Very discouraged

[snwhawk]

I am soooooooo discouraged and not sure what to add with my bumblebee (Maylandia Crabro) and my Socolofi- I returned my peacock today because he was just constantly harrassed (poor little guy) I have to say though he was so happy to be back in that full tank at the lfs his fins were just all perked up and pretty not slouched like they were with my bully.(not to mention the lfs got some new females in today ooo la la.....lol Anyway I asked him what I can put in with my fish and he said its hit or miss GRRRRRR the thing that really rots is he is the only lfs around here that I trust - he does not have central filtration - helped me get my first tank cycled when I had no clue and totally stocked it, and when he gets new fish in they are not sold for four days. I dont know the names of any mbuna cichlids let alone what they may look like so if you have any advice please link me to some pic if possible - also i have a 55 us gallon 48" long how many fish can i stock it with? I also have 2 box filters and a power filter running in the tank as well. I know that overstocking will help with aggression - but how many would that be???

 

[freddyk]

You can stock about 15 mbuna in the tank, give or take. You may need to improve your mechanical filtration to keep up with the waste of these messy fish though, the box filters have very limited capabilities for this.

You have a lot of choices for mbuna, most will work with the exception of a few relatively unaggressive ones like the rusty (iodotropheus sprengerae).

The Crabro is very aggressive and as big as mbuna get. You are in for a very aggressive setup. When trying to get a good balance and workable community with fish like this, deaths are almost inevitable - it will take experience to get it right. This is just a warning - choose another type of fish if deaths will stress you, or move along and learn as you go.

Keep in mind that you need to go with either one single specimen, or one male with several females of any species you choose. Adding one more socolofi, for example, will result in one harassing the other to death, while adding 4 more will distribute the aggression of the dominent fish. Of course, it's very difficult, if not impossible, to sex many mbuna, especially at a young age, so this may only be determinable by experimentation as well. The safest bet is to only go with single specimens of any species, if enough are available to you.

The tank should also be heavily decorated with tons of hiding spaces of all sizes, or completely bare, so no territories are created (fish store style)

Good luck

 

[Ferris]

Here's a few suggestions that have worked for me personally:

Maylandia Lomardoi
Pseudotropheus Zebra (many different colour variations)
Melanachromis Auratus
Melanachromis Johannii
Pseudotropheus Demasoni
Pseudotropheus Estherae

Some of the Pseudotropheus may be classed as Maylandia now but the fish don't know that so don't worry about it. Most of these fish are pretty readily available at good aquarium stores