Tankmates for Labs

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I have a 55 gal with 4 Labidochromis caeruleus, 5 Pseudotropheus "Acei", 3 Metraclima estherae (Red Zebra), 1 Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos (Maingano), 1 Pseudotropheus socolofi, and 1 BNP. There are only two females in the tank (1 L. caeruleus and 1 P. "Acei."). Aggression levels are moderate. My Red Zebras are actually pretty low key (love these guys) and seem to break up the occasional fight and my larger one holds his own against the dominant Yellow Lab. I stocked my tank with all juveniles (~1.5") and all have done well. My largest "Acei" is now about 3".
 
rotorhead22 said:
I have a 55 gal with 4 Labidochromis caeruleus, 5 Pseudotropheus "Acei", 3 Metraclima estherae (Red Zebra), 1 Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos (Maingano), 1 Pseudotropheus socolofi, and 1 BNP. There are only two females in the tank (1 L. caeruleus and 1 P. "Acei."). Aggression levels are moderate. My Red Zebras are actually pretty low key (love these guys) and seem to break up the occasional fight and my larger one holds his own against the dominant Yellow Lab. I stocked my tank with all juveniles (~1.5") and all have done well. My largest "Acei" is now about 3".

Keep an eye on them. Mature fish behave entirely differently than do juvies, even if they have coexisted for months. I had to rehome my Johanii, which is similar to your Maingano). It became quite disruptive when it matured.. So far that is the only one that I have had to rehome due to aggression.
 
I can vouch for this! Juvies acted totally different then matured fish. Be careful. You should read my thread and maybe you can learn some good lesson in stocking on what not to do. I'm not knocking you by any means trust me. And the members here know me I wouldn't do that, I just don't wanna see you dealing with what I'm dealing with now. It can all be avoided if you just research and even just ask the members they would be more then happy to help with stocking.

Good luck.
 
Labenator65000 said:
..and now i added a single Demasoni. I was worried with the Dem, they all beat on it for about 5 minutes, then stopped. I donated my 2 Venustus as well. That was difficult.

Dang! I just ran across an article that state that the Demasoni is one of the most aggressive Mbuna and should not be kept with more peaceful Mbuna. Seriously, I posted the question here a couple of weeks before I decided to purchase and was told that it would probably be ok (which is really as good as it gets when it comes to Mbuna). Tell me I didn't just make a mistake. Am I going to have to take it back? "My tanks" in my profile are up to date.
 
I had two dems on was okay with everything but other dems. The other was relegated to being the only fish living in a 10g. He was attacking everything Pleco included. Though in his own tank he was tons of fun to watch. After cleaning I got to watch him dig a cave under a piece of drift wood.
 
Thanks guys. Convict, I have been reading your posts and watched your videos. Hope you find the culprit. The only one in my tank that gets a little crazy is my dominant yellow lab; my Maingano is supposed to be more mallow than the P.auratus, P.johannii, or the P. demasoni, which is why I stayed away from them. I have done lots of research and certainly did quite a bit before stocking. I suffer from OCD so I like to understand everything about everything; it is more of a blessing than an impediment in my line of work. I have a pretty large library on African Cichlids and even on Malawi Cichlids as well as many scientific journal articles on many related subjects. This site is absolutely great to learn from the success and mistakes that others have made. I have learned so much from posts from Mog, Hukit, yourself, labenator, malawi freak and others. Much of the knowledge would otherwise only be learned from years of experience and trial and error. Thanks again.
 
I had very good luck in a 55 with a mix of the labs, the P. socolofi (I liked the color diversity of the normal blue strain), and P. Saulosi or a Tropheus species (I used a orange-brown species that I don't remember the name on.
 
cichlidsandlivebearers said:
Pseudotropheus acei... They are pretty much peaceful but will hold their own if attacked.

I recently added two juvie Aceis. I've had bad luck with them getting disease in the past. Well see how it goes this time.
 
christine2012 said:
How are your acei working out? Mine are jerks, I get bit by them every time I do maintenance.
Finest far, but they are tiny juvies and 2" smaller than the others.


Andrew McFadden said:
I think your going to have problems with that stock list if that's what your trying to avoid. Jmo
Care to elaborate? What would you change?
 
Labenator65000 said:
Care to elaborate? What would you change?

Ok I think I may have missed something. What is the finale stock list of now? cause I didn't see Acei listed on the above list. ;)

This is a 55 gallon, right? I think its not a good idea to mix haps, peacocks and mbuna at all in a 55. To answer my reasons better I need to know what's all in or your planning to put in there.

I was having trouble following the thread with all that's going on here and other recommendations
 
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Andrew McFadden said:
Ok I think I may have missed something. What is the finale stock list of now? cause I didn't see Acei listed on the above list. ;)

This is a 55 gallon, right? I think its not a good idea to mix haps, peacocks and mbuna at all in a 55. To answer my reasons better I need to know what's all in or your planning to put in there.

I was having trouble following the thread with all that's going on here and other recommendations

My stock is up to date in my profile. I can't argue with your Hap/Mbuna/Peacock mix. I have advised to others that some recommend this as well on several occasions as a blanket statement. The purchase of the 2 Haps and the 2 Peacocks predated my subscription to this recommendation. My tank is mostly Mbuna. All but my newest additions are fully mature, and I've been lucky that there are no aggression issues with my current stock so far. I have to deal with my more blaring violations first, but I'm willing to swap out the Haps or the Peacocks if aggression ever arises.

As of now I'm nearing the point where I won't add much more stock. A BNP is the only other purchase on my radar.

I'm certainly open to and appreciate hearing other opinions.
 
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