I'm thinking of setting up another 55 gallon tank, and wanted some opinions on my possible stock. I'm thinking red top hongis and msobos (I blame blue2fyre for that - how inconsiderate to post GORGEOUS pictures!). Can anyone suggest a 3rd group that would look good or should I stick with 2 groups? Will the female hongis look terribly bland amongst the brighter msobos? Any other suggestions?
Hypothetical New Tank
- Thread starter KLGFCG
- Start date
AWESOME choices
My male msobo isn't even that pretty you should see some of the nicer looking males. I'm hoping to replace mine eventually. Anyway, I don't know much about hongis but the females won't be as colorful. They will show some color. The way I got around that with my afras in the 80 gallon was to only stock a trio. 1 male and 2 females. The females keep the male colored up but my tank isn't full of brown females. Then you could stock heavier on your msobos to add the colro needed. Since hongi aren't super aggressive it should work out.
Now on to a 3rd species, while afras are gorgeous they also have less attractive females. For suggestion of another species I would look into species that have attractive males and females.
The first one that pops in my head are mainganos. These guys can be nasty but my male msobo keeps mine in line and they are very pretty in contrast to the msobo females.
Another option I always wanted to try was clown labs, Labidochromis chisumulae. They are related to yellow labs so they have a nice temperament. The females are white while the males are blue and white.
Yet another idea is Cynotilapia white top haras. Males are white blue with black stripes and the females are a dark purple blue. They are lower on the aggression scale but can handle themselves pretty well.
Finally the classic Ps acei. If you got a nice variant like Tanzanian black acei they would look pretty sharp against the bright msobo females.
I've got a ton(30+) of these for sale in the classifieds if that's the direction you go! They are a great fish IMO, especially when they are displaying.
Uhg, I'm so bad at making decisions. Based on what I thought I could buy, I was thinking hongis, msobos, and clown labs. So, I went to the LFS to look at holey rock for the new tank, and lo and behold, I see haras which I've liked for a while, but haven't found anywhere. Then, I get back here and DrgRcr points out that he has Tanzania black acei, another species I'd discounted because I didn't know where to get them. Now I'm all conflicted again. 
Well, I guess there are worse problems to have!
As an aside, how is "acei" supposed to be pronounced? I've never been sure, but if I'm considering them for my tank, I guess I should find out.
Well, I guess there are worse problems to have! As an aside, how is "acei" supposed to be pronounced? I've never been sure, but if I'm considering them for my tank, I guess I should find out.
I've been looking around CL and there are a few decent deals on 75 and 90 gallon tanks. Though I know bigger is always better in general, as far as stocking mbuna, is there any difference between the tanks? I figure since they have the same footprint, they can accomodate about the same number of fish; the 90 will just add a little extra vertical space. I was thinking of 4 species (acei, msobo, clown lab, and either hongi or hara), 1:5 each. If the 90 means I can add a 5th species, I may go that direction, otherwise, I think I prefer a 75. Feedback?
The extra 15gal would be nice but as you said its the same foot print i would just for the extra space and if you wanted to occupy the upper area with a species you could add Ranibowfish or Giant Danio's