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Fishkeeping GURU
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So you definitely want to go with mbuna and not peacocks? If so, I would keep each species in numbers (one male and 3-5 females of each species). The best way to start is to get unsexed juveniles, and as they mature remove males until only one is left. Luckily with mbuna the females are as beautiful as the males, and if you pick species for sexual dimorphism it will be easy to pull out extra males.
And you can just gather local rocks if you want and boil them to sanitize them. Or most pet stores sell various kinds of rock, but at a hefty price.
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New Member
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| well let me put it this way, most of the stores around me only classify them as "african" cichlids so i will have to take pictures of them in with me to try and see what kind they are. i want the most colorful ones that i can get and im not sure out of those what the ones are yet.
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Starting Member
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There is a book called Aquarium Designs Inspired by Nature by Peter Hiscock. He describes various biotope aquariums, and there is one section that describes a tank that would be excellent for mbuna. For mbuna aquariums, the main decorations are large rounded rocks, with smaller pebbles scattered throughout the tank. The substrate is silver sand. There are no plants in this tank.
     Come visit me @ http://dragcave.ath.cx/user/55902 An animal's eyes have the power to speak a great language. ~Martin Buber An optimist is the human personification of spring. ~Susan J. Bissonette If animals could speak, the dog would be a blundering outspoken fellow; but the cat would have the rare grace of never saying a word too much. ~Mark Twain | |
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Fishkeeping GURU
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Mbuna have more color than peacocks. Female peacocks are just brown or tan, and the males are generally mostly iridescent blue with overtones of red, yellow, or other colors. There are other carnivores from Lake Malawi that get lumped in with peacocks that have other colors though, so make sure you know what you are getting and do not buy any fish on the spur of the moment, no matter how much you like them (you could ask the store to hold them and come back after some research if needed). Stocking african cichlids is tricky business and can lead to disaster if not done carefully (actually, even if you are careful, some serious fighting can happen so be prepared to return or rehome fish for months after stocking this tank if necessary).
Speaking of being careful stocking it, do not buy any fish from a tank simply labeled "mixed african cichlids". Most of these fish are hybrids and will have very unpredictable aggression levels and max sizes. You will almost certainly need to have your lfs order the fish you decide to buy, and if you stick to common ones it shouldn't be too hard to get them. If you find less common mbuna you want, try to get your tank cycled and ready to stock by August and order them over the internet. The weather is warm enough that shipping casualties will be less likely. You'll have to ship overnight though, so you would want to buy all the ones you want at once from one dealer, which will necessitate fishless cycling to prepare the tank.
Oh, and I can answer your question about plecos and lobsters. A pleco produces a lot of waste and may not be the best choice for a tank that has a lot of fish in it already (with mbuna, it is best to crown quite a few of them into the tank to spread out aggression, as a lightly stocked mbuna tank may end up with one or two fish taking the brunt of the picking). Also, plecos don't particularly like the very high pH and hardness that mbuna do. You don't really need any algae eaters you know...good husbandry will eliminate the need, and if you want a Lake Malawi biotype, that would involve a nice covering of algae on the rocks. In addition, mbuna are herbivores and tend to like to pick algae off the rocks anyway (not to the point that they will keep the tank clean though).
As for lobsters (blue or otherwise), there is a chance they will eat your fish. One species gets very large (a foot or so) and can eat just about any mbuna, and the other one is about half that but is till dangerous (especially to sleeping fish since it hunts at night). A better scavenger/tankmate for mbuna IMO is one of the Synodontis catfish from Lake Malawi or Lake Tanganyika, like the Synodontis multipunctatus. But some synodontis are from other places and don't like the high pH and hard water the africans do, so choose carefully if you get one.
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New Member
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thanks everyone for your input, i am still researching my options for filters, and everything that i will need.
hailey, i did notice that in the pictures that you posted in this post, most of them did not seem to have any air bubbles; so i was wondering if i actually needed an air pump with stone?
bump for question
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New Member
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| Bump for hailey or some one to answer the air pump Q
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Average Member
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You dont need an airstone provided that you have good water movement at the waters suface. That will add oxgen to the tank. Adding an airstone won't hurt though.
__________________________________________ 46 Gallon Tank Planted-8 Cardinal Tetras-10 Harequin Rasbora's-1 Albino Bristlenose Pleco 10 Gallon Tank Planted.
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Fishkeeping GURU
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Airstones are generally a personal choice. I don't like them, and they are unnecessary in tanks with decent water movement at the surface, so I go without them.
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