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blur34

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jul 18, 2004
Messages
16
Location
Wisconsin USA
My step-daughter just picked out some new fish for our aquarium. We went to our LFS so she could pick out some fish, so I didn't have time to do any research on what she was picking out and I'm not even real sure what the fish are. The receipt from the store says we got 2 pseud zebra red and a pseud orange blossom. Any info that anyone has would be great. Also if anyone can reccommend a web site where I will be able to find info on these fish would be awsome. Oh yeah, and what are these fish so I know exactly what I will be looking for when I am searching any informational web site. Thank you very much!!!
 
pseud orange blossom
:?:

Congratulations, your stepdaughter picked out some African cichlids from Lake Malawi, which are Mbuna!! My guess is the "orange blossom" is a Pseudotropheus zebra that is orange. This tank will need lots of rock and hiding areas, as these fish will grow to 6" and are territorial. I have a pic of my Mbuna tank (80 gal) in my gallery.
This link will help a lot:
http://www.mongabay.com/fish/lake_malawi_cichlids.htm#

What size tank do you have?
 
I have a 30 gallon tank, that is also inhabited by 3 tiger barbs, 1 pink gourami, and 2 albino coris. Am I going to have some tragedies soon or will these fish do okay together. Thank you for the help and for pointing me to this web site.
 
As far as personalities go, mbuna go with mbuna, but nort with the community fish you already have, so even if they did need similar water conditions (which, as has been mentioned, they do not), they would not get on well together, either.
 
In a matter of weeks the mbuna cichlids will proabbly kill of most of the other fish. They need didffernt water condintions too.


Dan :)
 
sounds like I have a decision to make....another tank maybe....hmmmm....than you everyone for all of the info
 
yeah, the cichlids will make short work of those other fish. If your thinking about another tank a 55 is a real good size for africans and I probably wouldn't recommend going with a smaller tank than that to keep mbuna cichlids.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask
 
so if I do upgrade to a 55 gal tank, what could I get for tank mates for these guys and how many can I get???
 
Other mbuna african cichlids, a pleco, and some sort of synodontis type catfish are all I would recommend keeping with african mbuna cichlids.

I read that you haven't looked up the fish so let me give you a quick overview of them. Their behavior is unlike any other freshwater species. They are always moving and always after each other and are quicker and more aggressive than any other fw species which is why no other type of fish can be kept with them (barbs, gouramis, sharks, etc.). They are absolutely fascinating to watch though and love their owners. I have 8 adult mbuna's in a 55 and it's amazing the things they will do. They'll chase each other all day and then when I come over all of them will crowd into about a 10 gallon space right in front of me and basically interact with me. They transplant rocks like crazy as adults. It's just constant activity in that tank. They have a pecking order amongst themselves which is very evident as adults. This is the main reason non mbuna cichlids cannot be kept with them. They have a different pecking order and it nearly never works.

Bottom feeders also have a tough time with these fish and plecos and synodontis catfish are the only type of bottom feeders that can handle it. As an example of how aggressive they can be, when they were juveniles(about 2.5 inches) I tried to incroduce a pleco to the tank unsuccessfully 4 times before it worked. The plecos were always the larger fish but these guys can be voracious.

I would say about 4-5 more mbuna cichlids, 1 pleco, and maybe a catfish would be the max I would recommend. Anything over that would likely cause problems.

There are a alot of different types of mbuna cihlids to choose from so although this doesn't seem like alot of choice, it still a huge variety of colors and fish to choose from.

Also, how large are these fish now?

HTH
 
thank you for all of the info. The fish that I purchased are only around 3/4" to 1" long, so I am guessing that they are very young. But I am really starting to fall in love with the very bright colors. Thanks again for all of the info it has been very helpful.
 
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