Overstocking Malawi Mbuna

R

ric_uk

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Mar 18, 2004
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Hi,

I've been searching around for some time now for info about setting up a Mbuna tank. I've decided to go for the smaller less aggressive malawi's; Yellow labs, rusties, salousi etc plus some synodontis catfish.

The problem is that I've run into alot of conflicting info about stocking levels. In particular, overstocking. I'd rather get things right first time than risk lots of dead fish (these fish are expensive where I live) so any help would be great.

My tanks stat's are;

48" long 12" deep 18" tall. 170l, 37g (imp).

My tap water is; ph8+ (ish, not exactly sure as my ph tester doesn't go that high), water is hard.
At the practical fishkeeping site the stocking calculator suggested 67" of fish.

I am thinking of; trio of yellow labs, trio of rusties, a bumblebee, 4 red zebra (1 male 3 female), and 2 cuckoo synodontis.

Is this a realistic set-up???
 
I would consider leaving the red zebras out of the mix. They are much more boisterous than the others, and the tank you cite is really not big enough for controlled overcrowding to work. (Overcrowding really only works as intended when there's enough swimming space for the chaser to get distracted as he pursues his victim. In tanks smaller than 75 US gallons, the pursued fish has a harder time shaking the aggressor, so you wind up with all the problems of an overstocked tank -- much higher maintenance, greater risk of crashing -- without most of the benefit -- reduced aggression.

If you left out the zebras you'd probably be OK.

BTW, those 'stocking calculators' are notoriously inaccurate, so I'd take their recommendations with a very large grain of salt.

HTH,
Jim
 
thanks for the advice,

would you think of replacing the zebra with more of the others or just leave them out without replacement?

The reason I ask is that I'm a little worried about the tank, from an asthetics point of view, being a little sparsely populated. If the malawi hide in caves all day my tank might look a little empty. If there's nothing I can do about it I might decide to go for an alternative set-up.
 
I would just leave the zebras out and not replace them. Your tank should look OK; mbuna are rock-dwelling fish, and as they become more familiar with their environment, they'll be out more. They live in the rocks, though, and they hide there when something novel is around, so don't expect the same look as a tank filled with mid-level swimmers. The syno cats will help; you could probably get at least 3 of them. I have found Syno. petricola to be even more active and social than the multipunctatus (or cuckoo) cat, especially in groups of 3 or more.

My mbuna tanks are very active. If someone different walks into the room, though, the fish take off for the rocks until they know it's safe. It's kind of funny to watch...

Jim
 
I would say leave out the bumble bee. THey can get big(8") and very aggresive. I would jsut stick with the yellows,rusties and saulosi and syno. I think you could do 4 of each species and have lots of rock work. If the fish aren't scared or being picked on(which i fear they might if you have teh zebras and bumble bee) then they wont' come out of hiding. The rusties,yellow labs and sualosi all have about the same temperament. My rusties are always out and about and producing tons of fry for me.
 
hi,

thanks for your replies.

So how about;
4 yellow labs
4 rusies
4 salousi
3 cuckoo synodontis
?

What are the powder blue mbuna like? Could I integrate them into my setup? I am trying to achieve a colourfull mix of fish, to make the tank really stand out. BTW, what are your views of the 'false marine' tank setups using Malawis? I want to make the tank quite bright and almost marine like, but I'm worried if I make it to bright the fish wont like it.
 
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