20 gallon mbuna

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo

Kramer97

Feeder Fish
Jan 9, 2012
3
0
0
U.S.A
Hi I would like some advice with my mbuna tank i have 1 electric yellow 2 auratus female 1 krib and a demasoni all about 2-3 inches execpt the krib about 4 in and there in a ten right now but there moving to a 20 soon do you guys think i could get some synodontis petricola?
Kramer97
 
The fish you have are going to outgrow the 10 and 20 gallon tank in no time. So no, you should not add any petricolas to the tank. By the way, your kribensis is a west african cichlid, not a mbuna. Additionally, your selection of fish is problematic. Demasoni and auratus are very aggressive cichlids.
 
From what I have learned from the people on this site and other research you are going to want a much larger home for your fish. Demasoni are supposed to be kept in large groups to help diffuse aggression. My wife and I have a group of 9 and have little aggression from them. They are wonderful fish, and so amazing looking, it would be well worth the upgrade. We also have been lucky enough to add 22 new fry from our Demasoni in the past few days.
 
Yes i know the krib is not a mbuna she was in my other tank and killed 3 of my fish so i moved her to the african tank and waht size would you recommend for them? Also my demasoni is the smallest and only will attack another fish if the other fish is looking away other than that he is not attacking others
 
to keep a single less aggressive species of dwarf mbuna such as P. Salousi the recommended absolute minimum is a 29 and even then only if you only have 1 or 2 males and lots of females, and you fish are not all dwarf mbuna or unaggressive. for your stock you'd probably need at least a 55 if not a 65 to keep them. If you do this upgrade the syno's shouldn't be too much of an issue
 
I'm currently keeping a dozen Saulosi's and 3 assorted Peacocks in a 65g. Aggression is evenly spread out and seems to be plenty of hiding space.

Here's a question for you, is it a 20g breeder you've got?
 
to answer your question.. no, the other are correct. you need a larger tank for most mbuna type cichlids.
 
hey
the auratus will kill all the other fish in your tank as soon as they hit puberty i would not keep them in a tank 5 foot or less as it will be a blood bath also as the others have said mbuna should be kept in groups of atleast 5 of the same species as they can be quite agro and this hepls stop them from picking on one or two fish every minet of the day .
they may not be phisical signs of attacking behaviour -fin damage , scales missing but this will end up waring the other fish down and they will die one by one over time.
this is a big prob with people on forums. so manny people asking y are my fish dying ????? they dont look like they have been attacked ..
just like u and me the stress brakes down there tolerance to infection and disease> so please i know u are new to the fish game by this question u are asking
but do some reserch and u will end up with happy fish and an amasing tank to stare at for hours

ps - im not having a crack just wish some one told me strait when i started would have saved me money heeps of money and time thats all
ps - sory for the spelling im eliterate lol:)
 
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