buffalo heads r definately cool little fish. picky, but not real mean.... kind of comparable to a tropheus. stay mainly on the bottom of the tank like a goby, and pretty shy really. usually tough to find unless u special order them.
newbie question about cichlids
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yes buffaloheads are most def hard to get a hold of and in my area as well and they are a great little fish i so wish i could get a hold of a colony, sorry i had to add my 2 cents aye..
You might want to follow "Luvmykribs" advice as he is correct for the most part. I recommenced (shudder shudder bite my tongue) plastic/silk plants in the beginning until you know what cichlids you want. The reason is that most cichlids will uproot, eat, rearrange plants, and dig in the substrate. This is not to say all cichlids but I suggest you wait on the plants until you have the tank well-established, then see what plants would do well.
Most big box stores and some LFS are there only to sell and offer unsound advice just to get you to buy. This is not to say they lie to you on purpose, they just lack the incentive to obtain accurate information. A good LFS may have slightly higher prices than the big box but usually the advice is sound. Until you decide if they can be trusted or not, learn from this forum who you can go to for soound advice on a particular type of cichlid. Learn the latin name to use as a reference, not something you have to retain so that when you say blue peacock we wont have to ask what you mean. Luckily most people associate electric yellow with labidochromis caeruleus even though there are other yellow cichlids.
As you now know fishy cycling is not the best way to go but you are stuck with a fish at this point. Buying your own test kit IS the best way to go. Learn to use it and how to read it. It's fairly easy. Learn about acclimation before you bring home any fish! See how your water compares to the water at the LFS.
Most community fish can be added to tank little at a time, cichlids can't due to their aggression and the fact that they are very territorial. Actually they can be added little at a time but you're likely to be creating problems.
Take your time and don't rush and you will thank yourself for it later on. Always be willing to ask for help and don't look at a post count and think the person knows a lot because they have a high count. You will know who has the best info for a particular kind of fish (or invert or plants). I have 6 different kinds of cichlids but that doesn't mean I know anything about the kind you have. I believe I read that there are approximately 2500 different ones (yes, I have yellow labs). They are very timid but a colorful little fish. There are also different qualities in them, so take your time selecting them if you want to try breeding them later on. They can live about 10 years.
Most big box stores and some LFS are there only to sell and offer unsound advice just to get you to buy. This is not to say they lie to you on purpose, they just lack the incentive to obtain accurate information. A good LFS may have slightly higher prices than the big box but usually the advice is sound. Until you decide if they can be trusted or not, learn from this forum who you can go to for soound advice on a particular type of cichlid. Learn the latin name to use as a reference, not something you have to retain so that when you say blue peacock we wont have to ask what you mean. Luckily most people associate electric yellow with labidochromis caeruleus even though there are other yellow cichlids.
As you now know fishy cycling is not the best way to go but you are stuck with a fish at this point. Buying your own test kit IS the best way to go. Learn to use it and how to read it. It's fairly easy. Learn about acclimation before you bring home any fish! See how your water compares to the water at the LFS.
Most community fish can be added to tank little at a time, cichlids can't due to their aggression and the fact that they are very territorial. Actually they can be added little at a time but you're likely to be creating problems.
Take your time and don't rush and you will thank yourself for it later on. Always be willing to ask for help and don't look at a post count and think the person knows a lot because they have a high count. You will know who has the best info for a particular kind of fish (or invert or plants). I have 6 different kinds of cichlids but that doesn't mean I know anything about the kind you have. I believe I read that there are approximately 2500 different ones (yes, I have yellow labs). They are very timid but a colorful little fish. There are also different qualities in them, so take your time selecting them if you want to try breeding them later on. They can live about 10 years.
Congrats on choosing to go with mbuna! They are really neat and full of personality. While you are waiting for your tank to cycle you can spend time researching all about what you want to stock your tanks with. I see you want some yellow labs and that is a great place to start. Next it really depends on what you want. There are a few species that people generally try to avoid but otherwise there are lots of options available. I had so much fun picking out the stock for my 55 gallon 
Be sure to provide lots of rock, hiding places for your fish and good filtratiuon. I would stick to juviniles when you stock, it just seems to make things a little smoother. I stock with young fish and haven't had any issues just adding a few at a time. try to stick with small groups when adding new fish. It's also best to keep a good male to female ratio of at least 1:3. As long as you do a good amount of research and avoid impulse buys you should have a very nice successful tank.
Good luck and be sure to post pictures once it's all set up
Be sure to provide lots of rock, hiding places for your fish and good filtratiuon. I would stick to juviniles when you stock, it just seems to make things a little smoother. I stock with young fish and haven't had any issues just adding a few at a time. try to stick with small groups when adding new fish. It's also best to keep a good male to female ratio of at least 1:3. As long as you do a good amount of research and avoid impulse buys you should have a very nice successful tank.
Good luck and be sure to post pictures once it's all set up
nchoel123 wrote:
hehehe you are so right AFD (aquarium fish disorder) it all leads to MTS (multiple tank syndrome)
hehehe you are so right AFD (aquarium fish disorder) it all leads to MTS (multiple tank syndrome)
This is America...you can put anything in your tank you like.....a few weeks down the road natural selection will determine the resident list.
Well peacocks are haps as you said, but pseudotropheus is mbuna.
If you want the yellow and blue contrast in fish then I would look into one of my favriote mbuna, Pseudotropheus saulosi. Males are blue w/ black stripes and females are yellow/orange. Beautiful! They are less-aggressive too. http://www.malawimayhem.com/profile_show.php?id=276
-Diana
Hi Diana. Haplochromines and Aulonocara are not the same fish. Many have been lumped together over the years, with Aulonocara become a different classification. Fish formally though of as Haps have been moved to Aulonocara and vice-versa. An A. jacobfriebergi is an example of an aulonocara, a Haplochromis Ahli is an example of an open water Hap.
Often times this strategy leads to having one fish in your tank after it's tankmates have been killed. If one wants to be successful, careful research should be done to determine compatibility between species and acceptable stocking levels. The idea is to maintain and KEEP fish for a period of time, rather than throw a bunch of imcompatible fish together and see who " makes the cut ". I've encountered this philosophy many times and it seems barbaric and idiotic. Would you do the same with your mammals? " Let's toss a pittbull, a chihuaha, and 3 cats in a closet and see who wins? " Comparable to animal cruelty if you ask me.
Going back to the beginning of the thread, I have successfully kept Giant Danios with Mbuna with no casualties and have kept Tiger Barbs with Tanganyikans with the same success. The water parameters may not be ideal, but they serve well as dither fish, and can hold position in a Tang tank until one is able to add more suitable schooling fish, such as Cyprichromis Leptosoma or Paracyprichromis Nigrippinis.
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