What predator hap do you suggest?

[Santiago 210]

Leleupi are aggressive and IME do not do well with Malawi, I think you will end up removing them. I would skip the clown pleco.

I have a huge amount of minerals in the water. I keep the nitrates very low with big water changes. The brown algae is annoying enough that I have to clean rocks every couple weeks. I am using something like phosguard in one of my filters, supposed to help remove silicates.
Hoping that a little pleco might knock down a bit of the brownish algae

 

[Milingu]

Synodontis multipunctatus will eat some fry but it also will prevent fry of the Placidochromis from being released into the tank by its brood parasitism.

 

[nzeng1111]

Leleupi are aggressive and IME do not do well with Malawi, I think you will end up removing them. I would skip the clown pleco.

How would the rock dwelling neolamprologines compare to mbuna overall in terms of interspecific aggression. I always thought that interspecifically, they'd be similar to a midtier mbuna like msobo or maingano.

 

[Santiago 210]

I was surprised to hear that lelelupis are more aggressive than the dragon bloods or electric yellows. Did I read that right?

 

[RD.]

N. leleupi, ounce for ounce would lay an arse whooping on most L. caeruleus. But in your size of tank, I think a single male leleupi would be a fine choice for a predator of fry.

 

[nzeng1111]

N. leleupi, ounce for ounce would lay an arse whooping on most L. caeruleus. But in your size of tank, I think a single male leleupi would be a fine choice for a predator of fry.

Wont be surprised about labs as they tend to be passive for mbuna but would you say leleupi are more aggressive interspecifically compared to esterae?
Top for top, I'd expect mbuna to come up top as I've heard auratus dominating a breeding group of sexfasciatus.

 

[RD.]

The OP has the following, and in that tank, with those fish, I don't see a single N. leleupi causing any serious issues, other than to the fry.

My tank is pretty settled in with:
Electric yellows
Dragon bloods
Star Sapphires
VC-10s
All are breeding groups of 3 or more, 210 gal, 7×2×2 tank.

 

[Fishnkdub]

Wouldn't a white knight fryeri be perfect for the job? Small, predator-ish, not blue. I think it ticks all the boxes

 

[RD.]

Looks blue to me. lol

 

[RD.]

Perhaps you were thinking about the albino version? "snow white", or whatever people are calling them.