OK African enthusiests... (Matt)... help?

[VirgoWolf]

So, I am helping a great guy I met through another forum make the transition out of fishkeeping, I'm buying everything he's got. Great deal for us, less mess trying to sell everything individually for him. Well this includes adopting all of his fish as well.... including his africans.

I was origionally going to rehome them, but it got me thinking about when I wanted to do the 70gal with mbuna and I think that's the route we'll go.

So, 70gal tank, 55gal footprint (it's all height... blah), 4 Yellow Labs, 1 Syno, and my mom's beloved Rainbowshark that just HAS to be in this tank. What else can I add? I was thinking some zebras origionally, will they work well with the labs? Any other suggestions? I was thinking just 2 species (not including the non-cichlid hitchhikers) but I don't want a tank full of yellow fish.

Suggestions?

 

[Katie217]

You could add some more labs if you wanted. what other colour mbuna were you looking for? blues? or orange? there are plenty of choices. what i would do is add more labs, maybe another 4 of them to make it 8 labs, then some blue fish like cobalt zebras or greshekies (sp?) try and stay away from auratus' or other melanochromis mbuna, they tend to be the most agressive in my mbuna mix tank.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

So wait, i'm confused....are the yellow labs and syno from the guy? Or you already have those?

First thing that comes to mind for me is a Yellow Lab + Demasoni tank. Very good contrast in colors there. Not to mention both won't be a pain to track down or be very expensive.

 

[Katie217]

demasoni and lab tank would look great, got the bright yellows of the labs and the deep blue of the demasoni

 

[VirgoWolf]

Yeah, sorry, was kinda in a hurry, as I am now, but I like the demasoni idea. Yah, the labs and syno are from the guy, saw them today and they look awesome.

 

[VirgoWolf]

OK, I showed my mom the labs and syno and then the demasonis and she really liked them all, but I just want to make sure we're getting what we want, so I'm going to go browse some profiles and see if I see anything interesting.

Any other suggestions?

 

[Cichlid-Man]

A type of Cynotilapia afra would be nice. Probably a little bit harder to find though, but not impossible.

 

[kay-bee19]

OK, I showed my mom the labs and syno and then the demasonis and she really liked them all, but I just want to make sure we're getting what we want, so I'm going to go browse some profiles and see if I see anything interesting.

Any other suggestions?

If you select demasoni, ensure you obtain a well-sized group of them (10-15 minimum); when kept in smaller groups they'll either kill each other off or perpetually attempt to do so. A single demasoni will work just fine, however.

Yellow labs and pseudotropheus acei are a nice combination.

 

[VirgoWolf]

If you select demasoni, ensure you obtain a well-sized group of them (10-15 minimum); when kept in smaller groups they'll either kill each other off or perpetually attempt to do so.

Thanks, didn't know they were that bad.

A type of Cynotilapia afra would be nice. Probably a little bit harder to find though, but not impossible.

Are they a little more peaceful than the demansoni? Same good contrast.

I like the acei, but I want something different than blue fish / yellow fish. The others at least have some patterning and darker colors.

Are zebras a realistic option? I like the variety of colors and I know they are readily available. I like the others a bit better though, but just to keep the options open...

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Yes i think you could do a mixture of zebras with the labs.

I'd probably say the Afra are about the same as the demansoni...or at least close.

 

[VirgoWolf]

Hummm, well this is going to be my mom's tank, so it wont be something I can observe and she woulden't know what to look for untill it was too late, so I want to keep the risk factor to a minimum.

Anything with less chance of ending up as expencive oscar food because I get ticked at them killing eachother? (like the tiger barbs we had)