Starting My New African Cichlid Tank

[Malawi MaD]

Yeah i noticed them all looking at the clip, looked funny. What are the next 5 to 6 fish you want then?? Hopefully you will get some breeding going on in there soon

 

[riogal_11]

I got 8 more tonight, which puts me at 23, so I am fully stocked now and happy! Once they get acclimated and settled in, I'll post more pics. I had a guy talk me into two that you posted as on the aggressive side, so I'm going to keep a close eye on them this weekend. He has a 150 gallon tank, and said he hasn't had a bit of problem. So, fingers crossed.
Also good news, I have a mama holding eggs in her mouth! Woot!! It's a hybrid fish (I tend to be drawn to the strange ones).

 

[riogal_11]

Ok, upon closer inspection, there is definitely a difference between the two dark blue with bright blue stripes. One is almost certainly a Melanochromis maingano, but I don't think the other one is. It is the hardest one to photograph, so I don't know if these pics are good enough to get a good id on it:

Here is the one I'm pretty sure about:

And here is the one I'm not sure about (body shape is the same and it kind of has stripes going both ways):

A couple of the other ones, I have no clue what they are: Grayish striped ones (light colored and dark):

Also, what is this one:

The female that is holding is making it impossible to get a picture of her. She is in the early days, as her pouch is barely noticeable. She is a yellow lab mix of some kind.

 

[Malawi MaD]

Nice fish again Rio, especially the maingano.
The other to me looks like pseudotropheus elongatus ornatus male, these are a very nice species too!
The last fish is a Metriaclima Lombardoi male, these can be aggressive lil things but again not always.

 

[riogal_11]

Nice fish again Rio, especially the maingano.
The other to me looks like pseudotropheus elongatus ornatus male, these are a very nice species too!
The last fish is a Metriaclima Lombardoi male, these can be aggressive lil things but again not always.

I love that maingano too! It is soooo bright and striking to look at!
I always google the names you give me, and compare my fish to the pictures I find (since some of my pics aren't fabulous). The second blue one does look like an ornatus. Thanks for your help!

Any idea what the gray ones are?

I also got a Psuedotropheus socolofi with this group.

The only ones I am really concerned about are the Melanochromis auratus. So far, they aren't aggressive at all, but I keep reading and hearing that they could cause a massacre overnight, after months of seemingly good behavior.

 

[Malawi MaD]

Nice fish again Rio, especially the maingano.
The other to me looks like pseudotropheus elongatus ornatus male, these are a very nice species too!
The last fish is a Metriaclima Lombardoi male, these can be aggressive lil things but again not always.

I love that maingano too! It is soooo bright and striking to look at!
I always google the names you give me, and compare my fish to the pictures I find (since some of my pics aren't fabulous). The second blue one does look like an ornatus. Thanks for your help!

Any idea what the gray ones are?

I also got a Psuedotropheus socolofi with this group.

The only ones I am really concerned about are the Melanochromis auratus. So far, they aren't aggressive at all, but I keep reading and hearing that they could cause a massacre overnight, after months of seemingly good behavior.

The grey's are Aulonocara species but which type i dont have a clue. Nearly all the females look similar so it could be any im afraid .

Im going for a wild group of auratus to add to my 3 F1 so far they are been pretty timid and not causing any problem's. I know they can be very OTT but any mbuna can have a fit and chase/attack anything out of the blue. Your 2 auratus are females yes? although, What size are they? They could still be juvi's and not changed to male colouration yet. The females usually chase each other the most which is why its usually best to have 6+ females and 1 male.

 

[riogal_11]

Nice fish again Rio, especially the maingano.
The other to me looks like pseudotropheus elongatus ornatus male, these are a very nice species too!
The last fish is a Metriaclima Lombardoi male, these can be aggressive lil things but again not always.

I love that maingano too! It is soooo bright and striking to look at!
I always google the names you give me, and compare my fish to the pictures I find (since some of my pics aren't fabulous). The second blue one does look like an ornatus. Thanks for your help!

Any idea what the gray ones are?

I also got a Psuedotropheus socolofi with this group.

The only ones I am really concerned about are the Melanochromis auratus. So far, they aren't aggressive at all, but I keep reading and hearing that they could cause a massacre overnight, after months of seemingly good behavior.

The grey's are Aulonocara species but which type i dont have a clue. Nearly all the females look similar so it could be any im afraid .

Im going for a wild group of auratus to add to my 3 F1 so far they are been pretty timid and not causing any problem's. I know they can be very OTT but any mbuna can have a fit and chase/attack anything out of the blue. Your 2 auratus are females yes? although, What size are they? They could still be juvi's and not changed to male colouration yet. The females usually chase each other the most which is why its usually best to have 6+ females and 1 male.

They look to be female to me, but they are medium sized (about 2 inches maybe), so I'm not sure. They stay together for the most part, kind of in a schooling fashion rather than a chasing one. They had some monstrous ones at the LFS yesterday, and they seemed to be ruling the tank as far as chasing, but no actual fighting (I stood there for over an hour waiting my turn).

The Aulonocara seems to fit (their eyes seem different than my other mbuna's and their body shape), but I'm curious as to whether they will stay this color? The one's I see while googling seem to be more brilliant colors, so I'm wondering if mine will change at all or stay this gray color.

 

[Malawi MaD]

The Aulonocara i think will stay that colour as they are females.

 

[riogal_11]

The Aulonocara i think will stay that colour as they are females.

Oh ok, didn't know they were females. I have so much color in there, it's kind of nice to have the black/gray color.

 

[riogal_11]

Just tested my water before my scheduled 25% water change. Ammonia and Nitrites are at 0ppm, and Nitrates are at 40ppm. Seems like everything is going well!

 

[Malawi MaD]

That's good, lets see how the stock settle's and turns out in a few months

 

[riogal_11]

I noticed a couple of fish rubbing up against rocks and on the bed of the tank (I think I've seen people call it "flashing". Today, I've noticed about three fish doing it within a 15 minute time-frame. I've looked as hard as I can for any noticeable signs of parasites, and don't see a thing. Should I just keep looking, or is it better to catch a potential problem early and treat the whole tank for ich or flukes?

ETA: Just looked closely and I see a few black spots on two different fish. But, I have no way of knowing whether these are normal spots/their coloring, or something is wrong...

Here is a pic of the holding female that has black spotting. There is also a yellow tail that has some black spots as well (and one that is a bit larger on his side), but I can't get a picture of him, as he's too fast:

She has at least two spots on her fins, one under her jaw and then those down the side of her face.

 

[Malawi MaD]

I know malawi's can flick about a little, the black spots could be caused by excess spirulina in their diet. So it's not necessarily some kind of fluke, don't look like it to me

 

[riogal_11]

Thanks MaD! I don't think you saw my reply in another thread, but I didn't realize the one in the top right was a peacock. I thought he was a hybrid of some sort (which I lovingly named "Klaus" because that is the hybrid's name on the Vampire Diaries, lol), but apparently I was way off. I noticed he is much slower moving and more deliberate about his movements, but chalked that up to a "different personality". He doesn't get picked on at all. In fact, he's literally the only one I haven't seen in a display with another fish at some time or another. They totally ignore him it seems. Do you think it's okay to keep him in there?

 

[Malawi MaD]

Thanks MaD! I don't think you saw my reply in another thread, but I didn't realize the one in the top right was a peacock. I thought he was a hybrid of some sort (which I lovingly named "Klaus" because that is the hybrid's name on the Vampire Diaries, lol), but apparently I was way off. I noticed he is much slower moving and more deliberate about his movements, but chalked that up to a "different personality". He doesn't get picked on at all. In fact, he's literally the only one I haven't seen in a display with another fish at some time or another. They totally ignore him it seems. Do you think it's okay to keep him in there?

No worries
Ohh no i didnt im sorry, yeah hes a peacock, nice male to. Omg as i read that i thought exactly the same i absolutely love the v diaries im addicted to it. Cant wait to see what the original familys going todo . Yeah if he's been left alone then he will be fine. Your tank is big enough to, for him to get out of the way etc.. The darker color females you have could be a mate for him to. So hopefully in the future he may sure interest.