Africans

[Mogurako]

As some of you might rember i was going to start a Con. tank but after some thought and a tank upgrade B) i have decided to go with Africans. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what would be some good Africans for me, keep in mind that i am a begginer with Cichlids. Also i was wondering what type of fish i could use to keep alge in check. A standard 55g with a Fluval 304 is the tank that i will be using.

Thanks

Jesse

 

[Talleyrand]

http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/caeruleu.htm
http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/m_crabro.htm
http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/sprenger.htm
http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/socolofi.htm

http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/juli-mar.htm
Also I like my Albino Zebra, no links with albino pics these are regular zebra's
http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/estherae.htm

 

[freddyk]

The first question is, what type of African tank? The term 'Africans' is very generic, as you won't get a group of fish more diverse.

The three most common setups you are looking at are Haplichromines of lake Malawi and Victoria, Mbuna of lake Malawi, and Tanganyikan community.

 

[Mogurako]

The first question is, what type of African tank? The term 'Africans' is very generic, as you won't get a group of fish more diverse.

The three most common setups you are looking at are Haplichromines of lake Malawi and Victoria, Mbuna of lake Malawi, and Tanganyikan community.

I was thinking a Mbunas from lake Malawi.

 

[freddyk]

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what would be some good Africans for me, keep in mind that i am a begginer with Cichlids

Labidochromis Caeruleus (aka Yellow lab, aka Electric Yellow) is the reigning king of the mbuna aquarium. More popular then any other mbuna because of their bright colors, even temperment, ability to handle almost any mbuna tankmate, and their general hardiness. You'll find that most mbuna setups include these guys, and with good reason, and they're an excellent starting point for beginners.

If you are looking at a more peaceful environment (peaceful, that is, for mbuna) then here are a few others that would do well with the yellow labs.

Iodotropheus Sprengerae (aka Rusty) is a nice fish with unique color that counts as one of the least aggressive mbuna, though they can be pretty feisty among their own kind.

Pseudotropheus Saulosi is a small sized mbuna that is also not very aggressive. Females are orange-yellow, males are striped blue.

Pseudotropheus Acei is a very nice one, and are almost shoaling fish in their behavior - something you don't get with any other mbuna.

Maylandia Estherae (aka Red Zebra) is more aggressive then the others mentioned, but will get along with them without a problem, and are also a popular and hardy mbuna for beginners.

Psuedotropheus Socolofi is a powder blue cichlid that should also work well, though this one seems, more then any of the others I mentioned, to be hit and miss. Sometimes people end up with very aggressive ones, but usually they're not too bad, about as aggressive as the Estherae.

These are my personal recommendations for somebody getting into mbuna. I'd look at stocking about 15 fish total, as adults, and groups of 4 or more of each species.

Bristlenose plecos will help with algae and be able to handle the mbuna setup. I don't like plecos in mbuna tanks because a nice carpet of algae on the rocks gives the fish a most natural setting, grazing algae is a natural behavior that would give them something to do besides fight and chase each other. I actually encourage algae growth in my mbuna setups, and happily scrub the sides of the tank as often as necessary.

 

[gixer]

all great beginner mbuna.

but be aware all those pseudotropheus species (that includes maylandia) WILL crossbread.

its up to you if your happy for this to happen personally i don't allow this but each to their own.

 

[Malawiandude]

Mbuna great starter for going into African world, i did it, but have since moved into the world of beautiful peacocks and haps.

 

[Malawiandude]

forgot to hit reply button notification

 

[yhbae]

all great beginner mbuna.

but be aware all those pseudotropheus species (that includes maylandia) WILL crossbread.

its up to you if your happy for this to happen personally i don't allow this but each to their own.

I doubt Acei, Saulosi and Socolofi will cross-breed if you keep enough of their of species (say 5 of each). If you don't keep enough females to males, most mbuna will try to cross-breed and you get some very interesting (usually ugly!) results...

 

[Malawiandude]

the more common crossbreeding africans are peacocks not mbuna.

 

[Mogurako]

Thanks to everyone for their input, when im stocking would like 4 fish from 5 diffirent spieces be ok?

Jesse

 

[Ferris]

Great choice with the Mbuna's, you won't regret it. One thing I would reccomend is to buy them as babies or at least at the same size. If you look at my sig, you'll see that i went for 1 of each species to avoid breeding. I got them all within a couple of months and have never had any major agression problems. Sure they square up occasionally but nothing worse than that. The only problem I ever had was adding an adult fish recently (Mbuna's are all adults now), this fish (Venustus) was pecieved as a threat and was picked on and I had to return him. I have a sailfin plec and 2 Featherfin Synodontis catfish and the tank is always spotless (mainly thanks to the plec, he does a wonderful cleaning job). The Mbuna are all about 2 years old now and they are all real characters, I hand feed them which they love, highly reccomended.