Mbuna Behavior

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Sciroccoman

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 6, 2008
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Florida
Can there be more than one breeding pair in tank full of Mbunas? I know that they can interbreed. I have also noticed different males doing the vibrating dance in the same spot before the female arrives at said spot. I see most characteristics by one male, but that's not really my point...... can there only be one female in the tank to breed with?

I ask this because when I combined two different tanks into one, (one tank had an established breeding female, the other was a female's first brood and still waiting to find out clues of the frye's father) the new mother was "pushed" out of the tank. unfortunately the new mother didn't make it. it has been a few weeks since her passing and the established female is holding, once again.

Yes,I have many other females in the tank along with the breeder, I had one other female in the previous tank along with the new mother...:confused:
 
maybe I should try to clarify...
Would the dominant male of the tank shun against another breeding pair by eliminating the competition? even if there were a handful of other capable females?

the female that was "shunned" was a textilis, the breeding pair the female I can't identify.. and the male is of Labeotropheus fuellborni type... the rest of the females are offspring of dominant couple..
 
Mbuna don't form pairs, they are harem breeders. Many mbuna will cross with each other. If each male is different enough and has enough females(4+) of their own species then they should not cross with other females. Labeotropheus are known for crossing with just about anything.
More than one female can breed within the same tank. I have 5 white top haras(1m:4f). Within the group I have had up to 3 females holding all at once along with females of different species holding as well.
Part of it has to do with if the females is ready to breed.
 
hmm, interesting. Helpful info. Blue2Fyre. Here's some more Stats for what is going on with my tank... The Labeotropheus has 6 female offspring with the "alpha female", two of which are mature enough to breed. so that makes 7 females. The Textilis that was "pushed" wasn't full grown, but had mated with one or all of these males; Red Zebra, Mumbo Yellow, and one Male offspring of Labeo, while one female offspring was in the tank at the same time. then I combined the tanks while textilis was holding.

It's all just very weird to me. I was hoping that 75g would've been enough room for a coulple of holding mothers.
I can, however, watch the neighbors 55g, for they have a full grown textilis that has a full mouth. They also just bought an unknown female and a Red Zebra from the LFS that are holding. So it'll be interesting to find out what happens after the brood is released into the tank and all the females are ready for more action....
 
more fish=better chances=less pin pointed aggression.

it would be best ( or better ) to have 1 male with a ton of females, and even 2 males with many females....and if you shift all your decorations around so new territories must be established, you might have better chances with adding new females, and less death and injury.
 
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