Need a list of fish!

[Luca Brazzi]

I will soon have my 75 gallon tank completed. Can anyone give me a list of small african cichlids that I can stock it with? Lets say Im starting with some mbuna. I was going to go with new world cichlids but... they get too big. I want to stick to the 5" and under club.

[BigOh]

Ps. saulosi

Any Cynotilapia species

Most Labidochromis species don't get too big either.

Labetropheus trewavasae are great fish ... the males can easily get about 5" .. but should be fine in a 75g.

Here is a sample setup:

Cynotilapia afra species (which one is up to you)

Ps. saulosi

Labidochromis perlmutt

There are many fish to choose from. I would not go more than 3 groups of fish. try getting like 1m 5f of each. That would give you around 18 fish, which would be nice for the 75g.

[Luca Brazzi]

Thanks for the info...

I was browsing through Russ Utslers fish site in the Mbuna section when I came across several Metriaclima. What are the characteristics of this group? Will they mix well with the others youve mentioned?

[BigOh]

Many of the fish in the Metriaclima genus were once labeled as Pseudotropheus. You may even hear Metriaclima and Maylandia being confused as there is a raging debate over it.

If mixing Metriaclima w/ Pseudotropheus just take care to pick fish that are not too similar in shape/size/color and provide several females for each male. This will help to reduce hybridization and reduce aggression. This pretty much goes for any mixture.

Mbuna in general are pretty aggressive, some are alot more homicidal then others (ie. Melanochromis sp., some Tropheops, etc.)

Just pick your fish carefully. Give them a big tank. And give them plenty of hiding spots.

Round and flat river rocks make very natural decorations for Mbuna setups and can provide alot of cover.

[Andy16]

finnaly a question i can answer. i have a whole list made of mbuna taht are small to mid sized:)
ill put stars by the ones taht are best suited for your tank:)

*-Cynotilapia afra "mbamba
*-Psuedotropheus Zebra("chilumba")("red-top")
*-Pseudotropheus damasoni
-Pseudotropheus sp. "polit"
*-Pseudotropheus saulosi
-Aulonocara baenschi
*-Labidochromis caeruleus
*-Maylandia callainos
-Protomelas sp. "spilonatus Tanzania"
*-Copadichromis azureus
*-Pseudotropheus flavus
*-Pseudotropheus elongatus "Chewere"
-Aulonocara stuartgranti sp. "Cobue"
-Aulonocara baenschi
-Maylandia sandaracinos
*-Cynotilapia mbamba
-Pseudotropheus msobo
*-Pseudotropheus tropheus
*-Labeotropheus fuelleborni
*-Labeotropheus trewavasae
-Metriaclima(Maylandia)zebra
*-Pseudotropheus acei "ngara"
*-Pseudotropheus socolofi
-Melanochromis johanni
-Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos(maingano)
*-Pseudotropheus sp. zebra gold
-Placidochromis phenochilus
*-Pseudotropheus demasoni sp. "pombo rock"
*-Labidochromis sp. "Mbamba Yellow top"

Hopefully this helps. You might want to consider asking more people about this though but i am almost totally posotive that all the stared fish are suitable. Largest of all the stared fish is like 8 inches. I left put the ones that i was unsure of and i made this list for when i was trying to fisd teh perfest fish for my tank.

[Nyasa]

Just as a point of clarification, not all of the fish that Andy16 mentioned above are mbuna. Aulonocara, Protomelas and Copadichromis are not mbuna. These fish have different dietary requirements from mbuna which are 'aufwuchs' or algae grazers whose diet consists primarily of green matter. Some would argue that these fish should not be kept with mbuna for this reason alone.

[Andy16]

I meant for only the starred ones to be considered in the tank. I know that those aulonocara and otehr ones are to big and arent suitable for mbuna. I think they are haplochromines but im not sure.

[Luca Brazzi]

So in otherwords, the best African tank would consist of fish whos dietary needs are the same, and where there are 2 fems to every male, and none of the fish look alike?