Egyptian Mouthbrooder/Mbuna cichlid tank. any advice please??

I_<3_cichlids

I_<3_cichlids

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Apr 17, 2007
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Hi! I'm new to these forums (1st post!)

I have been stocking fish for about 12 years now. (started with goldfish and koi, then moved on to tropical.)

I have recently started taking an interest in african cichlids. (partcularly lake malawi)

I bought a pair (male and female) of Egyptian Mouthbrooders (philander) about two weeks ago. (they are in a 20 gallon with a juvenile red tail shark)
Temp is about 24 c
white sand substrate and various caves formed by pieces of that texas spaggetti rock. sorry not sure if thats the correct name!

I was just wondering what information people could give me on here. I have researched on the internet but the information is very limited.



Also I am moving house in the next week or so and I was thinking of setting up a malawi tank (In particular the mbuna variety). I was thinking a setup containing 3 species of mbuna with 1 male and possibly 3 females of each.

I have a few questions...

1. would a 55 gallon long or 75 gallon corner tank be more appropriate?? would i need bigger to keep about 12-15 mbuna?

2. which species would you recommend stocking? I was thinking maybe some Pseudotrpheus flavus and Perspicax Orange Cap Ndumbi plus one other species?? (1 male + 3 female of each)

3. I really love plecs and would like to get one to go with the mbuna. which plec are compatible with these (if any?)

I'm open to opinions and any advice. I think i've exhausted just about every piece of imformation i can find on websites! :read:

I was curious to know what you guys thought. Any advice/comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks all lot!

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20 gallon - 3.5" Blood Parrot Cichlid 'Nemo'

20 gallon - 2.5" Male Egyptian Mouthbrooder
2" Female Egyptian Mouthbrooder
2" Juvenile Red Tail Shark

600 gallon Pond
4x 10"-20" Grade A Koi
1x 10" Comets
2x 9" Goldfish

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I have 11 in a 55 gallon long. I am still a very green noobie myself, but I do believe the longer the tank the better with these guys. I don't think the 75 gallon corner tank would work. Someone correct me if I'm wrong please.
I have a pleco (unknown variety) with my guys, and so far so good. He hides sucking on everything and nobody bothers him.
 
thanks for the advice.
so as a fellow newbie, which species would you recommend??
 
I love all of mine equally :dance2: But I do think the colors on my kenyi's are magnificent. However in my tank, these guys are the most agressive (maybe because at the moment they're the biggest). I also love the look of the Pseudotropheus flavus. Very nice fish.
I see you have a huge pond! Any chance of seeing a pic?
 
I shall get one taken and post it!

I did have 6 koi but two where taken from me by a heron :mad:
cost me £200 each! (about $400!) R.I.P

suffice to say I put a wooden frame with mesh over the top the next day.

theres no way i'm losing any more!!

does anyone have any advice they can give about my mouthbrooders?

many thanks guys
 
Sorry - I can't comment on the egyptian mouthbrooders. However, I can tell you my experience with a 55gal mbuna. I started with all 1 inch juveniles approximately 6 months ago:
3x yellow labs
3x johanni
3x auratus
3x steveni

After a few initial deaths, things settled down, and I recently added 2 more female yellow labs, to quell some aggression issues. Current stocking is:
5x yellow labs (2m, 3f - I think)
3x johanni (2m, 1f)
2x auratus (1m, 1f)
2x steveni (1m, 1f)

Do some reasearch on the relative aggressiveness of each of the species you are interested in. I am starting to get concerned about my auratus, as the male is starting to get noticeably more aggressive toward both the female auratus and the others in the tank. I plan to get another 1-2 female auratus, 1-2 female johanni. I hope the Steveni and labs will be able to hang in there...

I guess the bottom line with Mbuna in my opinion and experience is to get a good mix of juvies, try to get 1 male to 3 or so females of each species, make sure there are lots of rock hiding places, and overfilter the tank (I run a Rena XP3 + a Penguin 350). If you do this, I would say you can get 12-15 dwarf mbuna in a 55.

The 75 corner (I think) does not have as long a footprint, and because of this will not allow the same amount of room for the fish to run away from an aggressor.
 
The 55g would be best, as the longer the tank the better. :)

I have a 55g Malawi tank myself and my stock is:

6 Cynotilapia afra cobue (soon to be 4 1m/3f)
6 Yellow Labs
4 Pseudotropheus socolofi albino (soon to be 3)
5 A. jacobfreibergi "eureka peacock" (1m/4f)

As you can tell, I'm still working on the stock. I bought them all as juvies and I've been bringing the stocking down as they are becoming more sexable (and more aggressive ;)).

I wouldn't suggest keeping the Peacocks with Mbuna like Afras and Pseudotropheus, as I've lost a couple of mine to aggression. I'd choose something in place of them, like Red Zebras or Greshakei.

Since you like the P. flavus, you could do that instead of the Socolofi. If you go with Yellow Labs, make sure you have a larger group of them since they aren't as aggressive as other Mbuna.

Its up to you on the stocking....go with what you can get and what you like. :)

Hopefully my stocking and the others will give you some ideas. Sorry I am not familiar with the Egyptian mouthbrooders.
 
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