55g African Malawi tank!

[maxwell1295]

I just wanted to throw a few pieces in the tank to get an idea of what I'm going to do in the 55g. Those cichlids are so fast that you want to easily be able to remove all of the decor when you have to net them. Moving them from the 20g to the 55g is going to be a little easier since there isn't much rock there. The guy at the LFS had a lot of trouble catching them in an empty tank!

Here are some more pics of the rocks and some pics of the fish too...

Male Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos (Maingano):

Fingers for dinner!

Male and his 'harem':

Bubbles!

 

[JustOneMore20]

They look great! I bet they are fast, they look like little rockets!

 

[DeFeKt]

love the tank
Your females seem very washed out and lack colour, how long were they in the tank when you took the photos?
Cyaneorhabdos are monomorphic, meaning the females should be the same colour as the males. (Near on black with blue stripes)
Good luck with them and good choice!

whats the dimensions on the tank? looks nice and high,

 

[JustOneMore20]

DeFeKt, I see you have some Cynotilapia afra 'Cobue'. Are they aggressive at all? I've heard they can be a little aggressive, so I was worried about putting them in with the more peaceful yellow labs.

 

[DeFeKt]

Hey,

The only trouble I have had with the cobue is amongst themselves. Considering the large amount of different sp I keep I was prepared either way. Absolutly no aggression to any other species.
I bought 10 and 4 turned out to be male so there was a bit of aggression and lip locking amongst the two larger ones who were fighting for dominance. I moved the more submissive one of the two on to a friend and one of the others later on as well and have since had no problems at all.
Suprisingly my entire mix is relativly peaceful.
btw I also have labs and the get along great. Neither is aggressive in my case. IMO the key is to be prepared and keep a watchful eye. Whats the worst case scenario? you might have to seperate some...not a big hassle in my books.
Just keep in mind that every fish is different. One might be a trouble maker, one might not..

hope this helps,

Matty

 

[JustOneMore20]

I plan on keeping only one male of each type, so maybe that will help thin out the aggression in the different types. I plan on getting some Red Zebras, which I've also heard can be aggressive with the labs and Cobue, so I'm worried about keeping the labs with these two aggressive types. I'm considering getting Pseudotropheus saulosi instead of the labs...I just don't know how aggressive they are.

 

[DeFeKt]

unfortunatly I don't know anything about the red zebras or saulosi sorry
Would love to know how you go though...keep me posted if you can

thanks,

Matty

 

[JustOneMore20]

I will update this thread as I get more info and do more deciding. Then eventually when I put this all together, I will post pictures...but that will be a little while.

Thanks for the help!

 

[maxwell1295]

love the tank
Your females seem very washed out and lack colour, how long were they in the tank when you took the photos?
Cyaneorhabdos are monomorphic, meaning the females should be the same colour as the males. (Near on black with blue stripes)
Good luck with them and good choice!

whats the dimensions on the tank? looks nice and high,

I took these photos last night. I think the fish were in the tank for only about 3-4 hours at that point. The male seemed to settle in nicely, but ethe females took a little while longer. They are showing some more dark blue now. Even so, when I was looking at them in the LFS, there was an obvious difference between the dominant male, sub-dominant males, and females. The females had much loighter bellies than the male did. The dominant male, who you see here, looked exactly like he did when I first saw him. He is almost pitch black. Here is another pic...

 

[DeFeKt]

johanni varient even??

watching a spawn right now
awesome stuff

Matt

 

[Menagerie]

2-3 Synodontis petricola

I have 2 S petricola and 1 S multipunctatus along with a "green stripe river" (who knows what the real name is, it was sold as peaceful and I had to remove it from the peaceful 50 gal years ago) catfish in with Mbuna and all is well. I also had a Leporinus desmotes who did well in the tank, but did not survive one of the moves

 

[maxwell1295]

I guess that's the issue when you don't buy from breeders. They were labeled as Johanni and not Mainganos, but people sometimes confuse the two. Since the females were all blue, I just figured they were Mainganos and scooped them up since Mainganos are on my stocking list. Right now I'm keeping them in a 20gal QT for a week or two.

Are there Johanni variants with females that are blue instead of gold?

Might be time for a trip over to cichlid-forum to get some more info...

 

[DeFeKt]

aaah good point, I have heard of blue johanni females but haven't seen it personally. Don't think it's very common at all..

 

[kay-bee19]

...you can't mix 2 types of Labidochromis or Pseudotropheus because they may interbreed...so its a bit hard....

Not entirely true, in my opinion. I keep multiple pseudotropheus species in the same tank (acei, socolofi, demasoni) and probably because they are so disimilar in appearance (despite belonging to the same genus) they show zero reproductive interest in each other.

I also like Pseudotropheus socolofi...they are very pretty. I don't know what the females look like though...

Male and female socolofi are pretty much identical as they are a monomorphic species (subtle differences being the shape of the fin tips and size of the pelvic fins in matured socolofi).

I'm leaning more towards the Red Zebras or the Rusty Cichlids. I've heard Red Zebras are aggressive though, so I'm not sure about them.

Red zebra's have dominant dispositions and in my experience I've found them aggressive only when they have to be (mine behave like enforcers and break up fights and sparring among the other mbuna). They will likely be (or attempt to attain) the top position(s) in the tank hierarchy.

I've heard of some being bullies, though. But that can be said with almost any mbuna species.

As far as stocking, you could go with about a dozen fish (and with three species, that'll be 4 fish per species). Add the less aggressive species first and the more aggressive species last.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Red zebra's have dominant dispositions and in my experience I've found them aggressive only when they have to be (mine behave like enforcers and break up fights and sparring among the other mbuna).

That's good to know. I've heard different things. Some people say they are really mean, while others say they just show aggression towards their own kind, but its not really fighting...just kind of argueing.

I've heard of some being bullies, though. But that can be said with almost any mbuna species.

I have definitely learned that while researching. Some people say the afras are aggressive, while others say they just "argue" with each other much like the red zebras I'm sure.

They will likely be (or attempt to attain) the top position(s) in the tank hierarchy.

The only thing I'm worried about is that the afras will also be like this and both types will try to be the "top fish". I guess most Mbuna are like that though...that's why you keep them in groups and have 1m to 4f....to keep the aggression low. If they were all totally peaceful, they'd be boring!

Thanks for the advice kay-bee. I like hearing people's experiences!

 

[triazole]

I keep multiple pseudotropheus species in the same tank (acei, socolofi, demasoni) and probably because they are so disimilar in appearance (despite belonging to the same genus) they show zero reproductive interest in each other.

both the acei and the socolofi are pretty much mild compared to the demasoni. any of these would get beaten to death by the dominant male demasoni if they tried to spawn with his females.
the acei usually occupy the top layer of the tank, unlike the socolofis, and though the chances of them mating with a receptive socolofi females are slim, they just might do it, if none of the males step up, and vice versa...JMO though...
absolutely agree on the other points.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Well, I still haven't decided on a third type...the afra "Cobue" and Red Zebras are in though. I've decided not to get the Rusties. Some one told me about their Rusty cichlids that killed everything in the tank. Most of the info I read on them said they were peaceful, but I read a couple sites that said Rusties were aggressive, so I've decided not to get them. Also, the Red Zebras are available locally and through a friend, so they are easier to get.

I am now thinking about replacing the yellow labs with a slightly more aggressive fish. I was told by a couple more people that it would be better to get a more aggressive fish that could hold up to the zebras and afra. I haven't decided what I'd like though, so I need some suggestions. I like Pseudotropheus saulosi, but the males are blue with stripes, much like the male afra (i know it can vary from blue to purplish). I'd like to get a male afra with more purple, like the one on the cichlid-forum.com picture, but I know I can't guarantee what coloring they will have. So, I'm not sure I want the saulosi. I just don't know what else would work, that will look different than the afra. Any suggestions?

I don't want a highly aggressive fish, just one that is around the same aggression level as the cobue and red zebras.

What about Pseudotropheus acei? Are the aggressive enough? Would they be different looking than the afra cobue? (i think acei are purplish colored, right?)

Thanks for any help!
Kristin

 

[DeFeKt]

What about Pseudotropheus acei?

acei "msuli point" are purple with yellow fins.
I think they would be a good addition, although mine are sooks and very easy going.
Having said that, I did see one turn on a mature male dimi comp yesterday which was a bit of a suprise. They can definetly hold up for their own.

My only mature male and female compressiceps were spawning and had the entire group of fish bailed up into one side of the tank while they took the leftover 4ft for their antics.
Until a lonely male acei decided to break the cycle and confronted to dimi comp, who then proceeded to cower like a little sook.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Ok update on the stocking...

6 Yellow labs (1m/5f)
4 Cynotilapia afra "Cobue" (1m/3f)
4 Red Zebras (1m/3f)
4 Pseudotropheus socolofi "albino" (also called Powder Blue) (1m/3f)

Thats 18 fish...pushing the limits, I know. But I know I will upgrade the tank to atleast a 75g in a couple years...maybe even bigger than that. I'll be graduating college in 2 years and getting a house, so I'll have room for bigger tanks. I do have a plan....

I ordered an XP3, 250w stealth heater, food, and some Eco Complete Cichlid sand this week. The LFS should have the sand this weekend, if they got the right stuff in and then the supplies will come next week. All I'll need now is rocks and fish. I will be putting the established XP3 from my community 55g on this tank. I have a HOB on there as well, so I won't be taking all the good bacteria. The filter has been on that tank for atleast 3 months. I should be able to add it to this tank and then get 6 small yellow labs and not have a cycle...I hope.

I'll get some pictures when I get it set up...it won't be long now!

 

[maxwell1295]

That sounds good. I now have 4 Maingano, 4 Albino Socolofi, and 4 Red Zebras in holding tanks. Hopefully, I get my Yellow Labs this weekend. My filters are already seeded. I just need to clear up the water and finish the rock work


BTW, 18 fish is about right for 55G....I've seen some people with more, but that seems to be a pretty safe number. More fish helps with aggression, but also puts more stress on you biofilter. I will be overfiltering for a while with 2 Fluval 304's and an Eheim 2217. At some point, I want to run the Eheim mainly for bio with an AC70 or AC110 for mechanical filtration. I also have 2 AC30 power heads to help channel waste toward the filter intakes. The Stealth heaters are great. I have then in all 7 of my tanks.