mbuna in a 55 gallon stocking question

[spencer2009]

Hi Everyone,
My birthday is coming up and my parents said that they will buy me a 55 gallon w/ hood and stand and I have a few questions about mbuna cichlids. Would 1 male yellow lab, 3 female yellow labs, 1 male red zebra, and 3 female red zebras be alright? Is this going to be too much aggression or can I add another species and if so what kinds would do well? My tap water is like ph:7.8 so I figure it is almost ideal for them and also there is tons of limestone around here which would look good in the tank and increase the ph a bit so that will probably be my main decoration.

Thanks,
Spencer

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

Yes those fish sound fine for the tank. That will be 8 fish, so you could add another quad of mbuna, some less-aggressive species. Maybe some pseudotropheus? I love saulosi and they are very colorful, but the male yellow lab might bother the yellow females. Its very hard to sex yellow labs, so you may like to get more to start with and then sell off the extra males when you know what they are (if you can tell).

Try for a fish that doesnt look like either the yellow labs or the zebras, there are lots of options.

I doubt the zebras would pick on the labs, but they are more aggressive. The limestone rock sounds great, stack it to make lots of hiding places for your fish.

:)
Depends what you like, and what is available to you.
;)
-Diana

[spencer2009]

Thanks alot for the info, i looked at some of the different species of Pseudotropheus and I like the Pseudotropheus demasoni. I read that these only get 3 inches long. Will it get picked on by the others?

[JSchmidt]

I suppose it's a personal call, but I think zebras are poor candidates for a 55. I wouldn't keep them in less than a 75. Just too boisterous and territorial.

I think a yellow lab- demasonii tank would look nice. I've kept these fish toghther and they do fine. I'd recommend a quartet of labs, as already indicated. Ps. demasoni, though, are very aggressive, tough fish. They do much better kept in larger colonies. I have a couple large breeding colonies, but I've had trouble any time I try to keep a colony smaller than a dozen.

I'd get about 12-15 of them to go with your yellow labs. That's more Malawis than I'd normally recommend for a 55, but the demasoni are smaller and seem to be less messy than other africans. It makes for a striking tank, and if you're lucky, you'll have baby labs and demasoni.

HTH,
Jim

[spencer2009]

how does this sound?
4 pseudotropheus saulosi
5 Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei"
5 Labidochromis sp. "Perlmutt"

Thanks,
Spencer

[JSchmidt]

I think that would work, and would look nice, too. Just be sure to get one male of each species and the rest female. Otherwise, you'll have lots of fighting...

Jim

[justinb013]

the two psuedotropheus species will likely hybidize (interbreed). If you do choose both, make sure not to sell, give away, or otherwise distribute any of these hybrid fry, as most folks don't want them. There are already enough species of mbuna without the us humans creating hybrids.

Other than that, sounds like a decent mix to me.

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

Actually, if you have a colony of both there will be a very slim chance of hybridization. Those two fish, even though they are the same genus, look very different. If you provide females for your males then they will be much more interested in thier own females rather than others.

Usually you get hybridization occuring when either you dont have any proper females for your male, or the females all look the same.

;)

-Diana