Malawis vs. Tanganyikans which should I keep?

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MonsterCichlids75

Candiru
MFK Member
Feb 15, 2012
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hey everyone, so i've got an open 75 gallon right now, and i just cant decide on whether to go malawi mbunas (again) or keep Tangs for the first time. If i was going to go with Tangs, i would be keeping specifically a species tank of just Neolamprologus brichardi, and have a nice big colony of them. Brichardi's are something i've always wanted to keep i think their parenting style and how other siblings care for younger sibling fry is just fantastic. On the other hand, if i was going to be mbunas, i'd be workin with a few different species...pseudotropheus socolofi, labidochromis caeruleus, and something else maybe im not sure...but the contrast in color between the socolofi and yellow labs would be sweet! So really, here is the problem...with the mbunas you get the striking super vibrant colors and all that, yet i've heard some people say they do in fact end up getting bored of them over time because they just really lack personality when compared to CA/SA cichlids. I'm just curious if i will get some of that great interestin personality if i go with the brichardi. I'm assuming i would since, just like american cichlid, the brichardi arent mouth brooders so you can see them care for and protect their fry and just the fact that they literally create a family colony just seems really interesting and complex. Having a few nice breeding groups of the mbunas i stated earlier though would be really cool also, and very pleasing to view and look at. I'm just not sure what to do im completely stuck, if anyone could give their opinion or try and answer some of my questions that would be awesome!
thanks so much everyone!
 
i enjoy keeping my tangs a lot more then the malawis i used to keep, Brichardi are nice so get them if you like the idea of the family of them :)
 
Mbuna have always bored me so as far as Malawi fish I have mostly kept Haps.You probably couldn't keep too many Haps in that sized tank so I would say go for a nice school of paracyprichromis nigripinis,some lelupi and brichardi....Most of them don't get as big as Malawi fish but Tangs are more interesting to me.


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cool thanks, yeah i really love the brichardis, they may not have the striking color of the mbunas but i think they look much more elegant and beautiful because of their long flowing fins. Something about them just looks really beautiful. Seems to be a more and more common thing the more i ask around to find people who just got bored with their mbunas. i wouldn't want to spend all the money on getting them and and all that, only to end up not feeling content with them after a while
 
oh and the brichardi at my LFS are about 1.5 inches. If i went with them, i'd get a group of like 6 and let them pair up on their own. how big will they need to be in order to start breeding? and with a proper diet, how long do you think it will take them to reach breeding size?
 
Not sure about a breeding size for the brichardi but I wanted to mention psudotropheus as an option also.A small group of them moving around on the bottom would be nice.


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I personally would do haps or peacocks, as I love he color. That is why I got bored with my CA/SA. The color can't compare to the haps, except maybe with some big lone Central.Bottom line though it is all up to you. Go with what you enjoy the most.
 
I prefer tanganyikans. Malawi fish don't keep my interest long for some reason. There is just a fantastic diversity of shapes, colors, and behaviors found in tanganyika, from featherfins, fronts, tropheus, petros, calvus, etc.... Can't be beat. Been keeping tangs for 10 years and have yet to get burnt out on them. Can't say the same about any other fish Malawi, madagascan (my 2nd fave) CA/SA etc
 
Reading your first post, it seems like you'd rather do brichardi.

I disagree with some others that Malawi are boring though, but to each their own.
 
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