I have never been wild about mbunas but the various Haplocromis species and Tanganyicans are where it's at.
Clueless lfs
- Thread starter Guapoteguy291
- Start date
I've found my wild caught mobas to be gorgeous, but very skittish. The F1 mpimbwe I had, would eat out of my hands...
Fronts are more interesting when you know how to keep them, which involves more than proper tank size or what to feed, etc. You need to understand what will make them more active and visible and they take patience a lot of people don't have, being slower to mature, temperamental about breeding, etc. But they're also curious and intelligent fish, their behaviors are variable but can be more subtle, individuals can also vary a lot, and they live a long time. But they're not for everyone and a lot of people give up quickly because they're looking for more activity or can't figure out how to get them tame enough not to hide or lay low when you come in the room, etc. (Which is why some think they're lazy, it's either group size, tank arrangement, or they're just not seeing them in their active moods because they've got them tucked away in a room they don't spend much time in or they're laying low whenever you come in the room.)
Never cared much for mbuna, typical haps and peacocks can be a step up (at least the true lake species, as opposed to man made strawberry this and red dragon that peacocks), but they're mostly different versions of the same fish, large predator haps another step up, certainly more impressive with their size. Victorians to me were similar to Malawi, most of them different versions of the same fish. Tanganyikans a different story, more diversity, more interesting behaviors, and some gorgeous species.
Too many think of Africans as all mbuna or 'mixed African cichlids' or just haps and peacocks, but, to be blunt, that's pretty uninformed. That said, most (but not all) of my favorite species are new worlds and, sure, if someone did mbuna or haps and peacocks for a while, it would be no wonder that they might get bored before long.
Never cared much for mbuna, typical haps and peacocks can be a step up (at least the true lake species, as opposed to man made strawberry this and red dragon that peacocks), but they're mostly different versions of the same fish, large predator haps another step up, certainly more impressive with their size. Victorians to me were similar to Malawi, most of them different versions of the same fish. Tanganyikans a different story, more diversity, more interesting behaviors, and some gorgeous species.
Too many think of Africans as all mbuna or 'mixed African cichlids' or just haps and peacocks, but, to be blunt, that's pretty uninformed. That said, most (but not all) of my favorite species are new worlds and, sure, if someone did mbuna or haps and peacocks for a while, it would be no wonder that they might get bored before long.
