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It's my first time with an mbuna tank and I ended up with lots of hybrids. I had to clean the tank out, and give away quite a few fish, after which, this is my current tank stocking.

2 male johannis
1 male and 1 female auratus
3 esthaerae (2 males for sure)
4 Greshakei (all males I suspect)
4 Socolofis
3 unidentified cichlids
2 raphael cats

I wanted to know if I should up the numbers of esthaerae, but dont want to do it because they are driving the other fish crazy. I want to keep the johannis and the auratus and add some females as they are the only fish where I can tell the males apart from females. I also want to keep the socolofis.

I also saw a nice bunch of Yellow labs and was wondering if they would be the right fish to add to the mix.

Ok, one of the estherae is dead. The more aggressive male killed the other one, and I still have the other stock. I am reviving this thread hoping for some suggestions, or should I just go CA again?

Sorry to say, you are going to have a lot of deaths on your hands with that mixture. Those are some of the meanest fish you can get. And, several are of the same genus and will cross breed. The auratus will eventually take over the tank, and IMHO, your tank will end up being a 55 gal with one male auratus in the end, or one male johannis. Especially if there is at least one fish from the Melanochromis genus, then all the males will end up fighting for her attention.

My suggestion for a 55 gal tank, is to get rid of all the Melanochromis genus fish. And start over with some mbuna that are less aggressive. And actually you do not have all mbuna in there now. The name mbuna, though in the native lands is used for most all the smaller fishes, is more commonly used to name the fish that are mostly algae grazers. And prefer a diet of algae rich foods.

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There is always a bigger fish...

Thanks Acid, there is some good news though. I may have Mainganos instead of Johannis, but I am pretty confused. Here are some pics:

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d152/clownygirl/Mbunas/DSCF2851.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d152/clownygirl/Mbunas/DSCF2838.jpg