of the species you want are) and some of the fish you want are quite aggressive. The stock you are suggesting is just unrealistic. I very strongly suggest you pick only three of your favourite species and we go from there.

 

[b0b95]

Okay, no red zebras, so there is no cross breeding. What fish out of the remainders is the most problematic

 

[KittyKat]

The Acei might beat up the Rustys.

 

[Squidward]

are the hybrids still fertile?

Yes, because the species are very closely related.

also any safe way to raise hardness, my ph is 8.2 but my gh and kh are not quite hard enogh, i think like 5-6 for both

Buffers and suchlike are not a safe way to do it. The best, IME, is to use reef bones or similar rock for the base, potentially even adding coral/coral sand into the filter. I am surprised that the sand does not reduce it already. What are your tap readings and what maintenance do you do on the tank? How long has it been set up for?

o i found some for 12 a piece, mabye i could get 8 and let em breed

You need to make sure you get no more than 2 males then.

For the stocking, it would be very helpful if you could give your tank dimensions. Assuming that the tank is 120×45×50cm (48×18×20 inches) with a 50% of the volume rockwork, you're still pushing for too much stock, I think. It is quite a small tank for 6 inch fish (which a number of the species you want are) and some of the fish you want are quite aggressive. The stock you are suggesting is just unrealistic. I very strongly suggest you pick only three of your favourite species and we go from there.

Kitty Kat,

I don't think b0b95 is over stocking.
In my 55 gal I had between 35 - 40 fish depending on what had bred etc. Granted, most were the smaller species. But it worked nicely.

btw, bob95, are you sure about your kh/ph readings? I am not an expert on this. But my understanding is that the 2 are directly linked. For eg, my ph (out the tap) is 7.5 with a kh of 15 (German degrees). I could be wrong, but your water seems too soft for such a high ph, or vice versa, the ph is too high for such a low kh reading.
Also, your gh should be slightly higher than the kh.