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Hi all,
This is my first post, so be gentle with me!

I have a 47Gall which has been a mxd community tank for several years.

I am 'stepping up' to the hopefully more rewarding & challenging project of an mbuna biotope.

I have done lots of homework & research and have a shortlist of the usual suspects for beginner mbuna's;

Labido.caeruleus
Pseudo.acei
Cyno.afra
Idotrop.sprengerae
Mayland.estherae
Labeo.trewavasae

I have to now narrow this sown to 4 or 5 'trios' according to the advice of my LFS.....HELP....any thought or advise on theabove from the 'experts' would be very gratefully received.

I also have the hots for Melano.cyaneorhabdos but cannot find much info on them....any ideas?

I swear this whole mbuna thing it very catchey!!!

I am having more fun than buying a new car, test driving all these new fishy's......

Neil.

Labido.caeruleus
Pseudo.acei
Cyno.afra
Idotrop.sprengerae
Mayland.estherae
Labeo.trewavasae

What are those???

10gallon: 8neons 5gallon: 1betta
1oto
2platys

Sorry,

I will be more specific...

Labidochromis.caeruleus
Pseudotropheus.acei
Cynotilapia.afra
Idotropheus.sprengerae
Maylandia.estherae
Labeotropheus.trewavasae

And my header enquiry....Melanochromis.cyaneorhabdos

Hope this helps...

Thanks in advance,
Neil.

I'd srcatch the Melanochromis species from the list, far to aggressive for that set-up and they'll nedd at least a 75g. Very Agrressive genus

I'd also leave out the last species on the list as your tank can't really provide them with the space they need....Again due to Aggression.

The others will all mix well, Yuo may even want a slightly larger # of Lab. C. as they'll be the least aggressive in the tank.... Also avoid any species that males share similar breeding colors

Last edited by mr_cichlid at 02-Jul-2005 16:42

the beautiful cyanohabdose
i currently have bout 10 adults
housed with 10 yellow labs n 6 red by reds

they r in a 125 gallon mind u
the thing wit the cyanos is males n females look the same males will fight females will fight i find there less aggressive then there close cuzin the johonii in which these fish change colours in the sexs
i believe the male turns yellow

cyanos r jsut like the johonii in all aspects of keeping if that helps they r a very plesant fish n kept in day time light or clsoe to it they shine
there mouth brooders as u most likely know
breed easily n they keep to there selves most of the time however they do have small run ins with my damonsoni but no damage is ever done
they compliment yellow labs very welln prefer the same temp n ph n rock structures as most other mbuna

my fry r easily sold to most vendures any thing else u want to no jsut msn or email me

Thanks very much guys...

I think on that advise I may well leave the Melanochromis until I have a bigger tank and/or a little more experience.

shame...:#(

May i suggest pseudotropheus demansoni they stay relatively small for mbuna are nicely coloured and will be fine in a tank your size.

Gibson SG you know you want one!!

I have 3 M.cyaneorhabdos (1M : 2F) in my 115g and I love them. I'm planning to buy 3 more. I never see them fight, probably because I have heaps of rocks in my tank.

I defiantly recommend them when you get a larger tank.

P.demansoni?

Everything I have heard and read about this guy says he is a real pshyco looney!

But a real looker I cannot dispute, beautiful colouration & very tempting.

But I don't want to become my households fishy undertaker....having to deal with the aftermath of demasoni introdution.

Can anybody else share their veiws on this species, cos if I am wrong about them, I would want to include them for sure.

i would not do the demasoni.

as for what i think about your choices; i think you are on the right track, but i would go with 2 trios of the "must have" species or a larger group of one type of fish on your list for that tank. it really isnt big enough. people will chime in any minute now and say otherwise. i had a group of 7 acei, a red zebra, yellow lab, & a demasoni in a 55 for a long time and i seriously believe they outgrew it. that was only 10 fish. they could barely turn around in the tank. there was no aggression but it just didnt seem right to me. i would add a single fish of the other types you are looking at to add a splash of color and diversity to the main group. if you do that, you can add a single demasoni. a single male or female demasoni will do good in community tank as long as they dont have any other fish that look like them. i have really become a fan of doing larger groups of fish instead of just trios. especially species tanks. if you get 6 or more of the same fish, it really comes off stunning and trying to manage them is a lot easier. if you add 5 trios to that tank, you will spend an infinite amount of time tinkering with that mix trying to get it to work. that will mean taking out troublemakers, trying different types of fish etc..then you will want some catfish and there wont be any room. again...fewer species, just more of the one you really like and a couple "singles" of other varieties to give it a little flair. i would shoot for 6-10 fish for that tank depending on what species you finally choose. good luck with this project.

you might want to try a group of 5 acei, a yellow lab, a red zebra (estherea), and a rusty (sprengerae)
that would work very nicely.

Last edited by acei at 13-Jul-2005 14:04