about a year ago i purchased an electric blue and electric yellow cichlids along with a 20 gallon tank for the mrs. recently i just upgraded her to a 55. so naturally we purchased more fish. one is completely orange, another one is electric blue, and the last one is yellow with black horizontal lines down its side. can any one give me an idea on what exactly the species is on these fish, how big they will get and how many i can stock in her 55. thanks in advance. i know very little about these i mainly keep natives.
newbie to african cichlids
- Thread starter rjssniper
- Start date
need some pics and selling names, most memebers here use latin names for rift lake africans. However the yellow striped one sounds like a female M. auratus
Most likely a Red Zebra, electric blue johannii (or a blue ahli) and an aurautus
Click those links and see if those look familiar, if not your going to have to put up your own pics, i just know many people don't know how to...
Click those links and see if those look familiar, if not your going to have to put up your own pics, i just know many people don't know how to...
yes to the red zebra and the aurautus the johannii dosnt quite look the same i will post pics soon
First is Melanochromis auratus
Second is Metriaclima estherae
Third is probably Metriaclima callainos
Fourth is Pseudotropheus elegans 'msuli'
Second is Metriaclima estherae
Third is probably Metriaclima callainos
Fourth is Pseudotropheus elegans 'msuli'
A good resource is <http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/category.php?cat=2>. You can also go the original "profiles" page and look at other types of cichlids also (if/when you get other tanks and things).
The link I provided will take you to a list of most (if not all) the mbuna that are available in the hobby. I have only kept the red zebra (M. estherae) and can say that I have one that is just over 5" and another that is quickly approaching 5" and both seem to still be growing. You can look up their average adult size on the link I posted. Also, as you try to find other fish to stock the tank with make sure to look at aggression level. Try to keep their levels the same (highly aggressive with highly aggressive, and mildly aggressive with mildly aggressive). You can mix aggression levels somewhat, but when you mix the extremes you are taking a chance. I will add that specific fish have their own personalities so just because yellow labs are usually very peaceful sometimes you will get one that is highly aggressive.
Also, I won't say that it is necessary, but it can be helpful to keep species groups (4-5 of a specific species) with a ratio of 1 male per 3 females. This ratio does not apply to every species (such as demasoni, where you want a group of no less than 12 usually), but is a good rule of thumb.
Good luck!!!
The link I provided will take you to a list of most (if not all) the mbuna that are available in the hobby. I have only kept the red zebra (M. estherae) and can say that I have one that is just over 5" and another that is quickly approaching 5" and both seem to still be growing. You can look up their average adult size on the link I posted. Also, as you try to find other fish to stock the tank with make sure to look at aggression level. Try to keep their levels the same (highly aggressive with highly aggressive, and mildly aggressive with mildly aggressive). You can mix aggression levels somewhat, but when you mix the extremes you are taking a chance. I will add that specific fish have their own personalities so just because yellow labs are usually very peaceful sometimes you will get one that is highly aggressive.
Also, I won't say that it is necessary, but it can be helpful to keep species groups (4-5 of a specific species) with a ratio of 1 male per 3 females. This ratio does not apply to every species (such as demasoni, where you want a group of no less than 12 usually), but is a good rule of thumb.
Good luck!!!