Would This Malawi Stocking Work In A 3ft?

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mrvillicus

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Today I picked up a fluval 3ft tank, it measures 39" wide 15.5 " deep and 18" high and on the calculator it makes it 178 litres or 40 gallon. I have 1 300w heater, an air pump, powerhead and 1000LPH external APS filter. Would the following stock work?

2 Psuedotropheus Kingsizei itungi
2 Cynotilapia afra (Jalo Reef)
2 Cynotilapia afra (Cobue)
3 Labidochromis Caeruleus 'Lion Cove'
2 F1 Metriaclima Aurora 'Pombo rocks'
2 Psuedotropheus Minutus 'manda'

Thanks ben
 
I just want to say that the heater is overkill. I don't even have that strong in my 55. If it malfunctions, all your fish will be cooked. Stocking seems okay. I don't know some of those fish. Great thing about Malawi, ya can crowd them to lessen the aggression as long you have adequate filtration.
 
??? lol the heater is fine wont come on as much as smaller ones

get 7 of 8 of each group and stick with that your stocking wont work so ive put an either or for you

only keep one type the males will fish imo as look similar 2 Psuedotropheus Kingsizei itungi OR 2 Psuedotropheus Minutus 'manda'
these will cross so only keep one type of afra per tank 2 Cynotilapia afra (Jalo Reef) OR 2 Cynotilapia afra (Cobue)
3 Labidochromis Caeruleus 'Lion Cove'
2 F1 Metriaclima Aurora 'Pombo rocks'
 
on the heater issue it don't work like that. the heater comes on less often so actually lives longer (in theory) using less electric too. if it fails it'll likey not work at all making the tank temp drop. not often does a heater break and stay on full. i used to have 100litre tank and run a 250 watt heater with no problems.
in a perfect world you'd use two 100-150 watt heaters with a digital alarm thermometer.
 
Rifty has the right idea. Try not to keep the same species fish with each other. They will likely cross breed and the conspecific aggression will escalate. Try 6-8 of a few different species, maybe the Cobue, Kingsizei, and Labs. Overstocking is the idea with Mbuna and it looks like you have plentiful filtration. Overstocking also gives you a better chance at getting a healthy male to female ratio. You can always cull out the males if there are too many and add some females. I would add that most people would not suggest keeping most Mbuna in anything less than 4 feet. Research all of your fish and if they are mature @ 5"-6", it's probably better to have a bigger tank. Good luck with your tank :good:
 
The filter won't support the tank, the flow from them is rubbish. You're looking at about 400 LPH when full of media.

And I also think the tank is too small to be considering the fish you mention. A fully grown Yellow Lab is a big fish.

I would be looking towards Saulosi's.
 

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