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Yellow Labs.

Best bet IMO is a species tank of something friendly and dimorphic, so you get two colors (male(s) is/are one, females are the other) without having to worry about whether the mix is ideal.

-Molly
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Too many fish for a 46gal - I'd drop one of the species at least. Crabro and kenyi are both pretty aggressive, so if you really want to try either of those, stick to having more yellow labs - e.g. 4 crabro or kenyi, 5 electric yellows.

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. - Oscar Wilde

The species choices are fine, but honestly I wouldn't go over 10 fish in that size tank. As juvis it would be okay, but it's certainly not a good set-up for adults.

A more permanent set-up would work best with two of the species you've mentioned. They do like to be in fairly large groups, the more females to males the better.

The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. - Oscar Wilde

scubadog, how long have you kept mbuna? i ask because you should really narrow your list to two species at most. i know this from experience. i know you think we are all full of *&%$ but we aren't. if you have lots of cash to blow, fine. go for your 4 species. have fun and have a few extra tanks laying around to put your fish in that dont get along (and that breed) in that 46g of yours. i understand you want to have a diverse tank of mbuna that looks stunning and gets you all wiled up. but, you have a small tank! these fish need room. i have 55g tanks and i think they are too small. seriously!
i have acei that are 5" long and stunning. but they are cramped in the 55g. what i did, and find works ok (its not perfect, but it has worked for some time)is get a group of your favorite fish. but, you dont have one because i believe you have never kept them. ok then, guess which fish you really, really like. get 6 of them. add one fish from two more species. for example: you like acei, get six, add a yellow lab and a demasoni. this will work for a long time, it gives the tank some different colors and will allow you to save your time looking at the fish instead of pulling out dead ones and chasing them all over to get them out because he chewed up your most awesome, favorite fish. this will also allow only one species to breed. i have the exact setup in my 55g and i have never had a hybrid spawn, ever. this setup has worked for a year and is visually pleasing. my acei spawn regularly and the lab and demasoni are very nice additions that dont cause any trouble and dont spawn! also, kenyi & crabro (bumblebee) will kill any other fish in that 46g tank. you will wind up with one fish in the end if you chose one of those. kenyi and crabro are not for small tanks and inexperienced fishkeepers. i am sure somebody has a crabro or a kenyi that hasnt killed all of the tankmates, i am saying that because it does happen sometimes. those are a couple that are notorious. also, m. auratus- very vicious. be carefull. there is a strain called m. cyanerhabdos that is supposed to look like auratus, but with half the attitude. happy fishkeeping and i hope you have fun. i hope you listen to some of the advice here, because most of it is good.

what about cobalt zebras and l.hongi that would look nice or even acei and msobo.

I'll tell you this right now scubadog. You won't want to keep yellow labs and Ps. Saulosi together. The female saulosi and the labs look VERY similar and it'd be A LOT of yellow. See if you can find another type of lab. Look at my picture

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That picture has Saulosi juvies, Lab. Perlmutt juvies, and the fish in the middle is a yellow lab juvie. He looks a little washed out by the flash. You can tell by body shape the difference and the labs has a black stripe on the dorsal fin, but the colors are VERY similar. The guy I got the Perlmutts from was short 1, so he threw in 2 yellow labs. Also, 20 is too many for a 46g tank. I have 16 in my 55g, but I am going to cull some out to my LFS as they grow to get the mix of sexes and temperments I want.




[span class="edited"][Edited by chapman76 2004-08-18 12:08][/span]

I currently have 12 adult mbuna in a 55 gallon long with TONS of caves, including a DIY rockwall on the back that alone has 9 caves in it. I have a Fluval 404, a Hagen Powerhead 402, and a Hagen AquaClear 200 on this tank. I wouldn't dare add another fish to this tank setup. I wish I had more room for my fish friends as it is. a 70 gallon or 90 gallon would have been a better choice, but in my case the 55 gallon was free...