Newbie with stocking question

[gtphale]

This is for a 55g, 48 in. footprint

3 yellow labs
3 red zebra's
3 kenya 2 blue one gold
3 aurates

Not sure of the sex cause they are all juviees and I have no clue on the sexing of these fish yet. But i'll learn.

So how bad did I do and what changes would you experts make?

TIA

Steve

 

[Orion]

I'm no expert on Malawi but, it's going to depend on how many males you end up with. The more males you have, the more territories you'll need and more aggression will go on. Read up on how to sex them as early as possible to get an idea. I do know that the egg spots are not 100% reliable.

But I don't feel your overstocked. I've actually seen 55's with much larger amounts of fish. Mbuna are often times 'controlled overstocked' to spread out the aggression. But I'm not going to give suggestions on that part as I wouldn't know the best way to direct you We'll wait for some of the other cichlid nuts to offer up advice.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

The number is good, the species is not IMO. Auratus are hell in a hand basket and will be terrors of the tank. Everything else looks pretty good to me, i've never had a problem with Kenyi but i've known people who have (aggressiveness).

 

[SinisterKisses]

Well, a lot of people will tell you that kenyi really need at least a 75gal tank, and I tend to agree for the most part.

Numbers are only good if you end up with one male and two females of each, which I'm assuming you don't know at this point?

Even then, if you're going to do kenyi and auratus, two females is no where near enough for the most part. I'd up it to at least four females with just one male of each species. Adding a couple extra female estherae (red zebra) as well couldn't hurt.

Those three species are a very volatile mix however...two extremely aggressive species (kenyi and auratus) and one typically very aggressive species (estherae) in a tank that really is on the small side for all three - too small in my opinion for them to likely do well together as they mature.

 

[gtphale]

Ok thinking of getting rid of the Auratus and the estherae. Picking up another female kenyi down the road.

What else would be a good mix with the Kenyi and Yellow Labs? Going to try luck with Kenyi cause I love their look. Also where could I get rid of the Auratus and estherae?

 

[SinisterKisses]

Sell them locally or take them back to the store I would imagine.

How big are these fish at the moment - depending on size, you may not be able to sex the kenyi yet and you may not have one male and two females.

 

[gtphale]

almost two inches at this time. The third is just over an inch.

 

[SinisterKisses]

Too small to tell what sex they are for sure. You may have more than one male.

 

[gtphale]

Ok i'm now at Yellow labs, and Kenyi. Going to try and hold onto the Kenyi and see how it goes. Going to get one more yellow lab and one more female Kenyi after I find out what I have.

Thinking of going
4 yellow labs
4 Kenyi
4 Rusties
Is there another species I could add to this collection that would look good and get along as well as mbuna can?

 

[SinisterKisses]

I'd leave it at that.