Labidocromis "hongi"

[nick_flano22]

Hello all,
just the other day i bought a labidocromis hongi to go in my 40g with my electric yellow, the two fish hav got along quite well in fact a little to well, my question is will the crossbreed if one is a female? and i was thinking of adding a red top zebra in about 2 weeks would this be a good idea, considering how well the other two fish are getting on?

Thanks,
nick_flano22

[Coler]

Yeah being of the same family they will crossbreed (if they breed).

Its hard to say regarding the zebra; generally you overstock mbuna to contain aggression. Depending on personality he may take over the tank, and without sufficient numbers, claim the entirety as his territory and try to make it a one fish set up.

What dimensions is the 40 ? I'd think about getting more than 3 fish in there.

[nick_flano22]

Dimensions are 3ftx1.5ft.1.2ft, my uncle made this tank so the dimensions are weird. Tank has lots of rocks so there are many places to hide. If they breed i do not intend on keeping the fry, id prefer not to take the risk of letting a hybrid out however small the chance of that happening is.

[Coler]

3 feet is good - you want a good footprint for them, and, as you know, lots of rock. Plenty of room for more mbuna in there.

http://www.cichlidforum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=146243&sid=be04b14ec230a39bd7bc753d00cc286b here's somebody stocking a 3 foot tank

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/quick_reference_list.php and here's some suggested stocking plans.

See what you like and if we can help we will :)

[nick_flano22]

Thanks 4 the links great info,
i would like to keep it an all male tank to avoid to much aggression.
So far in the tank there is:
1 Labidocromis "hongi"
1 Yellow Lab

Wanting to add:
1 Red top zebra

Do u have any suggestions, i would like lots of color.
Params are fine ph 8.0. Lots of rocks, filtration is double the tank volume.

[Coler]

All male tank is a great idea for colour and its what I did myself. The main issue is personality; if you get a fish with a bit too much 'character' (i.e. a murderer) you have to be willing to bring it back/rehome it.

Have a look at the species profiles in the link, but you could think about :

pseudotropheus socolofi (blue or albino)
pseudtropheus acei (white tail & yellow tail both lovely fish)
iodotropheus spregerae (rusty cichlid)

These are regarded as particularly non-aggressive for mbuna.

What you do with an all male set-up like that is try and pick out fish with different colouration, so that they don't mistake each other for con-specific males and beat the tar out of each other.
Basically think about the pseudotropheus/labidochromis, and avoid metriaclimia and melanochromis. Those last two are generally highly aggressive.

With good filtration & maintenance I think you could have 8 - 10 fish.

[nick_flano22]

Thanks for the suggestions i have looked at some of those fish before, im with you on the color mixing thing i was going to try to get as many different fish as i can. I have read that in all male tanks, there can be 1 fish that becomes a super dominant fish and will kill others.

Would i be able to add an electric blue or would this be to bigger fish?

[Coler]

Sciaenochromis fryeri ?

I would advise not - its a larger fish (up to 8 inches) and is a 'hap' and not a mbuna : difference explained here : http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/haps_vs_mbuna.php

And here's a thread on why mixing them can be problematic (Mbuna prefer rocky crevices, Haps want a larger swimming area, also behaviourly difference) http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=106008&highlight=Hap+Mbuna