south American or african?

[Malawi MaD]

Will you be able to get them from your breeder or LFS?

 

[jwh0818]

Will you be able to get them from your breeder or LFS?

No I will have to order them online unless I decide to drive 45mins and check the scene out there

Do you have any info on those 2 I posted? You seem pretty knowledgable

 

[Malawi MaD]

Ah awesome, i suppose you could take a day out and see what they have You might find some really nice fish!

Both cynotilapia species and both have similar looking females but they will live happily together, the Chinyankwazi reach an adult size of 9cm I would go for 1 male to 2/3 females. The jalo reefs reach a max size of roughly 8cm and again do well with 1 male to multiple females.
Temp= 73-81°F
pH: 7.5- 8.2
GH 10-15
Kh-10-20

That is just the basics really, without going into to much detail.

 

[erikmoseley]

Cynotilapia white top hara are great. Males and females are nice and colorful. Same w pseudotropheus saulosi. Two of my faves. Also like pseudotropheus Polit and flavus. As well as labidochromis chisumulae and hongi. Check em out! None get too big and you could choose like 4 types and get 5 or so of each. Maybe 6 so you can get te male and female ratio correct.

 

[jwh0818]

What if I only did 1m/3f, how many species could I have?

 

[erikmoseley]

5 maybe 6. Just try to stick to smaller ones and maybe a couple singles of another type you like. What's your filtration lookin like? You'll need lots either way!

 

[jwh0818]

5 maybe 6. Just try to stick to smaller ones and maybe a couple singles of another type you like. What's your filtration lookin like? You'll need lots either way!

I don't have that yet, its a slow build with a baby due in 2 months. I was thinking 2 AC-110s? How's that sound?

 

[erikmoseley]

That should be great. I prefer canisters so you can pile in the biological media but convict1975 who is not active any more here kept 75 gal hugely stocked with like 40 fish with 2 ac110's. whatever you choose be ready to do weekly water changes. It makes all the difference in your water quality.

 

[jwh0818]

I have decided I like these a lot so far!

Cynotilapia Mbamba
Cynotilapia afra jalo reef
Cynotilapia afra Lion's Cove
Pseudotropheus elongatus chailosi
Cynotilapia afra cobue

Would 1 male each and 3 females each of this 5 species work?
Could I add anything else?

 

[Malawi MaD]

The only issue would be cross breeding, if they breed only sell/pass on fry you know is from the correct breeding pair. Might be a little aggression due to a number of barred/stripped males but the tank is big enough to accommodate the dwarf species, provide rockwork and excellent water quality and everything should run smoothly.

You could add another species if you wanted?

 

[jwh0818]

The only issue would be cross breeding, if they breed only sell/pass on fry you know is from the correct breeding pair. Might be a little aggression due to a number of barred/stripped males but the tank is big enough to accommodate the dwarf species, provide rockwork and excellent water quality and everything should run smoothly.

You could add another species if you wanted?

How would I avoid cross breeding? I don't think I want that. I need to give my wife an excuse for more tanks

 

[jwh0818]

Sorry if I'm bugging yall a bit. I've never read up on cichlids that much

 

[erikmoseley]

You can't really avoid it but can try by not getting types that look similar or have similar looking females.

 

[jwh0818]

You can't really avoid it but can try by not getting types that look similar or have similar looking females.

Wont they get eaten?

 

[Malawi MaD]

The Cynotilapia familiae do have similar looking females. So, to us some females may look completely different to one another but to the fish they don't as many factors are taken into play when it comes to breeding. Color, sound, pheromones for example... This will turn the female on and in the confined space of a tank the water will be awash of the sound and smell of her own species as well as other species. Even with color, the females might not be seeing the males as we do or not weighing up the entire color pattern but rather homing in on one particular aspect.

Cynotilapia Mbamba
Cynotilapia afra jalo reef
Cynotilapia afra Lion's Cove

So, with these 3 species for instance, the likely hood of cross breeding is much higher.

 

[jwh0818]

The Cynotilapia familiae do have similar looking females. So, to us some females may look completely different to one another but to the fish they don't as many factors are taken into play when it comes to breeding. Color, sound, pheromones for example... This will turn the female on and in the confined space of a tank the water will be awash of the sound and smell of her own species as well as other species. Even with color, the females might not be seeing the males as we do or not weighing up the entire color pattern but rather homing in on one particular aspect.

Cynotilapia Mbamba
Cynotilapia afra jalo reef
Cynotilapia afra Lion's Cove

So, with these 3 species for instance, the likely hood of cross breeding is much higher.

I see maybe ill pick one from there and choose 2 other species

 

[erikmoseley]

Agreed. Look at pseudo saulosi and flavus. They'd mix it up. Or a group of yellow labs as well or rustys. Rustys are underrated. They get the cool rust color w lavender sides. I have a big mix of fish in my tank and a handful have been holding but I never tried to pull the female as I'd have to move all rocks to catch em! I've never seen fry so I assume they spit and are eaten or the female swallows the eggs.

Edit I'm not trying to breed anyhow!

 

[Malawi MaD]

Rustys are underrated.

I agree, glad someone else does

 

[erikmoseley]

Some yellow will make it pop color wise too. I'd def add a group of labs. Look how they stand out!

 

[Malawi MaD]

Nice tank Erik!