all male tank?? awesome, or mistank?

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staz

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 3, 2010
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Iowa
Hello,

I have been doing some research and I am getting mixed reviews on attempting an all male cichlid tank. Does anyone have any insight on this topic?

I also am curious on "overstocking" my new 55 gallon. How many African Mbuna is the recommended number for this size tank? What number is it overstocked (in a good way) and when is it overstocked and unhealthy?

Can I mix peacocks in with my mbuna?

Thanks for your time!
Staz
 
All male peacock or hap tanks usually go pretty good. There may need to be some adjustments along the way but usually it ends up working out. I haven't seen a successful all male mbuna tank before. I'm sure it can be done but may be difficult since many male mbuna look alike. That doesn't mean it can't happen but I have found that mbuna need a few females to keep them busy.

For a 55 gallon you usually want to pick 3 mbuna species and get 5 of each species with only 1 male per species.
One of the best beginner set ups is to get yellow labs (Labidochromis caeruleus), acei (Pseudotropheus acei) and Rusties (Iodotropheus sprengerae). All 3 species are less aggressive (or mbuna) and all look nice.
Another great mbuna stocking is to get 12 Ps. demasoni, and 6-7 yellow labs. Demasoni are VERY aggressive but by stocking more of them they don't end up killing each other. This provides a nice, active and colorful tank.

Mbuna re 99% of the time too aggressive for peacocks and haps.
 
Thanks for the info. I just read a similar post similar to my question. Finding females in that qty will be tricky. There are a few good stores in the area, however I am not finding their knowledge of males / female much better than my own. Being new, I am wanting to get a wide variety. But like your suggestion on the "pick 3 mbuna species and get 5 of each species with only 1 male per species".


Are there any good on-line stores that anyone recommends for getting one male per species, and not guessing?

Thanks again,
Staz
 
The best way to get a good male/female ratio is buy a lot of juveniles and remove extra males as needed. This is also nice because you get to keep the best looking male. It's usually cheaper that way because you can buy smaller fish for less than buying adults. Also if you go with less aggressive species (like the labs, acei and rusties) They won't care as much about the male/ females ratio.

If you are looking into a bit more variety I would also suggest Ps saulosi. The females are bright yellow and males are blue with black stripes.
 
We currently have a 90 gallon hap/peacock (plus a few extra's) tank running.

So far, I'll second the info from 'ash54876' .....

Feel free to ask questions if you still have... :-)
 
Good advise given if you were to do all males are we talking Haps and Peacocks if so you would have to go with smaller species if your doing it in a 55gal and 8or10 fish would be a good number of fish. I've never had an all male Mbuna tank they've always had ladies, however I have a nice 125gal. mostly all male Haps and Peacocks tank that is coming together nicely.

Good luck.
 
Well, I have a smilar question? I have a 75g tank with 30 gallon sump. my fish list is as follows.

Nimbochromis Sp. Venustus

Labidochromis sp. "Mbamba"

Labidochromis Caeruleus - electric yellow

Lepidiolamprologus kendalli

Tilapia Buttikoferi

Pundamilia Nyererei

Nandopsis octofasciatum

Pseudotropheus demasoni

Aulonocara sp. - Red Peacock

Is this too many fish? Most of mine are males. At least I think they are, many are not showing true colors yet as i got them all as small juvies. I specifically order the yellow fin, kendali, and the tangerine as males.

Please give me your insight, pm me if possible.


Thanks
Michael
 
I wouldn't recommend putting Acei's in anything less than a 6ft tank. Their swimming patterns require room to roam, and they're just too cramped in a 4ft tank. If you're going with an all male tank, go with Peacocks/Haps as an all male Mbuna tank is going to be difficult.

Mzollman12: The only thing I would worry about in your tank is the demanosi. You need about 15 of them to keep the aggression down as they can be nasty little buggers.

As far as overstocking goes, there's no magic number. It all depends on the dimensions of your tank, the amount of filtration you have and other equipment you have. I've seen wayyyy too many fish in a tank before, but due to the filtration setup, the fish were healthy, but still a bit cramped.
 
They all see to get along, I got most of the fish at the same time, other than the dempsey and the yellow lab, they were all intorduce to each other at once. My demanosi is tiny. he doesnt really bother anyone? Mainly hides as my butterkofri is gettting big quick! Apprecaite your info though. Thinking about adding a submerible filter in the tank as well.
 
If anything I feared that if I introduce my young fish to feeders, the butterkofri would try to eat my demanosi, as he is only 1-1.5 inches.
 
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