Dean jones said:I think there will be fireworks once they reach adults,and want to breed.
I think there will be fireworks once they reach adults,and want to breed.
I have kept breeding groups of saulosi, flavus and some of the smaller Labidochromis sp. in a 33 long. A 33 long has the same footprint as a 55 though, and it was packed with cover to the top.
All the fish ya have on yer list will hit 5" or more. My big yellow lab is almost 6", and my adult red zebras are around 5". Aceis can hit 6". I've heard of 'em getting 8", but have never had nor seen one that large. Instead, ya might consider a group of saluosi. They generally stay 'round 3" or so with males pushin' 4". IME, they also tend to be a bit more mellow than a lot of other species. You'll get bright yellow from the females and a nice blue and black striping on males. Eventually you'd want to work yer way down to one or two males.
Maylandia lanisticola is the small Malawi shell dweller Andrew mentioned. They stay a bit smaller than the saulosi. If ya happen to find any, they would be another option. I had some special ordered years ago, and was only able to obtain three. Not an easy fish to get a hold of. Maylandia livingstonii is the other some time shell-dweller, but they get larger. Again not an easy fish to get a hold of.
To answer yer original question, I'd stock those species acei first, labs second and zebras last. In a large enough tank with plenty of cover, I wouldn't hesitate to stock all three at once.
WYite
Edit: BTW, nice scape on the tank.
chazeman2 said:Thank you for being constructive. Are the saulosi pretty widely available?
Andrew McFadden said:For the most part
http://www.davesfish.com/images/Pseudotropheus%20saulosi%20Taiwanee%20Reef.jpg
You'll find it listed under lake Malawi mbuna
http://davesfish.com/
kind of yes. i have been preparing for this for some time now and have gotten lots of mixed reviews.some people say go for it and some people yell at me. i have seen a lot of tanks this size on youtube with far more diverse selections of mbunas even mbunas mixed with johannis. so I'm at the point where Im gonna go for it. maybe add less. more like 6
Just a civil discussion on the OP ideas.
BTW... I like the scape just if it were me I'd paint the background black. But it looks good non the less.
Good luck OP in your decision.
Those with the afra cobue would be a good mix
bcurlacher54 said:I'd take the advice, I don't know about other people's tanks but in mine I've found that once one fish is considered weaker then they seem to gang up on the poor weak one. A tank that small doesn't leave much from for running and hiding. I've had to quarantine fish to let them recover and that's with a 75.