Do male mbunas require females?

[Maxkolbe]

I am new to cichlids and need to stock my new tank. However I have run into a problem. Everyone is telling me that when keeping mbunas the males require their own group of females so they don't fight over them. I have realized that many of the species that I am already committed to getting require sexing via venting. This is hard and we already had an epidemic where mollies had so many babies that they couldn't all be rehomed. I was wondering if it would work to get only one or two of each species so that there are no females to fight over.

The two fish that I need to move into this tank are

1 cobalt blue (not a zebra)
1 yellow lab.

I do not know the sex of either fish

Does anyone know any good tank mates that would not mind being kept in groups of one or two.

The tank is a sixty gallon long with sand for the bottom, lots of rocks, a powerhead for circulation, and possibly a type of syndontis catfish from the rift lakes. All help is appreciated.

Also, would it work to just add the two fish (they're both still small) and do a fish-in cycle? I am rather confused about the fishless cycle and am looking for advice on the process. (I will be adding water from both of our existing tanks.)

 

[Lady_Alia]

You can keep an all male tank, in fact lots of people do just to keep aggression down. You'll still have quarrels, but they shouldn't be horribly bad.
What I've done to cycle a tank is get a clean/soap free pair of panty hose and cut the foot off, put some gravel from my established tank in the footie, tie it off and place it in the filter. It's worked well for me so far.
Good luck!

 

[kay-bee19]

An all-male tank will reduce aggression over breeding rights (since there would be no females that would motivate males to dominate their rivals).

However there are other 'flavors' of aggression that could still manifest in an all male mbuna tank (general aggression, territorial aggression, conspecific aggression, hierarchical aggression, etc), but these clashes they should be less intense as Lady Alia mentioned.

You'll still need to keep the males in a well-sized group (pretty much a requirement when keeping mbuna's, 6-8+).

"'Cobalt Blue" is a common name usually associated with a type of zebra (metriaclima callainos); what type of non-zebra cobalt blue do you have?

 

[Maxkolbe]

I'm not exactly sure but it was labeled as a cobalt blue cichlid. I don't think it's a zebra because it has no trace of stripes and while it is definitely "in charge" of the tank he doesn't go out of his way to harass the other fish. I also saw a fish profile (don't remember where) about another fish called a cobalt a cobalt cichlid that was a much better match for the fish.

As far as stocking goes are you sure it wouldn't work to do one of a species if I can't sex it. I have roughly 120+ lbs of rock that is going into the tank so there should be plenty of territory. I don't think I can sex these two species and as I mentioned before I don't have any tanks to use for extra fish.

 

[Maxkolbe]

You can keep an all male tank, in fact lots of people do just to keep aggression down. You'll still have quarrels, but they shouldn't be horribly bad.
What I've done to cycle a tank is get a clean/soap free pair of panty hose and cut the foot off, put some gravel from my established tank in the footie, tie it off and place it in the filter. It's worked well for me so far.
Good luck!

Would this work on a HOB filter. It has room to double the cartridges so I could put it there.

 

[Lady_Alia]

It sure does. I have hob filters on all of my tanks. I stick the stocking in front of the bio cartridge/wheel

 

[Maxkolbe]

I'm not exactly sure but it was labeled as a cobalt blue cichlid. I don't think it's a zebra because it has no trace of stripes and while it is definitely "in charge" of the tank he doesn't go out of his way to harass the other fish. I also saw a fish profile (don't remember where) about another fish called a cobalt a cobalt cichlid that was a much better match for the fish.

As far as stocking goes are you sure it wouldn't work to do one of a species if I can't sex it. I have roughly 120+ lbs of rock that is going into the tank so there should be plenty of territory. I don't think I can sex these two species and as I mentioned before I don't have any tanks to use for extra fish.

Here is a photo of the cobalt. How do you sex labs? Could you do it from this photo?

 

[Maxkolbe]

He's some more pics.

 

[joel618]

It is nearly impossible to sex labs without venting them. More egg spots and black underfins sometimes mean male but its not a fact.

 

[kay-bee19]

Here is a photo of the cobalt.

That's a cobalt blue zebra (Metriaclima callainos) for sure.

I don't think it's a zebra because it has no trace of stripes...

Cobalt Blue's are e a non-striped zebra species (despite the name, there are several 'zebra's species which are stripe-less).

 

[Maxkolbe]

I didn't know that. The person at the LFS recommended them when we were looking for a more peaceful cichlid. I thought that the zebras were different colors for the males and females though. Since these are more aggressive would it work to have just one of them as a sort of "centerpiece" for the. Tank and then do groups of labs or acei cichlids. I don't know much about the latter so can you tell me anything about them?

 

[Bl80]

Acei should be housed in a 6 foot tank. They are awesome fish and mine are one of my faves. They love to swim and race around hence the need for a 6 foot tank.

 

[Maxkolbe]

Any recommendations for fish that would work?

 

[kay-bee19]

I thought that the zebras were different colors for the males and females

Some zebra species are dimorphic and some are monomorphic.

Any recommendations for fish that would work?

If you're still going with the all male theme, then almost any mbuna species would work (barring species not suited to the size tank that you have). You'd probably want only one (male) representative of each species.

If you're thinking about creating a group or groups to go along with the single cobalt, there are lots of options as well.

What species are available in your area?/What colors are you interested in including?

 

[Maxkolbe]

At petsmart they have yellow labs, blue zebras, red zebras aceis, auratus, (I think that's it for mbunas) at an LFS that's a bit of a longer drive they have a better variety I know they carry the cobalts and rusty cichlids as well as kribs but I am unsure about other variations (their website is under construction and I don't want to take a forty minute drive both ways just to see their stock.) It's called Charlie's aquarium.

As far as stocking I was thinking that a single red zebra would compliment the cobalt well with a group of labs or rusties. If you know any cichlids that wouD work in this size setup that are easily sexed it would be helpful. Lastly I would like to know if a single bumblebee would work kind of making a trio of fish. Do you know anything about these fish.

Lastly I heard about these caves called cichlid stones. Are these a good investment?

 

[garfy]

My cichlids love the cichlid stones.They are always in and out of them.So I would say a good investment.

 

[joel618]

My cichlids love the cichlid stones.They are always in and out of them.So I would say a good investment.

I agree that they are a good investment and I like the way they look also. But my fish hardly ever use the holes, they hide in between them as if they were real rocks.

 

[Maxkolbe]

At petsmart they have yellow labs, blue zebras, red zebras aceis, auratus, (I think that's it for mbunas) at an LFS that's a bit of a longer drive they have a better variety I know they carry the cobalts and rusty cichlids as well as kribs but I am unsure about other variations (their website is under construction and I don't want to take a forty minute drive both ways just to see their stock.) It's called Charlie's aquarium.

As far as stocking I was thinking that a single red zebra would compliment the cobalt well with a group of labs or rusties. If you know any cichlids that wouD work in this size setup that are easily sexed it would be helpful. Lastly I would like to know if a single bumblebee would work kind of making a trio of fish. Do you know anything about these fish.

Lastly I heard about these caves called cichlid stones. Are these a good investment?

I just remembered that the LFS carries johanis. We actually used to have one but the tank was too small and he wouldn't stop picking on our yellow lab so we had to give him back. He was a beautiful fish though. I would love to do some of them.