re: Mbuna 75 Gallon Stocking - Need your opinion!

[cichliduser]

Hello, I am setting up a 75 gallon Mbuna tank, here are the specs:

Dimensions: 48X18X21
Rocks: red lava rock (enough to fill nearly entire tank to provide hiding spots if neccessary, and houses a ton of beneficial bacteria
Filtration: FX6 & Fluval 407

I am an experienced aquarist and moderately experienced in African Cichlids looking to push the envelope on this setup.

Please tell me if the stock list below is advisable or not. If not please let me know some ideas. Thank you all so much for your help!

-1M 5F Saulosi (already have these guys so they must stay)
-1M 5F Yellow Tail Acei
-1M 5F Red Top Trewavasae
-1M 5F Swedish Super Red Hongi
-1M 5F OB Red Zebra

Very excited to hear everyone's thoughts and ideas on this!

 

[The Morning]

This is just my opinion so please take with a grain. I think if you are looking to do a mixed mbuna tank a 6 foot tank should be the minimum. In a 75 I would do no more than 2 species.
I also ran a 55 once with red lava rocks. I swapped it out because I found that a ton waste settled in between the rocks.
Regardless good luck with the tank. Keep us updated on the progress.

 

[Milingu]

I would also go with 2 or maximum 3 species.
The tank is too small for L. trewavasae on the long term.
Red Zebras are too dominant for the saulosi.
Super red hongis and even normal hongis are always a gamble because they can be extremely aggressive and dominant. I would not keep them with saulosi.

My suggestion would be something like
- Saulosi
- P. acei or P.elegans
and if this not enough
- Labidochromis caeruleus (white or yellow) or L. joanjohnsonae.

This provides a lot of colour and different sizes and body shapes while still being more on the mellow side aggression wise.

 

[cichliduser]

Thank you all for the responses

Based on a lot of diving through old forum posts, youtube videos, and advice from other forums, I have changed my mind to the following stock list:

1M 5F Saulosi
1M 5F Acei
1M 5F Red top hongi
1M 5F Maingano

Please let me know thoughts

 

[cichliduser]

Thank you all for the responses

Based on a lot of diving through old forum posts, youtube videos, and advice from other forums, I have changed my mind to the following stock list:

1M 5F Saulosi
1M 5F Acei
1M 5F Red top hongi
1M 5F Maingano

Please let me know thoughts

Also just as a callout for any further feedback, I am aware of the warnings for 2 blue barred species in a single tank (saulosi & maingano), but ive read that many have had success with it and have had no issues with the two species coexisting as obviously one has vertical bars and the other has horizontal bars.

Thank you all so much and I look forward to hearing everyones thoughts.

 

[DJRansome]

It is the hongi and the saulosi that are a problem. Blue BARS.

 

[cichliduser]

It is the hongi and the saulosi that are a problem. Blue BARS.

Okay understood. I will drop the Hongi then and do Rusty’s instead. Thank you so much for the feedback and saving me potential trouble down the road!

 

[Joshuakahan]

Okay understood. I will drop the Hongi then and do Rusty’s instead. Thank you so much for the feedback and saving me potential trouble down the road!

Have you seen jalos or mbamba? They stay smaller and are less aggressive. Better looking and a safer bet than the hongi IMO