55g mbuna tank help me get this right please

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dre205

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 6, 2010
88
0
6
Georgia
ive been on this same topic fpr over a month now and yes i still have questions. ive been working on a new african tank setup and you guys told me the flaws of the tank. so i took the tank back down and started over. i have had some bricks in the tank that were on top if the sand instead on top of the glass floor of the tank. yes the bricks are going back in the tank because they raise the pH up to where the africans like it. so now my question is should i go with a species mbuna tank or a mixed mbuna tank for my 55g? if you suggest a mexed please give some combinations of mbuna that would work together in my 55 because i dont plan on upgrading to a bigger tank anytime soon. please try to give their common names if they have one because im not to familar with the scientific names yet. thanks in advance for your suggestions! :feedback:
 
Its really based on what you want to do and what you like to see and as what you put in its based on how many and what the genders are keep in mind to have at least 3 of them and have more females to males just one male to the 3 of a kind you pick. hope this helps or adds to the ideas should be great.
 
I would go with a mixed mbuna setup and it is actually better to overstock with this type of fish..it will keep the aggression level down. Just make sure you have plenty of filtration and setup your rockwork so the caves have an entrance and an exit.....that always worked for me....Here is a picture of one of my old mbuna tanks...55 gallon and I had 15 different types of mbuna and no casualties..i had this tank running for over two years before I went in a different direction.

mbuna tank.jpg
 
I would do a species tank of salousi. Males are blue females are yellow. So nice color mix, they are dwarf mbuna and if you keep the number of males down to a few you can put a lot in it still.
 
what about jewel cichlids? they cought my eye at the lfs and i was wondering could i keep them in my 55? can they live in groups or jus pairs or singles?
 
dre205;4105029; said:
what about jewel cichlids? they cought my eye at the lfs and i was wondering could i keep them in my 55? can they live in groups or jus pairs or singles?
Click to expand...

I have kept Jewels with Mbuna and they can handle themselves pretty well with aggresive cichlids. They pair off and breed like rabbits though so be ready.

They are fantastic parents and a real treat to watch. Both parents take the fry all over the tank and use some kind of fin twitching signals to communicate with the fry and its awesome to see how they respond.
 
wow so i think ill stick with the more friendly variety of mbunas like the yellow tail aceis, yellow labs, rusty cichlids if i can find some
 
i'm all for rustys...they are gorgeous and very tame compared to species like melanochromis....but i would look into some more rare and colorful species like p. polit and flavus, they are knockouts. and some bb zebras, and albino zebras...i'm fond of them.
 
so i kinda have the stocking out of the way i might go with a mixed mbuna tank with yellow labs, aceis, and red zebras. or i might go with a species tnak with kenyi sense they are so easy to sex.
 
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