Okay, I decided that instead of getting a pond this summer I'll just get a 55g for Mbuna. I have the tank, the stand, a filter, and some rocks. The rocks are a mix of limestone and some ceramic cichlid stones, so that's decor done. All I've got to do now is get more sand, some aquarium glue to put the limestone rocks together on a bit of Styrofoam, and a sponge for the filter to keep the sand from getting in it. It all fits into my timeline, which is Mother's Day. Getting a new tank setup is always fun, though it's better to get an entirely new tank if you're going to have sand instead of gravel, it's a bit of a pain to remove every single piece of gravel from the bottom of a tank, especially if you also have trumpet snails in it and you want to keep them. I've got the fish picked out, my LFS stocks two of the three species, though I've yet to make it there to ask them about the last species. I picked them put by looking at the cichlids in stock at my LFS, then picking out the one that I liked best. Once I picked it out I had to research it, and ask which exact one it is out of a few very similar species. Once I had it fully confirmed I had to see if I could be able to care for it, Mbuna seem to be rather difficult, but only at the level of a Betta Sorority. Once I had a good idea of it's difficulty and compatibility I could decide if I wanted a species tank or not. I decided on an Mbuna tank, not a species tank, so I had to choose from the fish that it gets along with. Then I had to research the fish that it's compatible with, just to be sure that none of them had any issues with the others. Challenges are always fun.
55g Mbuna Tank
- Thread starter Arget
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Looking forward to build 
So am I. I plan on picking up some aquarium glue at my LFS tomorrow, then I'll start cycling the tank once it's cured and in place. I'll have to ask about the last species, but it'll give them plenty of time to try and get them in for me. There could be a slight issue though. I'd looked at the fish and picked out a small, pretty blue/black striped Mbuna, then I researched to see what it was. It could be two different species, so I asked them. The way they described it, it sounds like a Maingano, but they said that it is a Johanni. From what I've read the Johanni is dimorphic, but the fish that they've got are apparently monomorphic. I read some more, and apparently the Maingano is also sometimes known as the Electric Blue Johanni as well. I'll ask about the exact species tomorrow. If it is the Maingano, then good. Those are very pretty and I'd be able to tell the females from the Yellow Labs.
Alepop1211
Aquarium Advice Regular
- Joined
- Mar 26, 2018
- Messages
- 68
Make sure you overstock it to spread out aggression
The tank is setup now. I decided against the actual rocks, the tap water is is hard enough and I could always put in small stones if I have to. The filter made a bit of noise, but I took care of it by partially closing the valve to the outflow. I've got a half dozen feeder goldfish to cycle it, but the survivors will go into the 90g once it's cycled. I'd planned on overstocking the tank from the beginning, I want to it right, which causes the least amount of deaths, and when I went to my LFS I checked out the prices for the Mbuna. The price is a bit more then I'd like, but it is doable. Current stock plan: 5 Yellow Labs, 5 Rusty Cichlids, and 5 Johanni or Maingano. I'll have to come back 10 days before I pick the fish up so that they can order them in, but it's no issue.
They look pretty, but the goal is an Mbuna tank. I don't have much experience with cichlids, just a pair of juvi Julies in a 20g, and two male Cockatoo Apistos in different tanks since they're so hard to find and I keep loosing the females. Two Ocelatus Gold males that have to be in a divided tank since I had to separate them, then I had to remove the one that was moved in with the Julies because he took over the tank. Needless to say that one of the Ocelatus are going back to my LFS. I also have a Betta Sorority, which seems to be pretty good practice for cichlids.
