gonna get back into keeping fish finally!

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theroque55

theroque55

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 30, 2007
93
0
6
west virginia
hey everyone, i have moved several times around the area so i decided i should give away my fish i had until i know ill be in one place for awhile, well the time has come. I still have my tanks in the basement and am ready to set something up. wanna set up my 45 gallon with some africans. I was using this as my community tank for my son for awhile. Anyway, i wanna get started soon, any suggestions with the number of mbunas i can keep in it? i plan on having plenty of rock and hiding places in it so that wont be an issue. I know about cycling, water changes, etc. Thanks for any and all advice and i will keep you updated with pictures when i decide to get moving on it! Thank god its my summer break from college!
 
You could do a kick ass all male tank and have probably like 20-25 mbuna in there. Might get a little bit crowded as they get bigger which you can just exchange them out. :D Good luck
 
i appreciate the response man! definitely wanna try all males! one question, whats the best way to identify the males? is it just the bright colorful ones? if no other responses ill try a number around 20 i guess, maybe a little bit less but around that! got my tank all cleaned up tonight so it start cycling soon! getting excited
 
Congrats! :D And it depends greatly on the mbuna... like johanni's males are blue females are yellow it honestly all depends on the cichlid. I would go take a look at a list online of mbunas or go to your lfs and then come back and ask :P
 
thanks for the input excedrin, with the advice so far ill now probably go for around 12 or so...plenty of time to decide, plus i wont be putting in all at one time anyway..i like to try to stay on the low end of the suggested amount, guess its better to have too few than too many
 
Excedrin you are right, but when you go to buy fish I would buy about 3-4 at a time and just add 3-4 every other day because if you go and run and buy 8-12 all at once you could have ammonia spike and lose some money :(
 
As far as mbuna go, the more the merrier. In a 45 I would suggest a minimum of 20, aggression will be a concern with an all mbuna tank so having a greater number of fish will decrease this. If you limit the number of fish they will defend large territories. Also, be careful if you plan on adding any pseudotropheus, they tend to dominate entire tanks. When adding new fish it is also helpful to strip the tank and let your fish free swim together for a few days, it gives the new guys a chance to blend in. Good Luck!
 
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