Mbuna tank help

[Apopli]

I have a 55 gallon tank that, once its' cleaned and resealed then cycled, I have plans to house mbunas.

I currently have a 10 gallon with a white Betta, another 55 gallon with an oscar, and soon a 50 gallon with a pirahna (this is a fish that will be given to us by a friend of my boyfriend's... the fish was housed alone his whole life thus far and has become a very mean fish - I know nothing about them save that most species do much better in large groups. this is my boyfriend's fish). I want to have a "show" tank. As much as I adore my oscar and Betta and my boyfriend that pirahna he'll eventually be getting, you can't make the most attractive tanks of them.

I've read a lot that there is to read about keeping them, but I'm not familiar with most species. I really like the yellow labs, red zebras, and cobalt blue zebras. I'd love to have a tank with red, yellow and blue fish with a sand substrate and lovely rock formations and "caves".

From what I've read, it would be possible to keep the 3 species together (labs, and red and blue zebras), but I can't say for sure. Of all the fish I've owned since I was very very young, I've never kept African Cichlids. And if I can keep the 3 species together, how many of each could I keep in a 55 gallon tank? Keeping in mind that I don't want them to outgrow the tank.

Also, in stocking the tank... I've always kept fish with the rule of slowly stocking. Two or 3 fish at a time. But I've read with Mbunas, they should all be put in at once to avoid territory issues. That seems to me like quite a shock to a tank's bioload. Is there a safe way to do this without too much shock to the fish?

 

[gixer]

I have a 55 gallon tank that, once its' cleaned and resealed then cycled, I have plans to house mbunas.

I currently have a 10 gallon with a white Betta, another 55 gallon with an oscar, and soon a 50 gallon with a pirahna (this is a fish that will be given to us by a friend of my boyfriend's... the fish was housed alone his whole life thus far and has become a very mean fish - I know nothing about them save that most species do much better in large groups. this is my boyfriend's fish). I want to have a "show" tank. As much as I adore my oscar and Betta and my boyfriend that pirahna he'll eventually be getting, you can't make the most attractive tanks of them.

I've read a lot that there is to read about keeping them, but I'm not familiar with most species. I really like the yellow labs, red zebras, and cobalt blue zebras. I'd love to have a tank with red, yellow and blue fish with a sand substrate and lovely rock formations and "caves".

From what I've read, it would be possible to keep the 3 species together (labs, and red and blue zebras), but I can't say for sure. Of all the fish I've owned since I was very very young, I've never kept African Cichlids. And if I can keep the 3 species together, how many of each could I keep in a 55 gallon tank? Keeping in mind that I don't want them to outgrow the tank.

Also, in stocking the tank... I've always kept fish with the rule of slowly stocking. Two or 3 fish at a time. But I've read with Mbunas, they should all be put in at once to avoid territory issues. That seems to me like quite a shock to a tank's bioload. Is there a safe way to do this without too much shock to the fish?

the species you mention will be fine together. Try to have 2 or 3 females for every male...i would say in a 55g you could keep approx 20 fish with good filtration.

as for the shock on the bioload adding them all at once..its a good idea to fishless cycle and build up a nive big colony.. alternatlivly seed your filters by running them in a tank you have already with a large bio load for a few weeks,

any more questions post them here..will be happy to help

 

[Apopli]

So it's safe to assume I could keep 6 yellow labs, 6 cobalt blue zebras,and 6 red zebras, numbers being 4 females and 2 males of each?

For good filtration, I'm a fan of the Emperor 400's. That's what I have in my Oscar tank. Would it be suitable, or should it be coupled with another filter?

Fishless cycling is something I'm VERY familiar with. I also have the Oscar tank to seed the filter in, and could even toss in a couple gallons of the Oscar's tank water to kick it into gear.

For substrate, I'd *like* to use sand, however at the LFS today I saw a very fine gravel that was specifically for african cichlids. Would that possibly be a better choice?

I'll admit I'm extreemly nervous about the whole thing. All the fish I've ever kept (except the angels, who I sold after 3 years because I was moving) were/are extreemly hardy and forgiving. Africans sound much more demanding and specific in their care. I'm more than a little scared, as this will be a rather expensive and EXTREEMLY time-consuming project that could end up being VERY rewarding, or discouraging.

*crosses fingers* here's hoping. I have lots of time to work it out. Still have to drain, dry, repair, refill, drain, build stand, put tank back up, then begin to set up. Then there's cycling.... Lots of time.

 

[yhbae]

So it's safe to assume I could keep 6 yellow labs, 6 cobalt blue zebras,and 6 red zebras, numbers being 4 females and 2 males of each?

For good filtration, I'm a fan of the Emperor 400's. That's what I have in my Oscar tank. Would it be suitable, or should it be coupled with another filter?

Fishless cycling is something I'm VERY familiar with. I also have the Oscar tank to seed the filter in, and could even toss in a couple gallons of the Oscar's tank water to kick it into gear.

For substrate, I'd *like* to use sand, however at the LFS today I saw a very fine gravel that was specifically for african cichlids. Would that possibly be a better choice?

I'll admit I'm extreemly nervous about the whole thing. All the fish I've ever kept (except the angels, who I sold after 3 years because I was moving) were/are extreemly hardy and forgiving. Africans sound much more demanding and specific in their care. I'm more than a little scared, as this will be a rather expensive and EXTREEMLY time-consuming project that could end up being VERY rewarding, or discouraging.

*crosses fingers* here's hoping. I have lots of time to work it out. Still have to drain, dry, repair, refill, drain, build stand, put tank back up, then begin to set up. Then there's cycling.... Lots of time.

It should be safer to go with 1 male / 3 - 5 females instead of 2 males per each species...

With that much stocking, I'd think Emperior 400 will not be enough - you should think about adding another power filter or even better, a canister filter along side your EMP400.

As for the substrates, are those specifically designed for African tanks? (i.e. raises hardness and pH of the tank?) I personally use play sand from hardware store, and add baking soda and epsom salt as my water is rather soft. I can see why sand is the best for them - they seem to sig alot and they constantly eat and spit out the sand...

So far, I've lost few yellow labs for unknown reason (but they were really young, at 1 inch or less). Since then I haven't lost any, and I dare to even say that they are actually quite hardy! You just need to make sure you do frequent water changes, feed them the right food (spirluna based), and provide lots of places for them to hide (see my 30g as an example).

 

[vantgE]

both Zebra's are from the maylandia genus (correct me if I'm wrong -- maylandia estherae is the same as p. Zebra I think) so Just to be safe you don't want any cross-breeding, I would leave one of them out their are several other species that would work good in the tank to replace one, The genus Pseudotropheus gives tones of options I've always thought P. Saulosi are nice looking, and should get along with the labs, I like scofoli too but do some internet searches maybe, see what you like

 

[gixer]

as for the substrate..you could use coral sand..ideal and aslo help to buffer the water to the disered level for malawis.. what is the ph and kh or your current tanks?

I would aslo get more females than 2 to each male..especially for the estherae, sorry if i was unclear.