Set up a new 55 gallon for Africans.

[AquaticAl]

Hey guys I just set up a new 55 gallon in addition to my 40 breeder filled with peacocks and a few mbuna and haps.
My plan is to move most of my juvies over to the 55 gallon to help with their growth, as well as move over the haps that require that 4ft tank. This would essentially leave only 3-4 of my best looking " display" peacocks and a few females for them. Do you guys think this set up will work? The 40 breeder was packed before so aggression was always low, not sure about how this new plan will go tho

 

[a.tetreault]

mbuna and haps shouldnt really be mixed...

 

[AquaticAl]

Why is that? So far so good for the past 4 months.

 

[Ceej]

They have different environments as far as sand vs rocky substrate.

 

[Ceej]

The size and diets may play a factor, too. But, on the other hand, I've heard it is possible if the tank is large enough like 90g+. Use your better judgement and if either start becoming too big or too aggressive toward eachother, separate the haps and mbuna.

 

[Ceej]

With further reading, water parameters are different between the two.

 

[Labenator65000]

mbuna and haps shouldnt really be mixed...

I haven't heard one that before (not disputing, just commenting). I tell you, keeping Africans sure can be complicated. Someone needs to create a Cichlid Tank Planner app that one can use to plan out tank size, water parameters, and tank mates to see if it will work. It can work like the Urbanspoon app where you can lock in "Malawi Cichlids" and shake it to get different random possibilities. Lol! Sorry to hijack. Carry on...

 

[Ceej]

Lol, to each his own. I'm looking into starting a cichlid tank and all the articles I've read say to keep haps and mbuna separate. But if it works, it works. No reason to fix something that isn't broke, yeah.

 

[didysis]

I mix all my fish together, African, south american what ever, Native LOL, Some times fish will mix well sometimes they wont, just setup the tank to be able to have area for the fish to call their own.

 

[kay-bee19]

Why is that? So far so good for the past 4 months.

4 month's is too short of a period to characterize how the tank will fare in the long-term future. Fully matured mbuna's outpace peacocks in terms of aggression; a peacock stressed by aggression won't display their full vibrant colors.

I'm not sure how large your fish are but if your mbuna's aren't full grown then they haven't reached their full aggression potential. Their aggression ramps up as they mature and attain size, particularly with the aggressive mbuna species, and especially with the hyper-dominant mbuna species.

 

[AquaticAl]

For what it's worth the mbuna are 2 yellow tail aceis, a rusty, and I had two yellow labs but sold them( thinking of getting more). I agree with the part about 4 months not be all that much time but from everything I have learned the fore mentioned mbuna are less aggressive, relatively speaking.

 

[Labenator65000]

For what it's worth the mbuna are 2 yellow tail aceis, a rusty, and I had two yellow labs but sold them( thinking of getting more). I agree with the part about 4 months not be all that much time but from everything I have learned the fore mentioned mbuna are less aggressive, relatively speaking.

Labs are generally the least aggressive Mbuna and they work well in a 55. Labs generally to coexist with Peacocks nicely. However, Mbuna in general generally tend to be rather aggressive. Several are known to be cold-blooded killers.

I say generally three times to stress that there are exceptions. Don't count on being the exception, though. Every single time I did I paid for it.