Suggest 1st fishes for Mbuna tank??

G

gillguy

Got gills?
Aug 10, 2007
10
0
0
Central MA, USA
Hi,

I'm in the process of building my stand for my "soon" to set up Mbuna Cichlid tank. I've never done cichlids.

I have a 30 gallon hex right now with just some Mollies and a pleco. I read elsewhere that Mollies make decent dither fish.

This tank's pH tends to run a bit high anyway, so I think it would be suitable for a cichlid.

Could I add a small group (4-6) cichlids to this tank for now while I get the other tank set up, cycled, etc.

If so, I was wondering what your suggestions would be as I have read that you should try to start with the least aggressive fish and work your way toward the more aggressive species.

Any thoughts??

TIA,

Jason
 
maybe a male and a group of females of a smaller species that you like is the way to go. I like rainbowfish or giant danios as dithers (Buenos Aires tetras for neotropical tanks).
 
LuckyCricket said:
The tank is really too small for mbuna, 55 gal is considered shell dwellers?
Click to expand...

Sorry, I didn't explain myself too well. I'm setting up a 55 gallon right now that will be the Mbuna Cichlid tank. I was hoping to use the 30 gallon just to temporarily house a few smaller cichlids...kind of like a large QT tank...until the 55 is up an running. Then I would transfer them over.

Could I get a small group of electric yellows for now in the 30 gallon with the Mollies?

Thanks,

Jason
 
gillguy said:
Sorry, I didn't explain myself too well. I'm setting up a 55 gallon right now that will be the Mbuna Cichlid tank. I was hoping to use the 30 gallon just to temporarily house a few smaller cichlids...kind of like a large QT tank...until the 55 is up an running. Then I would transfer them over.

Could I get a small group of electric yellows for now in the 30 gallon with the Mollies?

Thanks,

Jason
Click to expand...

While Yellow Labs are less aggressive African Cichlids, they'll still probably nag a mollie to death.
 
You could start with some yellow labs and some rustys. That's a few of what i have now in my 55g now. Rustys don't get as large and are not as aggressive as the typical mbuna. Yellow labs get slighty bigger than rustys, but still alittle less aggressive than most mbuna. Rustys get better looking once you bring them home from the store after a week or so, when there happy. Trust me. I only have 1 rusty but it's fine. It's my favorite fish now. May get a few more later on. I have a lamp eye tetra and red tail shark with them and they never touch them. Though as my mbuna grow, i may move them just in case. If ur interested in rustys see my recent thread on this forum about my rusty and their are a few pics...
 
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vanpudin said:
You could start with some yellow labs and some rustys. That's a few of what i have now in my 55g now. Rustys don't get as large and are not as aggressive as the typical mbuna. Yellow labs get slighty bigger than rustys, but still alittle less aggressive than most mbuna. Rustys get better looking once you bring them home from the store after a week or so, when there happy. Trust me. I only have 1 rusty but it's fine. It's my favorite fish now. May get a few more later on. I have a lamp eye tetra and red tail shark with them and they never touch them. Though as my mbuna grow, i may move them just in case. If ur interested in rustys see my recent thread on this forum about my rusty and their are a few pics...
Click to expand...

Being less aggressive than most, it sounds like the Rusty may be a good choice. If my LFS has them, I'll see about picking some up next week and trying them in my 30 gallon for now...until the 55 is ready for inhabitants.

Thanks to all for the advice!

-Jason
 
Yea, the rusty i got just looked like a solid rusty color when it was in tank with other rustys, but after having it for a week or so it just got better looking along with slight vertical banding. Not sure if it looks like this because he's the only one or just happy.
Good look...
 
As a temporary set-up, do a group of yellow labs or rusties. One male to 3 or 4 females. Move them over to the 55 as soon as possible. Don't expect a molly to last long with them though.

You don't need dithers with mbuna or rift lake cichlids in general. I would personally prefer to keep more mbuna than take up space with dithers.
 
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