dwarf cichlid help....so many choices

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vizonofdisorder

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 11, 2008
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bowling green ky
well i have a 40g breeder, i love mbuna and would like to continue keeping them but the tank is just too small, so im leaning more towards dwarf cichlids...ive searched around but i just cant decide really want i want, im looking for something that resembles mbuna if possible and are colorful, im hoping to house around 8 or so, and would like variety, so if anyone could chime in with some suggestiongs, be it fish or setups it would be nice.


oh as another question, i was at a store today and they had a type of dwarfish cichlid, they were very small, and were all black with white polka dots..im wanting to say started with a d, very pretty,anyone know?
 
I would do a Ps. Saulosi tank. Males are blue with black stripes and females are yellow. Plus they only get about 3" long. A 40g would be a nice set up for them.
The fish you saw at the fish store sound like Tropheus duboisi. Which are not dwarf and not even mbuna. In fact they don't even keep the spots. They would not be a good choice for the size tank you have.
 
Check out rusties, cynotilapia afras...you could also go the route of victorian cichlids if you like their colors and body types. I'd suggest looking at ruby greens or kyoga flamebacks.
 
that sucks about the spots, they did really look cool...the Pseudotropheus saulosi is a pretty cool idea, i do like that the male and female are extremely different looking, i didnt want a tank full of basically the same type of fish. what numbers would you guys think? ive read they can be pretty mean, and sometimes the males will keep the female colors
 
i was thinking about aspistos i just cant really find any that i like, but i really like that they dont get really big, and i could have quite a few because thay are not over aggressive, i have a few mbuna in my tank right now but agression is a big problem, and i fear when they start getting bigger they will just start killing off each other
 
All mbuna have some level of aggression. From what i understand saulosi will be aggressive but rarely do any damage. If you keep just a couple males and the rest females I think you would have no problems at all.
 
flamebacks are pretty cool, i was under the impression that they are pretty hard to get and i would assume expensive, they seem to top out at around 6"..so i would assume that is enough space for what, maybe 1 male and 3 females in a 40g
 
1m:3f would be a good ratio for vics in a 40. If you find a good source they should be fairly cheap, depending on size: $15-20 is reasonable for a 2-3 inch fish, while you could probably find them cheaper, especially online. they're not overwhelmingly common, but if you look around you should be able to find them.
 
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