Another what to stock ?

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Cartel

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 21, 2008
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Laurel, Maryland
Alright well I have a 46gl bowfront that I am in the process of clearing out to get something else. Heres where the hard part comes is what to get. I really want to have some nice colors (dont we all...) And im a huge fan of yellows and blues but dont want the typical Demasoni Yellow labs setup although they do look good. So far the fish i really like are Cynotilapia Cobue Afras. I found a guy local who has a breeding colony so I can get those easy. So im def doing those. But I dont want a species tank and want something else so what would make good tank mates? I was also thinking Cynotilapia Jalo Reef Afras. And I reallly like Pundamilia Nyererei i think they would look great with the cobue afras but dont know how they would do as tank mates. And last question is whats a good number of fish for the tank/good m/f ratios for each. Filtration is def not a problem on this tank.

And thanks before hand because I really have no clue what I want to do! Any other suggestions or ideas are welcome!
 
Cool you came to the right place.. well a 46gal BF is a good start its not too small nor too large, i would say a happy medium would be 6 members of each with two species in mind..

I have the Cobue's in with Saulosi and Lithobates in my 55gal and i like the combination of yellows, blues, blacks and purples makes for an interesting setup..

I would not do two species of Afra's due to aggression and hybridization in the small confines of a 46gal but i could see the Lithobates and Afra cobue's working out qiute nicely in this setup or Afra cobue's and Saulosi

Here are some photos of mine and photos i pulled off cichlid forum..

Cichlid forum Saulosi
saulosi.jpg

Cichlid forum Otopharynx lithobates
lithobates.jpg

Cichlid forum Afra cobue
cobue.jpg

Here are the photos of mine..

Lithobates male starting to color up
001.JPG

Afra cobue juvie
003.JPG

Lithobates and Saulosi
007.JPG

Saulosi male starting to transform to the blue male coloration
020.JPG

Saulosi female
012.JPG

Afra cobue juvie
013.JPG

Also the great thing about these fish that they stay on the smaller size.. The Afra cobue's stay around 3"
The Saulois stay around 3"
The Lithobates stay around 5"

Hope this helps and enjoy..
 
Thanks for the help! I know for sure I want to do the cobue afras. So now its just finding the tankmates and thanks for the help and 12 fish sounds about a good number. I currently have socofoli, yellow labs, and mainganos but those will be getting sold soon.

Now would the Pundamilia Nyererei be a bad idea? I just started lloking at these tonight I love thier colors and i know they are from a diff lake but im just wondering if they would work out.

Lastly whats a good m/f ratio for any of these?
 
I have a 55 that had 5 hai reef afras and around 10 lake victorian fish ( albino burtoni, fire red uganda, and red fin piebald) and they g0t along fine. Sometimes the Nyererei can be agressive but I bet a male afra will put it in its place. My male afra is the king of the tank and is quite dominant on his side/ territory but there have been no casualties. I'd go 2 males to 4 females for each.
 
Yeah those lake Vickies especially that species is quite aggressive and i would stick with a species tank with them really..

Man i want to setup a species only maingano setup i love those deep blues..

Yep i would do that as well cool i hope all goes well for you..
 
Pittbull@MFK;2917301; said:
Yeah those lake Vickies especially that species is quite aggressive and i would stick with a species tank with them really..

Man i want to setup a species only maingano setup i love those deep blues..

Yep i would do that as well cool i hope all goes well for you..
Click to expand...

I had a community, 12 full sized adults, but I kept them in a Mbuna com-tank, Saulosis, Mainganos, Greshakei, Afra Cobue, Demasonis. It was a pretty busy setup.
 
Well I was also thinking about demasoni too. I was thinking of trying 12 demasoni and a 2m/4f ratio of cobue. I would get the blues I like out of both and the cobue would have the yellow and thats all im really looking for.

I did more reading on the pundamilla and yeah sounds a little too aggressive for what I want to do. So what does everyone think of my new idea? Demasoni and cobue afras?

Sorry if its annoying but I just cant make up my mind!

Edit: I just realized this is too many fish for my tank haha ugh....
 
Well i got off that idea I def want to do something malawi. But I already have yellow labs and maingano so for now I think im just going to get rid of the socofoli and get the cobue and see how that works out for now till I can find the other tankmate that hits the spot haha. Thanks everyone for your help!
 
Hey Cartel man it will be a hit n miss situation with the Demasoni and Cobue's with enough Demasoni's they may just bother each other and plus they stay around the 3" range if at any rate on any issues it will be the Demasoni that will prevail i think it sounds good give it a go aye..

Hey Marius i have never kept the Maingano's before well i never kept Saulosi, Lithobates and Cobue's as well.. I am more of a Tanganyika man myself and i haven't kept Mbuna in some time til i set up this 55gal Malawi setup my stock list is this for the 55gal

5 Pseudotropheus saulosi 2M/3F
5 Cynotilapia afra (Cobue) Unkown sex still too small
6 Otopharynx lithobates 1M/5F

Now i have kept more of the predatory Malawi's before like Champsochromis, Compressiceps and Venustus along with a few Zebra's back in the day..

So if i wanted to add some Maingano's do you think 1 lone Maingano or a small group like 3 would work, never kept them and they look an aweful like the terror's Johanni's..

Cool can you teach an old dog like me.. hehehe..
 
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