BlackMumba Posted August 29, 2007 Report Share Posted August 29, 2007 Well, I am beginning my research on which Malawi to put into my up and coming tank, approx 60 gal.. this is what I would love - Alot of color - love fish that are bright and showy. - medium aggression to less agressivness -Variety of species... but also breeding pairs (how many for each) -Easy name to pronouce so when I start to brag about my fish I want to sound pretty darn smart about what they are... ! LOL I had went to a link for some suggested tank mates for this size tank, but I am not sure if it gave me all my options... so I would love to hear from more experienced Malawi keepers on what they would suggest, so I can start to read up on them and see if they are what I would love ! Thanks, Chantal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted August 29, 2007 Report Share Posted August 29, 2007 Some of the less aggressive mbuna are Yellow labs, Pseudotropheus Acei, Pseudotropheus Saulosi and Idotropheus sprengerae(rusty cichlids). I have Yellow labs and Acei in with 2 larger male haps(red empress and a phenochilus) in my 90g and I've never had any aggression probelms. Do you want to do a mbuna tank or a hap tank or a combo of both? With mbuna you get color in both the males and females, and with haps you get beautiful colors in the males but the females are plain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackMumba Posted August 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2007 Some of the less aggressive mbuna are Yellow labs, Pseudotropheus Acei, Pseudotropheus Saulosi and Idotropheus sprengerae(rusty cichlids).I have Yellow labs and Acei in with 2 larger male haps(red empress and a phenochilus) in my 90g and I've never had any aggression probelms. Do you want to do a mbuna tank or a hap tank or a combo of both? With mbuna you get color in both the males and females, and with haps you get beautiful colors in the males but the females are plain. I was looking at the mbuna thats the blue with a orange female correct, sorry I am still learning their names, I liked those they add alot of color, saulosi are really nice as well... are their different types of mbuna like eg: striping blue with striping orange female?? for instance...or is it just mbuna the blue males with orange female variety.. I am making a list of ones I find beautiful, then which are good for this size of tank, then the combatiblity factor also, I am also interested in a creative breeding habit.. uniqueness... Odd and beautiful, but friendly ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoff Posted August 29, 2007 Report Share Posted August 29, 2007 You could go with peacock are just what you want... Flashy, least aggresive of all malawi cichlids, and are pretty good for pairing off as long as you stay away from similar species. Check these out: http://cichlidforum.com/articles/cookie_cutter_55g.php http://cichlidforum.com/articles/peacock_corner.php http://cichlidforum.com/articles/peacocks.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted August 29, 2007 Report Share Posted August 29, 2007 But if he wants color he would have to go with an all male peacock tank but he says he want to also breed. Also, if you choose to do a peacock tank(males and females) i wouldnt' mix species as female peacocks all looks the same and you will get crossbreeding. If you want a blue striped fish and a yellow then a good choice would be saulosi. The males are a nice blue with black stripes and the females are a yellowy/orange. Dont' confuse them with Kenyii though, which have yellow males and blue striped females. The Kenyii are WAY more aggressive. A nice combo would for a 60g would be 3male/ 4-5 females saulosi and 8ish Acei or Lab.perlmutt. Then add a small group of syno petricola and/or a BN pleco. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackMumba Posted August 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2007 Could I get say Habs Peacocks Mbunda Like one species of each variety? Or do I have to stay with which ever I choose? I have been to the cookie cutter and seen their suggestions... but I know there are so many species I am trying to use this cookie cutter as a guide.. I am starting to make a list of ones I want, weeding out the ones I know I shouldn't have because of size... etc... but combatiblity with each other is more difficult. I love the Peacock's coloration, but also the hybrid thing I guess this is a cichild no no .... I love the Mbuna coloration variances between the sex's.... I also like the Habs because they have a wild way to breed... and the males can be sexy too... ! I would like to have like one of each type hab/mbuna/peacock... possible? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted August 30, 2007 Report Share Posted August 30, 2007 In my experience, mixing peacocks with mbuna didn't work for me. The peacocks always got picked on and were hiding/stressed. I have had success mixing the more peaceful mbuna with haps. I currently have yellow labs, acei, red empress and a pheno in my 90g. The only thing with mixing different varieties is that you need to match aggression levels. Dont' add super aggresive mbuna(ie. demasoni) with a peaceful hap(ei. P. electra) and hope it works out. So personally I'd say either go for a all male hap/peacock tank or a mbuna/hap tank if you want to mix. Also, remember that Haps tend to get bigger(6"+) and need more swimming room then mbuna. You wont' be able to put as many haps/peacocks in a tank as you would mbuna. Mbuna also can benefit from overstocking. The more fish there is the less 1 fish will be picked on. But overstocking a hap tank doens't work as well as haps(as well as peacocks) need open swimming space. I also like the Habs because they have a wild way to breed... and the males can be sexy too... ! What wild way are you thinking of? My haps dont' breed any different then my mbuna or my peacocks(when I had them) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackMumba Posted August 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2007 I was researching some habs and they use the sand to cone a nesting spot... and guard it... this was interesting but yes I have seen that the Habs are quite a bit larger. I really am starting to think I should stay with the Mbuna's, only. I did read that Peacocks can be more relaxed then the Mbuna's (I was reading only one species of peacock though). Over whelmed with how many cichilds there is! How do you guys keep this straight!! hahaha Patrick is laughing at me trying to even say one of their names, let alone me trying to remember which is which! lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted August 30, 2007 Report Share Posted August 30, 2007 Malawi Haps are mouthbrooding cichlids, just like mbuna and peacocks. They don't make nests or guard eggs. When spawning the females take the eggs into their mouths and hold them for 3-4 weeks untill they release the fry. There are some cichlids(I believe featherfins) from Lake tanganyika that build large nest that are big piles of sand but not in malawi. Learning the names just takes practice. I am much better at typing them out then pronouncing them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duff Posted August 30, 2007 Report Share Posted August 30, 2007 I too am setting up an African Tank a 75 gallon The fish I have chosen are Idotropheus sperengerae (Rusty cichlid) FOR RED Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos FOR Intense BLUE C. Afra Cobues FOR Blue ish ORangie yellow Labidochromis caeruleus (electric Yellow) For Yellow BN and hopefully some syno multis or petricola's The Colors are gonna be great and the best part is I purchased them from Fellow AA members and not some Bleepin bleep overpriced fish store..!! And I think the people still have fry for sale to boot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoff Posted August 30, 2007 Report Share Posted August 30, 2007 (edited) as long as you stay to seperate genus for the peacock they won't hybridize (Aulonocar Sp. & Stuartgranti). I had tank roughly the same size and i mixed peacocks and mbuna without to many problems other then initiall aggresion over territory. As long as peacocks/haps have swimming space they should be fine.I would do a pair of peacocks, few yellow labs, and if you want haps something like a taiwan reef or red empress pair. Edited August 30, 2007 by geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackMumba Posted August 30, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2007 as long as you stay to seperate genus for the peacock they won't hybridize (Aulonocar Sp. & Stuartgranti). I had tank roughly the same size and i mixed peacocks and mbuna without to many problems other then initiall aggresion over territory. As long as peacocks/haps have swimming space they should be fine.I would do a pair of peacocks, few yellow labs, and if you want haps something like a taiwan reef or red empress pair. I was looking at the Taiwan Reef those are really nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted August 30, 2007 Report Share Posted August 30, 2007 as long as you stay to seperate genus for the peacock they won't hybridize (Aulonocar Sp. & Stuartgranti). Thats not really true, it might make it a bit better but there is still a high probability that the peacocks will hybridize. Even with different looking fish hybridaztion is pretty common in an aquarium(mbuna/peacocks and haps cross all the time). I've had red empress and taiwan reefs cross, the females are similar but have different barring patterns. I've even had Lab.perlmutts cross with a P electra(a mbuna/hap cross). There are also tons of mbuna/ peacock hybrids out there. So I wouldnt' trust that the peacocks can tell the difference between 2 brown females. So even if the peacocks are different, I wouldn't be mixing them if you want to breed. The risk if selling a cross bred peacock is too high. The hobby is already full of badly bred fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoff Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 read this http://cichlidforum.com/articles/mixing_peacocks.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dominic Posted September 2, 2007 Report Share Posted September 2, 2007 (edited) Here's what I got in my 150 Gallon Malawi setup, Electric blue,red peacock, Maisoni,Bi-color,Sulphurhead,Flametail,Lwanda,Redfin Borleyi,Redtop, and from tanganika, leulepi,compressips,brichardi keep in mind these are all males and you would never fit all these in your tank too small, Very peacefull setup, as long as they are fed well they are happy. They all compliment each other color wise nicely. Personally I would never mix mbuna with peacocks but that's just me, Your just asking for headaches trust me. Also with no females their is no cross breeding. Edited September 2, 2007 by Dominic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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