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Im going to make my 60g and this is what i had in mind.
3 electric yellows
3 red empress
2 block heads
2 BN

thats all i know i want for the time being, but i know i can put more in so what else should i get?





rabbit:88)

definintely get a peacock, sunshine peacocks are really nice. Also I would personally keep just one bn and get a couple of synodotis petricola(catfish) instead of the other bn.

What are the dimensions of this 60g?

Well either way....3' wide or 4' long.....
If your talkin' 3' wide, go species tank.
If your talkin' 4' Long, go for your mix. and read the following


1) Leave the Blockhead out as it's a riverine cichlid and has no place in ANY Malawi set-up
Though a pair would make a really nice 29g, species tank

2)Red Empress are Haps, and the Yellows are really the ONLY Mbuna that should even be considered in a hap set-up.

3) I agree with Peacocks as a third species,and i'd also say baenschi(sunshine). Avoid any peacock that resembles the Red Empress in any way, better safe then sorry.

3 trios.....And no more


4) You don't NEED any BN, or any other catfish for that matter. But if you do get them get 1 BN. The bigger the better, and still it's 50/50 but BN usually fair well.

Good Luck, and let us know how ya do

its a 4' long, so no blockheads,3 electric yellows, 3 red empress 3 sunshine peacocks could i put anything else in there with them?

I'd say no, as you really don't have to crowd those guys, as you would Mbuna to control aggression.

You really need to try to get trios as well, 1 male, 2 female. if you can do this your set...

They only thing You can do is add another female of either the yellow's or the peacocks, maybe one of each

Good Luck

I don't see why a few Synodontis Petricola or Multipuntatus would be out of the question or a Synodontis Eupterus. They're gorgeous catfish that work great in Malawi set ups.

You don't NEED any BN, or any other catfish for that matter. But if you do get them get 1 BN. The bigger the better, and still it's 50/50 but BN usually fair well.

I disagree with that and agree with chapman.

If you want some, add some. However as I said earlier, you had one less BN you could add another cichlid in terms of keeping water quality good and not overloading bio filter.
BN with usually work 98% of the time in african tanks. Syndotis Petricola will also work really, really good with african as they are from lake Tang. and are often house with malawians. They stay relatively small at around 3.5-4 inches.

On the stocking of each fish species. I would recommended not keeping trios unless interesting in breeding. THIS IS MY OWN PERSONAL OPINION. If you are NOT interesting in breeding keeping female peacocks are kind of a "waste of space" in the tank. For the most part they are dull and not the slightest bit colorful( as compared to the males, someone had argued they were a nice looking unifrom, dull silver color). If you are leaning towards the more of "SHOW TANK" look, I would recommend keep male haps/peacocks only. With the electric yellows it will be nearly impossible by just looking to sex them at the store. You will probably get some males and females and that is fine. The males and females are pretty much color the same and you can sort out the mix to your liking later on.
Even though yellows are mbunas they will do fine with hap/ peacocks, I would avoid mix other mbunas though.
IF it were my tanks I would get a group of electric yellows and mix a couple male peacocks/other smaller haps. Or go one yellow and mix in others in a "community style tank". This style is definitely harder style of tank, than a species tank would be. I would also aviod mixing IDENTICAL COLORED peacocks, peacocks can be very aggressive between themselves.


Last edited by openwater at 21-Feb-2005 12:33

Last edited by openwater at 21-Feb-2005 12:38

Nicely said, I'll second that

Caught thinkin' as a breeder again, my bad

BN, matter of opinion. I know lots that have done well, just none of mine.
Though Syno cats do well with Peacocks and Haps

Good Luck, Rabbit

Last edited by mr_cichlid at 24-Feb-2005 19:45

As i Noticed in another thread....

Rabbit, you do intend to breed them, I believe...

In which case trio's or more are better, if I'm mistaken follow openwaters "show tank" above

yea, im going to try and breed them, i already had the electric yellows and red empress now just going to add the peacocks, then im going to add some more rocks.




rabbit :88)

OK, I noticed Syno, so I had to throw my two cents in. If your're thinking along those line, I'd definately suggest the Featherfin (Synodontis Eupterus). Gorgeous fish that get along well with cichlids. Mine is almost two years old and about an inch larger than my Soclofi (also almost 2 years old). My favorite part is the color change. Although I ablsolutely loved the coloring of the juvenile Featherfin, the adult coloring is quite remarkable also. The featherfin gets along quite well with my much more timid alino socolofi, but can hold his own against the bully.

The fewer species in a tank the more luck you'll have with breeding......

Why not stick with the two species and simply get more of each?????