What To Put With Mbuna?

[RIDavid]

I have yellow labs,red zebras,maingano,and spotted cats in my 55 gallon. Can I put loaches or snails with them? I'm thinking ghost shrimp would be a bad idea..

 

[elisew]

I have yellow labs,red zebras,maingano,and spotted cats in my 55 gallon. Can I put loaches or snails with them? I'm thinking ghost shrimp would be a bad idea..

To put it bluntly.......No, snails will get usually attacked and eaten and loaches will likely be attacked and killed. Shrimp would be a nice snack

Synodontis petricola or multipunctatus and bristlenose plecs of a decent size are probably the best that can cope with aggression from mbuna.

 

[Squidward]

I have seen photos of Mbuna setups with Clown loaches. But these get huge and you need a group of them, so 55 gals will prob be too small.

Sanils will probably be eaten, as will shrimp.

Rift Valley Synodontis are nice, and Bristle Nose Plecs will be ok too.

 

[michaelh]

Sorry to hijack but why just bristlenose not common? Or is it just the size these get?

 

[elisew]

Sorry to hijack but why just bristlenose not common? Or is it just the size these get?

Mbuna need lots of small-med sized cave areas and I think bristlenose are generally suggested more because they don`t grow too big and are able to use the cave areas too

 

[michaelh]

Sorry to hijack but why just bristlenose not common? Or is it just the size these get?

Mbuna need lots of small-med sized cave areas and I think bristlenose are generally suggested more because they don`t grow too big and are able to use the cave areas too

Ok cool. My missus thinks bns are scary so i cant have 1. Nice to know a common wud be ok

 

[elisew]

Sorry to hijack but why just bristlenose not common? Or is it just the size these get?

Mbuna need lots of small-med sized cave areas and I think bristlenose are generally suggested more because they don`t grow too big and are able to use the cave areas too

Ok cool. My missus thinks bns are scary so i cant have 1. Nice to know a common wud be ok

A common would be ok with Mbuna I think but hopefully if I`m wrong someone will correct me. I really like the bn plecs, I personally wouldn`t have one of the commons because of their size, even in a 380L tank I think too much space would be taken up by a common.......valuable space for fish not big plecos

As long as you have a big....and I mean big tank, then you should be ok with a common.

 

[markandhisfish]

another consideration when thinking about a common plec is the sheer amount of waste they produce , which in an already heavily satocked setup is going to put a hell of a strain on the bioload making water quality much more effort to maintain.

if youve never had a big plec you would be gobsmacked by the sheer amount they poo .

 

[sawapawa]

I've heard tiger barbs can be ok in there.

I'm interested in adding either some ruby barbs or gold barbs to my tank but haven't been able to find out about them.

 

[markandhisfish]

I've heard tiger barbs can be ok in there.

I'm interested in adding either some ruby barbs or gold barbs to my tank but haven't been able to find out about them.

barbs wouldnt be suitable at all . completely different requirements for starters

 

[michaelh]

another consideration when thinking about a common plec is the sheer amount of waste they produce , which in an already heavily satocked setup is going to put a hell of a strain on the bioload making water quality much more effort to maintain.

if youve never had a big plec you would be gobsmacked by the sheer amount they poo .

Well i have a 6" common so yes i know what you mean about the poo.
Unfortunatly he is so tame as hes spent his whole life in the guppy breeding tank that he has spent the whole afternoon being torn up by my 3 mbunas and just not retaliating. He is now back with the guppys to heal. Poor fella. Guess im on the lookout for a few bn's then lol.

 

[RIDavid]

I added an albino BN and normal BN.

 

[Stoty]

You can go with a Red Tailed Black Shark. I have heard that they work good on the bottom and are less messy and more pretty than plecs. They can also stand up to the abuse of mbunas and can dish out their own. I know they grow slower than mbuna, so keep that in mind.