New 55G Malawi in the making.

[CHBGator]

Just started this 55G ($29 from E-Bay) So far only 3 Yellow Labs and 3 Blue Cobalts. Substrate is 50lb Aqua Stone PFS and 15lb Aragonite. I just added about 40lb Rocks I collected from a nearby creek properly cleaned. I baked them all at 400 after a good scrub. Also I had 3 extra rhizome of Anubias barteri var nana 'petite'. 300W all glass heater, Aquatech 30-60. As soon as I add more to the Bioload I'll add another filter to the set up. Still need a background but I'm not 100% on either a black or blue one. I've been feeding them Omega one Cichlid Flakes twice a day and Wardly's Algae Disks once a day. which are mostly for the Cobalts but the yellows seem to enjoy them just as much.

Water parameters as of a few hrs ago are:

water temp 80-82F
Amonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 10 ppm
PH 8.0
KH 6
GH 12

Not quite Sure about which other species to get but Red Zebras are definatly on the list. Camera was running out of Juice so the Pics arent the Best.

 

[WaterPond]

looks good so far. More rock would be appreciated though. Congrats on the great deal for the tank.

 

[triazole]

nice setup. i like blue personally. what do you have there right now? (i mean how many cobalts and labs?)

 

[CHBGator]

3 cobalts and 3 Labs.

 

[triazole]

looks like a mature filter to me! so, that should shoulder the bioload nicely.
so, do you want more varitey other than the red zebras, or just want to beef up numbers on the three species?

 

[CHBGator]

I'd like at least 4 different Species all different colors. SO far obviously I have yellow and Blue , Then the Red Zebras will add..... orange lol, Possibly a darker blue species and maybe some Pseudotropheus socolofi albino "Snow White Socolofi".

 

[triazole]

there's a new variant, or rather selectively bred species - the super-red zebra. it doesn't cost much more than the regular zebra, and has a more intense coloration. you might ask your lfs' about them.
five species of mbuna in a 55g can definitely be kept, but then you have to stay on top of the weekly pwc's. i'd recommend stopping at four. but with a little more rockwork, as WP suggested, it can be done and maintained easily.

 

[maxwell1295]

More rock. I have a decent amount in my tank and it still isn't enough. I plan on adding more as soon as I can finish a few other fishy projects.

If it's within your budget, I also think you should seriously consider adding a 2nd filter to your setup. I have 4 species in my 55G mbuna tank with a total of 20 fish. I'm running a Eheim 2217 AND a Fluval 304 fopr filtration. Most folks run 2 canisters or a HOB and a canister. The more filtration, the better off you'll be. Mbuna are pretty messy fish...

 

[CHBGator]

Thanks for the info on the Zebras. Have any Plant suggestions? I want a bit more green to the tank unfortunately its finding low light high PH and GH tolerant plants to add. I have some Corkscrew val thats getting out of hand in my 55G community I'm going to be pulling out soon.

 

[WaterPond]

vals would be ok in there i beleive. Anubias, java fern/moss and crypts would be ok in there too probably.

 

[JustOneMore20]

If you have enough light, some Corkscrew vallisneria would work. I have a lot of them in my Mbuna tank and they don't bother them. I threw some Hygrophila in there to help with algae and my Socolofi like to munch on them. You also have to worry about plants being dug up. So far, my vals have stayed in place...I guess because my fish are still small. The Socolofi dig the most and I know Red Zebras are diggers, so in your tank, I'd go with mostly anubias and java ferns.

I suggest you get more Yellow labs. They are the least aggressive out of all the ones on your stocking list, so I'd have 6 of them in the end and 4 of the others. The zebras can be pretty nasty so it would probably make the labs more comfortable to have a bigger group.

 

[maxwell1295]

I have a nice size Amazon Sword in with my mbuna and they don't pay any attention to it at all. It's like it's not even there...