New to Africans, want to make sure I get their diet right

[Life Liberty Cichlids]

I have a 2" blue moorii, 2" kenyi, 2.25" venustus, 2.5" borleyi, and a 2.5" jacobfrebergi. I know that the haps and the peackock are naturally predators, and that the mbuna need some veggie matter in their diet, but I don't know how best to balance them. I was originally using frozen brine shrimp and bloodworms, but noticed minor stomach bloating (that has since gone back down) and I'm afraid of bloat. I read that those foods are too fatty so I bought some cichlid pellets. What else should I be cycling into their diet to keep variety and get their full nutritional needs met?

As a sidenote, the blue moorii is the only male cichlid in the tank.

 

[DJRansome]

The kenyi is not a good mix with the haps and peacocks. Hopefully you have a 72" tank for the venustus, and you are planning on stocking more haps and peacocks.
Do not feed bloodworms at all and brine shrimp are not terrible (but also not very nutritious) for your carnivores (haps and peacocks). You can feed one staple food with high quality ingredients and no supplements. Some like New Life Spectrum Cichlid Formula and some like Xtreme for 2 examples. The variety is built in.

 

[Life Liberty Cichlids]

Thanks for the reply! My tank is only 48" wide, why would the venustus need a 72"? I read that he should top out around 6". Also, why is it an issue to mix the mbuna in with the haps and peacocks? I'm not planning on stocking more africans until the tiger barbs finish out their lives, otherwise I'm afraid of overcrowding when the cichlids get larger.

 

[Life Liberty Cichlids]

Just realized I didn't specify my tank in this post. It's an 80 gallon tall, standing at 48"x30"x13"

 

[james99]

Both the moorii and venustus will reach 10" and the borelyi 8", all will look cramped in a 4ft tank when fully grown. Mbuna are usually too aggressive for haps and peacocks, not to mention kenyi are one of the most aggressive. Once the venustus gets around 4" he'll take care of your tiger barbs.

 

[Life Liberty Cichlids]

Do you think the Venustus and the Moorii could live together if I take out the kenyi and the borleyi? Are there any other smaller haps I could throw in with them?

 

[pagdenjohn@]

If i was you i would keep the borleyi with the venustus and moori and add maybe some fish of the placidochromis family or even a few peacocks, the main thing is to get more fish in there to spread the aggression or has they get older one may become dominant and could kill or stress the others, you should always crowd the fish to make establishing a terrortory harder.

 

[james99]

My venustus pretty much owned my 6" 125. He wasn't overly aggressive but when he wanted to he would chase everyone. I would try to get rid of the larger fish and restock with fish that stay around 6".

 

[Life Liberty Cichlids]

I have to be honest with you, I have a bit of an attachment to my venustus and moorii. So far they have the most personality in the tank, and nobody's gotten aggressive yet (presumably because they're all still tiny). I switched their food to Xtreme and spirulina flake, and also started doing the 3-4 small feedings a day and the bloating after feeding has totally stopped. Right now I don't have the money for more fish, do you think it'll be alright if I add more fish in about two weeks? I'm just nervous I'll be throwing them into a tank that's already divvied up amongst the cichlids. Thanks for all the help guys! This forum has probably saved my moorii's life already

-edit- Also, do you have any specific recommendations on placidochromis? I started looking them up and there are quite a few that are gorgeous and peaceful, but most seem to grow between 8-10" and I would like to be able to keep every fish I put in this tank at full grown

 

[DJRansome]

If you are attached to those 3 I'd buy a 72" tank. Since the moorii is male and the others are female, you want a mixed gender tank. Malawi are harem breeders so at least 3 females for every male. I would do 1m:4f of those 4 species and rehome the others. I like Placidochromis electra for a 5th species in a 72" tank.