Mbuna advice

[silver dollars]

I decided to stock one of the 30gals with Mbuna. This will probably happen in November-December when my step-brothers 55gal is done cycling and can take his angel back.
So far i know that they need rock formations, as Mbuna means "rockfish" and the p.h should be around 7.2-8.2 with the temp ranging from 74F-82F. The ones that really catch my eye are Labidochromis sp. "hongi", Lodotropheus sprengerae "rusty cichlid", Cynotilapia afra "yellow", Cynotilapia afra "red top", and Labidochromis sp. "Perlmutt"(Mother of pearl in German).
Am i able to keep these together in a 30gal tank or should i look at something else? Im not sure how many of each fish i am able to keep comfortably in that tank. All the info i can get would be awesome

 

[MOsborne05]

You can probably only keep a max of two species in a 30 gallon tank. I had a male Labidochromis sp. "hongi" and he was awesome. He actually came in with a bunch of Cynotilapia afra Hai Reefs that I got. And yes, you definitely want rocks to make lots of caves & crevices for them. The more territories they have, the better off they will be.

 

[silver dollars]

I was thinking of getting 1 male and 2 females of 2 species that i listed. Would that be ok?

 

[Cichlid-Man]

I decided to stock one of the 30gals with Mbuna. This will probably happen in November-December when my step-brothers 55gal is done cycling and can take his angel back.

Thats a long cycle. haha

I'd look more towards the pearlmutts and the afras, they stay smaller....generally. Have you looked at Pseudotropheus saulosi? They are really nice fish and stay semi small for a mbuna.

 

[silver dollars]

Lol well he is in Alaska fishing and still needs to fill the tank up.
Yeah i have looked at them, really beautiful. The problem is trying to find a store that caries them

 

[SinisterKisses]

What are the dimensions of the 30gal? That will be the deciding factor.

If it is a 3ft. long tank, pick one mbuna species and that's it. If it's less than 3ft., you won't be able to keep mbuna in there, even a dwarf species.

 

[CICHLIDKEEPER]

response

i have a 30gal and i have used it for young african cichlids but once they started to get bigger i got 2 55gals and they are good for now. the 30gal is now a tank for holding female isolation and fry/ young growing untill i can sell them to the pet store for more fish supplys.*thumbsup2

 

[silver dollars]

What are the dimensions of the 30gal? That will be the deciding factor.

If it is a 3ft. long tank, pick one mbuna species and that's it. If it's less than 3ft., you won't be able to keep mbuna in there, even a dwarf species.

The dimensions are the standard 30gal footprints lol. According to the newest issue of TFH there are some African species that can be kept comfortably in a 20gal tank.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

The dimensions are the standard 30gal footprints lol. According to the newest issue of TFH there are some African species that can be kept comfortably in a 20gal tank.

I read that too.

 

[SinisterKisses]

Yeah, Lake Tang multis and such - those Africans, absolutely not any from Lake Malawi.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Actually they listed Malawi as well.

 

[SinisterKisses]

Well it's wrong...a 20gal shouldn't be used as anything but a grow-out tank in a very temporary setup. I don't subscribe to the magazine personally, but have seen a decent number of posts on a few cichlid forums about very incorrect information that has been printed...

Out of curiosity, what Malawis did it have listed?