Tropical Fish Forums

[Akula]

Hi All,

I was an old frequent poster a few years ago. Still have my same 3 foot tank with only a few fish surving from original stock.

Looking to convert my tank to an African Lake Malawai Mbuna tank.

Hope to have some well-meaning advice & help to finalise my African cichlid tank!

Thanks in advane,

Bill

[nikelodeon79]

Welcome!

I did see your other threads and have a recommendation: return all fish to the store, with the exception of the bristlenose. Stock with a colony of Pseudotropheus saulosi (blue/black males and yellow females). You could stock 3 males, 9 females and the bristlenose, provided you have adequate filtration and do regular water changes.

Most mbuna are too large/aggressive for a 3 foot tank, but the saulosi could work well.
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Dumpster Tank
Nano Fish
Mbuna

[Akula]

Thanks Nikelodeon79..

I looked at article on this site on Saulosi..
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_saulosi.php

Max length 9 cm minimum 100 L tank.

Maingano says max length 8 cm minmum 100 L tank.

How would it be better stocking 12 Saulosi in my 160 L tank rather than the 5 mixed Cichlids I have now when the Saulosi on average grows a little bigger?

The Saulosi are still agressive, no? Would it make a difference if I added a bunch of Maingano females to spread out agression?

I have more than adequate filtration, a Canister filter with 5 times the flow for my tank size.

[nikelodeon79]

I love this forum but unfortunately, most of the gallery pages are incorrect.

The saulosi is much less aggressive than the maingano so it is possible to keep them in a tank with a smaller footprint.

You could possibly attempt the maingano (adding several more females)... but most folks over at cichlid-forum recommend anything less than a four foot tank for them.
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Dumpster Tank
Nano Fish
Mbuna

[Akula]

Hmm OK I'll think about my options. Probably add 2 more females, make some new hiding spots. But I'm keen on keeping the 2 Labs.

Maybe the admin should update the info on the articles on fish section? I based my purchase on that info which is unfortunate as I wanted to get my stocking right.

[nikelodeon79]

If you keep the labs, you need to add at least one more, for a total of 1m/2f. Labs get awfully big and your tank will be very overstocked, so you'll have to do lots of large water changes.
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Dumpster Tank
Nano Fish
Mbuna