I love Mbuna but have yet to set up a dedicated tank for them. Has anyone used them as dithers for your larger SA/CA cichlid tanks. I know people have a problem mixing, but they are so active and interesting I'm thinking about going this route....
Mbuna as dithers for CA/SA
- Thread starter Scottfree
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Mbunas are aggressive but not in the same way many New World cichlids are. Were they lack in size and power they compensate in tenacity and relentlessness -- your SA/CA cichlids will soon look like crap after being nipped and picked on by mbunas. Also, an even bigger concern is water chemistry requirements of these 2 groups of fish. Mbunas will need hard water with PH of 8.0 or above, while most SA/CAs do best in PH closer to 6-6.5
Stab;700881; said:
Only SA has soft water. Most places in CA have a pH of above 7.6 (Just like lake Malawi pH 7.6) I used to have Electric yellows with my CA's for a few years without ever having any issues. I would not go the male Auratus or chipokee route but more peaceful Mbunas should work well.
Stab;700881; said:
this is purty accurate! i'll also add that they are a rock dwelling cichlids as well. which possibly could mean that they will do more hiding then "dithering". especially if you put them in with big Americans. also for useing with smaller americans growouts, the mbuna will most likely tear them to shreds.
I doubt theyd act as dithers,a small group would hide mostly,to get them to be active you have to crowd them
you could probably use some of the less aggressive mbuna species as target fish for larger CA cichlids, but not as dithers. dithers are used to make shy or juvenile fish feel more comfortable by swimming out in the open and therefore showing the shy or juvenile fish that there is no larger predator around. in short, dither fish are used to reduce stress. even the less aggressive mbuna species would be aggressive and territorial so using such a fish wouldn't reduce the stress of a shy or juvenile fish...in fact if anything the shy or juvenile fish's stress would be increased by the territorial and/or aggressive nature of the mbuna.
now target fish are used to distract big, aggressive fish and to disperse aggression so that not just one fish is taking the brunt of the aggression from others. for example, I used to have a festae pair in my 125 gallon. now festae, like many other large, aggressive species are known to get very aggressive with each other during breeding, so to try and ease the aggression between the male and female I added several female convicts. having the convicts around prevented the festae from just fighting with each other. mbuna would have probably served the same purpose.
now target fish are used to distract big, aggressive fish and to disperse aggression so that not just one fish is taking the brunt of the aggression from others. for example, I used to have a festae pair in my 125 gallon. now festae, like many other large, aggressive species are known to get very aggressive with each other during breeding, so to try and ease the aggression between the male and female I added several female convicts. having the convicts around prevented the festae from just fighting with each other. mbuna would have probably served the same purpose.
Jason_S;700993; said:you could probably use some of the less aggressive mbuna species as target fish for larger CA cichlids, but not as dithers. dithers are used to make shy or juvenile fish feel more comfortable by swimming out in the open and therefore showing the shy or juvenile fish that there is no larger predator around. in short, dither fish are used to reduce stress. even the less aggressive mbuna species would be aggressive and territorial so using such a fish wouldn't reduce the stress of a shy or juvenile fish...in fact if anything the shy or juvenile fish's stress would be increased by the territorial and/or aggressive nature of the mbuna.
now target fish are used to distract big, aggressive fish and to disperse aggression so that not just one fish is taking the brunt of the aggression from others. for example, I used to have a festae pair in my 125 gallon. now festae, like many other large, aggressive species are known to get very aggressive with each other during breeding, so to try and ease the aggression between the male and female I added several female convicts. having the convicts around prevented the festae from just fighting with each other. mbuna would have probably served the same purpose.
Thank you for the info, I really meant target fish as oppossed to dithers....I'm just really tired of the skittish Silver Dollars as in this case target/dithers...
i kno this thread is dead but just thought people might want to see a success story!
i have used zebras for my jack dempsey. but sometimes he tries to revolt but gets kicked right back in place. it gives him something to chase. the convict pair like to chase him too.
i have used zebras for my jack dempsey. but sometimes he tries to revolt but gets kicked right back in place. it gives him something to chase. the convict pair like to chase him too.