how many africans in a 55g?

[Catlid]

The guy at this petstore said 25, he said cuz if u dont have enough they will kill eachother off.

[valerie]

He was talking baout over crowding to lessen aggresion. But IMO taht only works in larger tanks. The idea is that there is so many fish that one can't be pciked out to beat up on. If a fish is getting chased it will get lost in the crowd. I dont' think a 55g is big enough fo rhtis idea to work.

I would put about 15-20 juvies then as they mature take out the males and aggresive fish untill you have about 10-12 left

What sort of species are you planning on getting?

[Catlid]

not really sure, i just see one i like and get it. ALso how often should i change the water and how much.

[valerie]

Just buying one you like and not researching it before hand is going to lead to disaster. Some africans are VERY aggresive and will most likely end up beating up or even killing its tankmates. Some africans are also not compatible becuase of their diets. If you mix mbuna(most species) with haps then you can have problems with bloat due to the mbunas eating the higher protein foods the haps need.

I would really suggest see which fish you like, then doing research about them before hand. Its not hard. go to some websites that have malawi profiles and see which fish you like the look of. Then take the name and research the fish.

Some good starter malawi mbuna are

-Iodotropheus sprengerae(Also called rusties, these fish are a nice rust color with purple on their sides)

-pseudotropheus saulosi( male fish is blue with black bars and the female is yellow. This is a good species since it looks like you have 2 different fish, a blue and a yellow)

-Labidochromis caeuruleus(yellow labs, Can't beat their color)

- Pseudotropheus "acei"- a few idfferent variations on this species,Some have yellow fins and a purple body and another has white fins and a purple body

All the fish listed usally mix well. You could have 2-3 species. A nice tank would be 6 Ps. saulosi(1-2males) and 4-5 rusties. This would have good color, and lots of activity.

[Slappy*McFish]

^very good advice.

[valerie]

Why thank you :p

[jimbo]

I couldn't be more agree :bowing:

[JSchmidt]

Super good advice from Val. She gets the Cichlid Forum gold star for the day!

:bowing:

On the other hand, the LFS employee who told you to put 25 mbuna in 55 is an idiot! I would be very hesitant to put much stock in ANYTHING he/she says in the future.
:argh

And a stern wag of the finger at you, Catlid, for the "i just see one i like and get it" baloney. You've been hanging around here long enough to know better...
:scratch:

Jim

[Catlid]

:(