My first cichlid tank.

[slayer72]

Sounds good! And it's at least true for cichlids in Lake Malawi and Victoria. As I said before, I had some mbuna that interbred, and there are also plenty others on here who have had it too.
As for smaller mbuna, I'm not quite sure of any. But I have a few ideas for Victorians if you want them.

I wasn't sure about mixing Vic's with Mbuna. Have you had much luck with it?

 

[bmarine]

Yeah, I did it for awhile and everything seemed to work fine. It all really depends on the exact fish you get though I guess. Mine are classified as "Extremely Aggressive" though. I have them in their own tank now.

 

[slayer72]

Vic's have great coloring.

 

[Oohitsae]

I found a few that I really like while doing an aquabid search.
One was I believe Haplochromis Sp. 44 "red tailed"
The other was hap. Sp. "ruby green"
And there was one more that looked really similar, but can't think of the name.
I also feel like I probably didn't say the right scientific names but the common names are correct from what aquabid said.

Thoughts on those? Difficulty level is both fairly low on them and the largest doesn't get any bigger than 4"?

 

[bmarine]

I found a few that I really like while doing an aquabid search.
One was I believe Haplochromis Sp. 44 "red tailed"
The other was hap. Sp. "ruby green"
And there was one more that looked really similar, but can't think of the name.
I also feel like I probably didn't say the right scientific names but the common names are correct from what aquabid said.

Thoughts on those? Difficulty level is both fairly low on them and the largest doesn't get any bigger than 4"?

K well the red tail will be perfectly fine in there. In fact, you'll have to worry about the mbuna instead. He will definitely hold his own and will be the dominant in the tank. The Ruby Green is only mildly aggressive. It would most likely be okay, you'd just have to make sure it doesnt get beat up.

 

[Oohitsae]

Thanks for the help! I'll look into the red tailed one a bit more then. That'd definitely be a nice pop of color.

What about Christmas fulus? I haven't done much research into them yet so I don't know if they are an appropriate size or anything yet but have always thought they were really cool

 

[Cecil2010]

I have a few Haplochromis obliquidens in my tank. They will definitely hold their own and have great color.

 

[Oohitsae]

Thanks! May have to look into them. Someone else suggested them as well.

Anyways got the Johannis in today and decided to post some pictures of them and the saulosis. They seem to be getting along very well, but I assume that's because they are all very young still and haven't even sexed out.

I did notice something weird with one of the Johannis though. He's got a weird pattern, looks like the rest but has vertical striping as well as the horizontal. Couldn't get a good pic of him but he's in the 2nd pic with with 3 of the Johannis at the very bottom.
Oh, and they all showed up looking like males? The seller said that the females will turn yellow as they age but I'm weary of that? True or false? I mean, there are a few with yellow tint on their fins but it looks like it's growing out rather than in to me...

 

[Oohitsae]

Oh and just to mention it again, the tank they are in currently is a 29g QT. was going to put them into a 10g but they showed up bigger than advertised so I put them with the saulosis for now.
Preventatively treating with some nitrofuracin green and AQ salt at 1tbs/5g in case anyone came with anything but the look good to me.

 

[Oohitsae]

I think* I have it figured out...

I was sent maingano (sp) by accident, or because the seller was clueless on what he was talking about. But it's got to be them, otherwise I wouldn't have 7 blue/black 1.5-2" fish, I'd have yellow fish that may have hints of blue on some, correct?

Which is a good thing since that's what was suggested here to begin with, but now I'm wondering if I still need to go with Victorians? Or if I can go with some more "mild-moderately aggressive" Mbuna species?

I've been looking at the Victorians a bit more and have to say I think I may like them more than the Mbunas, but the tank is going to be centered around the Mainganos so whatever works best for them is what I'll go with. I'm also considering sending the saulosi off to the NEOFish auction the weekend after next if there are some better suggestions in their place.

since these guys are monomorphic for the most part, how will I be able to sex them later? I don't want there to be too many males...and how about interbreeding? females of both species look completely different now..I know there's still a chance, but is it as high?

 

[Cecil2010]

There is always a chance, but like I said earlier generally cichlids will mate with their own species. if they are going in a 55 you could maybe get away with a couple of vic's. all fish are a gamble. you can get a fish that is labeled as friendly that will bully everything and get another fish that is labeled very aggressive and it be calm and not bother anything. generally the labels are correct but every fish is truly different.

 

[bmarine]

Agreed. It depends on the exact fish you get. You could try one of those more peaceful vics.

 

[kjacks]

I personally dont agree with mixing.vics with mbuna in a 55g they are too aggressive even some marked mildly aggressive should be highly aggressive.. i messed up and didnt listen added my p. Nyererei and a paralabidochromis chromogyno to my 55g and within a few months i had to upgrade to a 6ft tank to curve aggression which is still there even my female vics are tough as nails... yellow labs can still hold there own even though they are considered mildly aggressive and mor peaceful mbunas my biggest female yellow lab has locked lips with my male nyererei more then once i thought it was a male til she was holding...

I would think mainganos, yellow labs, and albino zebras or albino ob zebra,pseudo. Elongatus chasoli or something similar would be nice or some cynotilipia afras mayb all of which i currently stock in my tank and they have striking colors

Not all of these just 5 of 3 different ones as far as m/f ratios go i think you should just get them and see what happens remove and add as needed but you may not have issues as i havent but others do sometimes have to rehome a couple to even out the ratios

not sure i would keep 5 albino socolofis in a community in a 55g as they are usually listed as noncommunity fish but i think 1 would be ok as they are referee fish

Throw in some dwarf petricola syndontis for bottom feeders your good to go

 

[Oohitsae]

I personally dont agree with mixing.vics with mbuna in a 55g they are too aggressive even some marked mildly aggressive should be highly aggressive.. i messed up and didnt listen added my p. Nyererei and a paralabidochromis chromogyno to my 55g and within a few months i had to upgrade to a 6ft tank to curve aggression which is still there even my female vics are tough as nails... yellow labs can still hold there own even though they are considered mildly aggressive and mor peaceful mbunas my biggest female yellow lab has locked lips with my male nyererei more then once i thought it was a male til she was holding...

I would think mainganos, yellow labs, and albino zebras or albino ob zebra,pseudo. Elongatus chasoli or something similar would be nice or some cynotilipia afras mayb all of which i currently stock in my tank and they have striking colors

Not all of these just 5 of 3 different ones as far as m/f ratios go i think you should just get them and see what happens remove and add as needed but you may not have issues as i havent but others do sometimes have to rehome a couple to even out the ratios

not sure i would keep 5 albino socolofis in a community in a 55g as they are usually listed as noncommunity fish but i think 1 would be ok as they are referee fish

Throw in some dwarf petricola syndontis for bottom feeders your good to go

Thanks for the advice! I've been asking about this on a couple of my "local" aquarium club Facebook pages and noticed that a lot of them were also against Vics, so I will more than likely scratch that idea.

I'll look into everything suggested. Just got home from a weekend out of state so I've gotta get some energy back before I put too much effort into this stocking thing again, but I've looked at a few and they are pretty interesting.

Is there a certain aggression level or something I should be looking into if I'm not a big fan of what's been suggested?

 

[kjacks]

Depends on what you want.. there is gonna be some aggression no matter what but its not as bad with the more peacefully to mildly aggressive ones.. also look at their conspecific aggression and that will tell you how they will treat others that have similar color and markings .. with mine i stuck to mildly aggressive but some are still alittle more aggressive then they were listed as so its good to ask for others experience with what you pick .. that way you have a good idea what you are getting before hand..


Check on cichlid-forum.com undrr profiles and itll be very helpful

 

[Oohitsae]

Depends on what you want.. there is gonna be some aggression no matter what but its not as bad with the more peacefully to mildly aggressive ones.. also look at their conspecific aggression and that will tell you how they will treat others that have similar color and markings .. with mine i stuck to mildly aggressive but some are still alittle more aggressive then they were listed as so its good to ask for others experience with what you pick .. that way you have a good idea what you are getting before hand..

Check on cichlid-forum.com undrr profiles and itll be very helpful

That's the issue though lol there are so many different options that it's hard to figure it out. I'd say that as long as I can keep the Mainganos and center the tank around them and their aggression levels I'll be satisfied, but that's about all I know.
I've been using the cichlid forum's profiles as my go to place when I find something I'm interested in, and it is very helpful, but at this point I'm not even sure what I should be looking for in tank mates other than differing colors, same lake, nothing too peaceful or aggressive, and small size..

 

[kjacks]

What have you liked so far other then mainganos they are pretty laid back. I personally like the yellow labs with them .. but i really like blue and yellow. Then if you prefer orange you can the zebras or albino ob zebras which are a neonish orange

Here is one of mine





But it really comes down to what you can get locally or where you plan to order online. Check their stock and go from there unless you plan to make a order from different places..

 

[Oohitsae]

What have you liked so far other then mainganos they are pretty laid back. I personally like the yellow labs with them .. but i really like blue and yellow. Then if you prefer orange you can the zebras or albino ob zebras which are a neonish orange

Here is one of mine

But it really comes down to what you can get locally or where you plan to order online. Check their stock and go from there unless you plan to make a order from different places..

I just love the coloring and how they have horiZontal stripes rather than vertical like most Africans. I also really love the blue/black color combo. I'm not the biggest fan of the yellow labs because they seem somewhat bland as opposed to most others. I like variety and uniqueness I guess.
He's very cool!
I'll either buy locally, which doesn't have many options, think about buying at the upcoming local fish club auctions, or buy on Aquabid or somewhere similar if I want something I can't find at the other two places, so there isn't really any restrictions on that, just that I'd like to stay on the cheaper side of things.


I've been looking at what I think are called "dragon bloods" but hear they are hybrids from some sources, is this correct? If so they are out of the question. I've already got the only hybrid I really wanted.

 

[kjacks]

Hmmm dragon bloods havent heard of them guess they are peacocks im not to familar with those.. i know my ob albino zebras are hybrids and from what i understand anything ob is a hybrid but im partial to them as i like alot of diversity in my tank too.. which is why i got the mainganos.. i have chasolis and some afras then my nyererei with up and down stripes then the mainganos with side ways then i have some solids and some blotched and my syno cats are spotted ..then i got some alto compressiceps bc they are kinda flat..

 

[kjacks]

What about the other labidochromis species you could do perlmutt or red top hongi (luv those) the clown lab cant recall there name but they are white and blue i think ..

Im not as fond of the labs either my husband wanted them i personally woulda preferred one of the other labidochromis like the clown lab or the hongi but that was the only fish husband specifically asked for and i couldnt say no