africans vs americans (cichlids that is)

J

jadefoodog

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Dec 15, 2005
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ok i know a bit about the amreicans and they are atractive because of loads of personality and they will hunt down live feeders and they are agressive yet theres alot that can be cept together.

but aside from lots of colors im unsure why someone should choose africans for a tank. so tell me do they have the same personality and owner recognition that americans have or its it something else . im kinda on the fence on what to do with a 55g im getting soon. you african gurus should chime in.
 
Haha. You have never owned africans, have you? The mbunas are really cool. they are crazy swimming around alot, and are always begging for food if you are close to the tank. My brachardi (a lake tang. african) has loads of personality. He's very territorial and has landscaped my sand around "HIS" rock just the way he likes it, and if I try to "fix" it, he just puts right back the way he likes it. He also chases the Mbunas I have around, he doesn't like them coming in his "house". Personally, I think they have a lot of personality, and every species is different. Also, they don't get quite as large as some of the americans so you have more of a choice when it comes to what to put in your tank. E.G. you can put a bunch of africans in a 55, wheres you could only do one max of: oscar, JD, or green terror in a 55.
 
thats awsome, i was looking forward to a answer like that . my daugter badly wants me to get a yellow pecock she saw at walmart. there were 2 there i was interested in but i cant identify them one had yellow white and black stries horizontal and one had yellow and black stripes vertical i know this isnt quite enuff for anyone to identify them but its just kinda a descrition. the one with horizontal lines had the boditype of a Marlieri cichlid bur nowhere near the pattern

anyhow your right ive never kept them before.

im getting a 55 and i am considering africans. got any sugestions of what might work well?
 
heres one what is this

1.jpg
 
The mbuna in that photo is a juvenile or female melanochromis auratus and have great potential to be extremely aggressive. Males when the mature transform in color (becoming very dark, practically black with a blue horizontal stripe).

You may want to begin with african cichlids that are far less aggressive like pseudotropheus acei (purple with yellow fins) or electric yellow labs (yellow with black fin edges), but there are a bunch of species that are also great to start with. You may want to avoid selecting from an 'assorted africans' tank until you can identify particular species. Some of those tanks contain various species, but also may include fish of mixed lineage (hybrids), or other types of africans that get relatively large like a nimbochromis venustus (which get up to about 10").

For the most part african cichlids, despite being aggressive at times, thrive in groups. You could probably house 8-12 mbuna in a 55-gal.
 
yeah i just looked it up and saw it was exsremely agressive so i was like okies no thanks. my only problem is being abole to get them. unless i get to knwo some breeders online ill probably not have access to very good or broad ranges of stock to choose from being in a small town in oklahoma.

i will avoid the one in the picture though
 
You don't have any fish/petstores around you, or in the closest city? Ordering online isn't so bad though if you have to. Lovemykribs should be able to give you some good suggestions on what kind of fish are compatible, but I do know that the yellow labs, and rusties are pretty mellow. I have some and I love them. A good site to do some research, is either malawimayhem.com or riftnreef.com . Both have extensive species profiles, but if you go to riftnreef, you can browse through pics without knowing the scientific name. Go to the lake malawi section in the forum and check out the "mixed african tank"-common malawi id's thread.
 
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just fyi, if ur thinking of getting an auratus... DO IT mine is great he's smart as can be and he follows me all over the tank as i pass by i love em
 
I would not listen to the above suggestion if I were you... ;) I have seen FAR TOO MANY times auratus take over the tank and kill everything. You NEED a large (75+ gallon) tank full of thier own species or other equally aggressive mbuna to house them long term. They may be okay for a few months, but they will become a terror. Also its good to be really familiar with mbuna before attempting to keep them, so you can recognize signs of aggression and stop it before it gets out of hand.

I think your best bet is to get small groups of a few species. Yellow labs (Labidochromis caeuraleus) are great "mellow" beginner mbuna, along with Pseudotropheus acei and Idotropheus sprengae (rusties). I would do 4 individuals of each species, aiming for 1 male 3 females (but they are hard to sex when young).

Or, instead of mbuna, you could keep a group of one type of Aulonocara or Peacocks.

Ordering online can be a breeze with a reputable dealer, or you can get your local LFS to order you some.

:)
-Diana
 
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