Suitable Malawi Mbuna Tank Mates

[oo7genie]

This is my first question on these forums, so bear with me.

I just set up a new 55g home for my Lake Malawi Mbuna Cichlids, and I'd like to explore the possibility of adding a few non-Malawi tank mates.

Currently, the tank houses one each of the following cichlids:
Acei, Kenyi, Auratus, Maingano, and Red Zebra. It is also home to a small clown Pleco.

Tank is standard 55g, 48 1/2"L x 13 1/2"W x 21"D
pH is kept at a constant 8.2, KH stays ~10, and GH ~5, and rift lake salt is added at 3/4 tsp per 10 gallons at every weekly 25-50% water change. Ammonia & NitrIte are always non-existent, and water is changed immediately if NitrAte is over 40. I test at least weekly with API tests, for high pH, Ammonia, NitrIte, NitrAte, KH, and GH. It is currently decorated with lava rocks with holes, black sand & gravel mixed substrate, and fake plants. I plan on replacing the lava rock with better rocks & cave structures in the near future.

The pleco doesn't seem to have a problem with any of it at all, even though the parameters are at the high end of its tolerable conditions. And the cichlids don't even seem to realize he's there. If they do, they sure don't care.

So far, the suitable tank mates I've read about on the web consist either of other Lake Malawi Mbunas, or fish that will get along with a cichlid living on their turf, but can't tolerate living on the cichlids home turf due to water chemistry. It's not a strict biotope setup, but it is first and foremost a Malawi tank so I'm not willing to make any major chemistry changes. It would just be nice to get a little more variety in the tank while keeping everyone happy and healthy. If it comes down to it, I'm perfectly content with just keeping it stocked with Malawis.

My criteria for choosing tank mates are:
1. Must be tolerated by the current inhabitants.
2. Must tolerate water conditions of pH 8.2, KH ~10, GH ~5+, lightly salted, temp 76-80.
3. Must tolerate a similar diet (herb/omnivore), to reduce risk of having too much high protein food in the tank available to the Malawis, which could potentially lead to the dreaded bloat.
4. Must have an adult size of between 4-8"
5. Other cichlids are fine as well, as long as they meet the same criteria and are relatively commonly available in LFS.
6. Personality goes a long way. But failing that, pretty colors are always nice too.

I hope I've provided enough info. As I mentioned, I'm new at this, though I have a ton of experience pouring over posts like these found through Google. Unfortunately, I haven't been finding much that's of any use this time.

If anybody has any ideas, experiences, or warnings about tank mates, I'd love to hear them!

 

[beachcire]

It sounds like you have done your research and are prepared to do the necessary maintenance on your tank which is good. I do have a couple of questions though....

1. What type of filtration are you using. It is imperative to at least double up on normal filtration recommendations when you have mbuna cichlids. And I always recommend at least two filters in case one happens to go out.
2. Why the salt? I am not an expert but I don't know of any reason to add salt to a mbuna cichlid tank.

Now, as far as stocking your tank, you are way understocked at the moment (which is why you are asking for suggestions) and you have two of the most aggressive cichlids in your tank right now. The auratus and kenyi can be extremely nasty when they get older. The acei is a beautiful fish and a very calm mbuna if there is such a thing. Good tank mates with acei's are yellow labs and rustys, which would be a beautiful setup. I would recommend 3 different species of mbuna at 1M:4F each for a tank your size. With proper filtration, you could add 1 to each of those since it is a good idea to overstock mbunas to keep the aggression down.

 

[oo7genie]

I appreciate your input. To answer your questions...

Right now I've got a Penguin 350 Bio-Wheel filter on the back, which I transferred directly from their old tank without cleaning, full tank to full tank, matching water perameters, media and all, to aid in cycling the new tank with a minimum of beneficial bacteria loss (I did the same with the decor as well). When I purchased this tank setup, I also received a Penguin 200 Bio-Wheel filter which if still in good working order will be used alongside the 350 as soon as I get it cleaned up and purchase a new wheel for it (the wheel on it has long since dried out). Manufacturers ratings on the filters are 75g for the 350, and 50g for the 200. I figure 125g of filtration for a 55g tank should be sufficient with weekly water changes, so my stocking concerns have more to do with the happiness of the fish living together at adult sizes more than their effect on water quality.

As for the salt, I use it to help buffer the water and add trace elements like phosphorus and calcium. I began using it upon the recommendation of a trusted employee at a LFS. Not a big box pet store, but an actual LFS with a knowledgeable staff. He has kept cichlids for years in multiple tanks, and is always full of advice he has from personal experience. Yet, while I tend to trust him for advice, I always do my research. The trouble is that on the topic of mbuna salt, the opinions vary greatly. I find sites that say Lake Malawi doesn't have any salt in it, and others that say it's one of the saltiest lakes in Africa, if not the world. Rarely does anyone make any distinction between mbuna and the rest. Usually a majority of the people on each site tend to share the same opinion as others on that site, while another site will have people that all share a contrary opinion. In the end, I figured that it shouldn't hurt anything, and would just be a matter of potentially spending more money than I would otherwise have to.

I know what you mean about the Kenyi and the Auratus. I haven't seen too much aggression from them yet, aside from them chasing each other around a bit, but everything I've read points to them being problems down the line. They were my first 2 cichlid purchases, prior to when I began researching the fish I buy or am interested in buying. Knowing then what I know now, I would not have purchased them. In fact I have recently been considering re-homing them.

Funny you should mention yellow labs and rustys, as I was actually just considering them when I was pondering tank mates at the LFS the other day. So far, between stock available at a trusted LFS in town and web research, I'm considering labidochromis caeruleus, labeotropheus fuellerborni maleri, labeotropheus trewavasae, and iodotropheus sprengerae. I still need to check with the other good LFS in town to see what kind of stock they currently have. This second shop can also get ahold of less common cichlids, usually within a couple of weeks, which does increase my options as I'm in no real hurry. Better to stock right than to stock fast!

 

[verbal]

I know what you mean about the Kenyi and the Auratus. I haven't seen too much aggression from them yet, aside from them chasing each other around a bit, but everything I've read points to them being problems down the line. They were my first 2 cichlid purchases, prior to when I began researching the fish I buy or am interested in buying. Knowing then what I know now, I would not have purchased them. In fact I have recently been considering re-homing them.

Funny you should mention yellow labs and rustys, as I was actually just considering them when I was pondering tank mates at the LFS the other day. So far, between stock available at a trusted LFS in town and web research, I'm considering labidochromis caeruleus, labeotropheus fuellerborni maleri, labeotropheus trewavasae, and iodotropheus sprengerae. I still need to check with the other good LFS in town to see what kind of stock they currently have. This second shop can also get ahold of less common cichlids, usually within a couple of weeks, which does increase my options as I'm in no real hurry. Better to stock right than to stock fast!

I would probably go with your inclination to re-home the auratus and kenyii. I have a tank with a variety of african cichlids and the dominant kenyii was a bully to a lot of them. However I removed the top dog and now things seem to be more peaceful with a couple smaller kenyii males. I think you might be ok with auratus and kenyii if they are female. You might also keep an eye on your Red Zebra.

I think labidochromis caeruleus, iodotropheus sprengerae and one of the labeotropheus species would be a good mix. I think you might have competition and/or hybridization issues with both species in the same genus.

 

[platytudes]

http://www.cichlidae.com/article.php?id=42
Here's a great article on dither fish by Paul Loiselle.

I've heard that large barbs (such as clown barbs) and rainbowfish can work. I had a colony of yellow labs and was able to keep brilliant rasboras with them, they schooled closely and stayed very near the top. Certain danios and tetras also exhibit similar behavior, for example giant danios and Buenos aires or red eye tetras. These are more middle dwellers, though.

Basically, I would avoid anything like plecos, cories, loaches which dwell on the bottom and venture into caves. Same goes for other non-Malawi cichlids. Some people say that Haps are ok to keep with Malawians, I don't believe this is true.

 

[verbal]

Basically, I would avoid anything like plecos, cories, loaches which dwell on the bottom and venture into caves. Same goes for other non-Malawi cichlids. Some people say that Haps are ok to keep with Malawians, I don't believe this is true.

I agree that the clown pleco should be moved to another tank. The good news is the clown pleco should be fine in one of your other tanks.

There are exceptions that sometimes work, but I think haps and mbuna should usually be kept separately.

 

[rockhoe14er]

you could do a school of rainbows or a school of some giant danio's. I think they would work quite well in that tank as dither fish.

 

[blue2fyre]

I don't believe mbuna need dither fish. They aren't a shy species. Mbuna can and will kill tetras and other community fish if they can catch them. I wouldn't think rainbow fish would be able to get away from mbuna. Labs are much more mild mannered than species like Kenyi, aratus and even mainganos. Generally mbuna don't play well with others. Now some non mbuna species that can be kept with them are certain rift lake catfish. I keep mine with syno petricola. They are a beautiful little catfish that require the same water parameters, eat just about anything and control fry populations. Something about then makes mbuna leave them alone. I think they have some sort of spines but don't quote me on that.

If you get more acei they will occupy the upper regions of the tank. Plecos can be hit or miss. In some tanks the plecos do fine and live nice long lives. In other tanks the mbuna pick out the pleco's eyes. I've had some limited success keeping a red tail shark with my mbuna. He bullies them just about as much as they bully him. Another non malawi combination that can work is tropheus. I have a male in with my mbuna and he fits in just perfectly.

 

[oo7genie]

I've actually been considering petricola, stumbled upon them last night while going through various forums. Glad to hear they are working out for you. That's a vote in their favor. I'm also considering Synodontis multipunctatus, but for 55g he may be a bit large for a well stocked tank.

I hadn't considered tropheus, but upon doing a minimal bit of quick research since reading your reply, they do sound as if they would work out well with my mbunas. At the least, it sounds like they enjoy the same feeding & water preferences. I'll have to look into their aggression and personality to know for sure.

As for my clown pleco, I'm sure he'd be fine in my 46g Rainbow/community tank (soon to be upgraded to a new 90g setup), so it would be no big deal if he needs to move out.

Thanks for all the replies everyone, keep them coming! I'm beginning to feel like I've got a decent variety of options brewing!

 

[blue2fyre]

The thing about tropheus is they are pretty aggressive towards one another. I would keep only 1 with mbuna if it was me unless you had room for a large colony. They aren't too aggressive with the mbuna. I mean there is a lot chasing and a general hate for everyone, but it never gets worse than chasing.