my fish list

Holy Cow there are a lot of Malawi Mbuna fish!! I had no clue. Anyway, I looked through 100s of different ones. I was looking for mildly aggressive in BOTH their temperament and conspecific temperament and under 5". I didn't make it. So here is the list of the ones I really like and I'm hoping it will work.

Can all of these be in the same tank? (33 gal. long)

1. Metriaclima estherae (red)
2. cynotilapia afra (Lumbila) changed it from "Acei" which gets 6"
3. Labidochromis caeruleus (Lion's Cove I)
4. Cynotilapia afra (Cobue)

Thos are my fist picks, here are some I also like if some of the above won't work together.

1. Cynotilapia afra (Jalo Reef)
2. Cynotilapia afra (Msobo)
3. Cynotilapia afra (Chinuni)

I am not planning on breeding, so I amplanning to only get males.

 

I know diddly-squat about Cichlids but this post will give your thread a BUMP

 

Thanks, I appreciate it

 

Your first list looks to be okay..

You'll want lots of rock work to creat caves, hide-aways and seperate territories.

Yank any live plants you may have as they won't last long.

When selecting stock try and get similar sizes to lessen any bullying of smaller fishes.

 

My LFS said he could order me some fish, but I"m not sure if he can these specific ones. I hope so.

I am ordering my sand and rock this week. I have already started to up the heat and PH in the tank.

 

I Think those can go together, but if you do not add all of them at the same time you might have some issues. They should also all be around the same size.. : )

 

I was going to ask about how to add them. My tank is established, it's 10 years old. I have just never had cichlids. But even being established I thought you couldn't put too many fish in at one time. Won't that stress out the tank?

I was thinking of adding all the cobue or all the labs or whatever. I just didn't know which ones to add first.

Can I add them all at once?

I just recently read that all males will be more aggressive and that I should have a ratio of 3 females to 1 male. Is that correct?

 

Adding all at once will depend on size and numbers..

The larger in size the less in number at a time..

say 2 of each at 1" = 8" of fish in a 33gal.. not too bad and can be done at once as 1" fish have smaller bio-loads..

but 2 of each at 2" = 16" of fish, 3"=24" etc etc .. so size does matter .. lol..

If you do have to add fish at seperate times and you will over time have to add/remove as we all know it's best to change the aquascape to break any territories that exist so that the agression is spread vs. being directed at the newbie lookin for a home where there aren't any "For Rent" signs in the window..

The female male ratio of 3-1 is the best idea till they 'pair' off then a 1-1 ratio or keep the added females as 'dither' fish.. is a toss up. but remember that male/female mix will make more agression if and when they breed..

 

Lots of good reading here http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/

 

Hmmm this could be tricky. Even the smallest ones I have seen at the stores are a little over an inch. I think I will get my rock and sand and set up my tank. Then people can see the set up and maybe everyone can give me an idea of how many total I can get? I will bring my list to LFS and see if he can get me the ones I want.

I have already read a lot of those articles! I joined there today.