Mbuna question

[Dean]

I know mumbas are agressive but how agressive. Do they regularly kill eachother, or is it more of chasing and defending territory? Will there agression go down with lots of caves. Thanks

[valerie]

It really depends on the species. Some are very aggresive(like Ps.demasoni, and auratus) and will kill other tankmates.I have heard people say they had a large tank full of juvie demasoni and once they started to mature they killed eachother off untill there was jsut one left.

But then there are the species like yellow labs and rusties that are on the less aggresive side for mbuna and usually dont' do more then chasing and lip locking.

Yes adding lots of caves andhiding spots helps but i have found even in my tank with lots of rocks if a dominant fish wants to pick on a fish no amount of rocks or hiding spots helps.

Are you looking into a perticular species?

[jimbo]

Not all of them are. Some species like Melanochromis auratus and chipokae are described as being pretty aggressive. There might be others though, which I don't have any experience with.
Mbuna’s don’t kill each other on a regular bases, it’s more like you said, defending their territory. There are some basic rules for keeping Malawi cichlids.

No more than one male of each species in your tank.(unless it’s bigger than 200 gallon)
Try to avoid species which are looking the same in shape and coloration.
Provide for each male at least two females so he can spread his ‘aggression’
Try to create lots of rocky cavities for those who are chased at and for those who wants to create a spawning place or territory.
When decorating your tank, start with a piece of Styrofoam on the bottom and stack the rocks on the foam, that way the bottom won’t crack. After you stacked the rocks you can add the sand (preferably)
Last but not least, The absolute minimum size for a tank to keep Mbuna’s is 55 gal.
Water parameters: pH 7.6-8.4 GH 9-14 KH 7-14
Follow the above guidelines and you will enjoy the remarkable behaviour of Malawi cichlids.

Jimmy

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

I wouldn't say the absolute minimum is 55. This goes into the whole 'larger tank better' issue.
Yellow labs can be kept quite happily in a tank as small as 20 gals, so can shellies (there are some malawi species).
No one is going to ever 'get along' in an mbuna tank, no matter how big it is, but the smaller the space the more cramped and agressive they will be for sure.

I find my mbuna tank is extremely fun to watch because of thier agressiveness. They have fun attitudes. Just so long as the fighting doesn't turn into killing or severe damage.

There are so many combinations to make with mbuna- its impossible to list them all!

[jimbo]

Originally posted by ~*LuvMyKribs*~
I wouldn't say the absolute minimum is 55. This goes into the whole 'larger tank better' issue.
Yellow labs can be kept quite happily in a tank as small as 20 gals, so can shellies (there are some malawi species).
If you settle with just a trio or quartet I would agree.
A 20 g with shellies is an other story.


There are so many combinations to make with mbuna- its impossible to list them all!
In a 55 g you can, in a 20 you just can't combine several species. :shake:

Jimmy

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

Hehe no i meant there are many combinations of mbuna that can be housed together.... That statement had no reference to the tank size issue.

I saw a chart one time cross-referencing compatible mbuna species. It looked really informative... if i can find it again i will post it. Very helpful.

[JSchmidt]

Sure, mbuna will kill each other. It can happen quickly, too, although generally a fish will die after being hounded for several days.

Very few mbuna can be housed in a tank smaller than a 55; you can house some of the smaller or more docile fish in 30, but it's not always successful.

The more aggressive mbuna include those from the following commonly-seen families: Pseudotropheus, Melanchromis and Labeotropheus. Labidochromis tend to be less aggressive (esp. yellow labs, labidochromis caeruleus), although that's not uniformly true.

HTH,
Jim

[valerie]

Rusties are also considered non aggresive and they dont' stake territories. But i agree with JSchmidt, there aren't too many mbuna that can be housed in a tank smaller then 55g, especialy if you want to see there natural behaviours.

[Dean]

could someone list some very common non-aggresive mbunas? And are non-aggresive mbunas compatible with haps and peacocks? eg. yellow labs? Thanks

[valerie]

Yes there are a few mbuna taht can go with haps and peacocks.

Yellow labs, rusties are 2 of the best due to their more docile nature and that they can handle a more protein rich diet. Yo umight also be able to get away with adding other species of the genus Labidochromis. I have Lab.perlmutts in with my haps and peacocks without problems. But i have heard of Lab.perlmutts to be aggresive, so it really depends on each specific fish's personality. I also have rusties in the same tank and they have never had a problem with the peacocks or haps.

usually the spieces that work best are the rusties and the yellow labs.But There can always be exceptions and you may have to remove more aggresive fish.