Believe me, I'm far from an expert in anything, but I do have a 30 gallon tank with 3 Melanochromis auratus's and 2 Labidochromis caeruleus's (Electric Yellow Lab's) and have had no casulties. I know the Melanochromis auratus and the Labidochromis caeruleus swim the same waters and figured I'd give it a shot. Knock on wood, their have been no casulties yet, and all seem to note that the one auratus is the most dominent and seem to deal with it accordingly.
Mbuna Compatibility
- Thread starter colematthewmala
- Start date
How big are the fish? While juvies they seem adorable and innocent, but when sexually mature even a yellow lab might prove to be too aggressive in tight quarters.
The Yellow Labs are 2ish, The one auratus is 3 and the other two are babies. When I first put the older auratus in, him and the one yellow lab were nipping at eachother to see who was more dominent. Once the yellow lab figured out he was gonna lose, he backed down, and now he lets the auratus run the tank. Funny enough, the yellow lab is the second most dominent fish in the tank....Even though yellow labs are not normally dominent at all.
mostlycichlids
Cichlid Specialist
At that size they will work but they are no where near fully mature and will get much much more aggressive....believe me that is not going to be a good mix in that size tank once fully mature 4.5-5 inches.
To the OP I wouldn't add anything if all you have is the 30g I would suggest only one species maybe a breeding group of 5-6 females to one male at best.
okay so i'll do more water changes and get rid of some of the labs. I am now thinking of replacing them with pseudotropheus scolofi aka powder blue cichlids but would like your advice on this. i hear that they may get aggressive so i may stick with rusty's
IMO, you should stick to the labs and the rusties the way it was mentioned before. I don't think you should replace any of these 2 species with the blue socolofi; this one can be too aggressive in a 30gal, IMHO.
