# which is the nastiest mbuna



## Josh83 (Jun 8, 2010)

Hey all I know this is a broad question with peoples experience's differing but I wanted to hear peoples opinions on which is the nastiest mbuna in the hobby thought it would be interesting to hear what some hobbyiststhink is the most aggressive thanks.


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## poseidons minions (Dec 1, 2009)

Most aggressive would be Melachromis Chipokae


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## simo1973 (Jul 22, 2007)

as above. :thumb: killers.


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## Swifterz (Aug 3, 2009)

i just sold my chipokae. surprisngly it never harmed any of my other mbuna, and it was the largest at over 6".


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## jordanroda (May 4, 2006)

:zz:


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## gverde (Mar 3, 2010)

I would say chipokae also. I had a 7" when I started keeping cichlids. It was the meanest fish
I ever had. It would literally fight every fish to the death in my tank. Never again.


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## longislandmbuna (Mar 30, 2011)

cyno afra are pretty **** nasty in my experience but gotta agree with the others on that one


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## cichlid_baby (Jan 28, 2003)

Demasoni are some nasty ones too...


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## paradigmsk8er (Apr 13, 2009)

I have had bad luck with an aulonocara as well...but my nastiest by far was a hongi...he would tolerate NO one else so he got a 10 gallon all to himself


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## gatorbaiter (Feb 12, 2011)

I got to throw the kenyi in there. I will never have another


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## Mudkicker (Apr 2, 2003)

astatotilapia calliptera...even the females were nasty!!!


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## jlose (May 18, 2008)

Without a doubt M. chipokae. I had this species in the past and the male killed everything in the tank. A beautiful species though.


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## dielikemoviestars (Oct 23, 2007)

Aulonocara + astatotilapia aren't mbuna.  All my Hongi were super nice and tame.

Don't forget crabro.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

Ps. demasoni can be aggressive to their own, but usually are not so aggressive as to try and kill everything else in the tank.

Some of the Tropheops can be very aggressive, but aren't a common cichlid that people keep. Again, they are typically more aggressive towards their own kind, than random acts of killing.

M. lombardoi (kenyi), Melanochromis johanni andM. crabro can also be very aggressive, and towards all fish, not just their own kind.

Next up the ladder is Melanochromis auratus who can be terrors in the tank.

However, I'll agree with those who say Melanochromis chipokae are one of the most aggressive, if not the most aggressive mbuna available for the aquarium trade. They can be killers, and I had one grow to 8", and big at that. Some males can be downright nasty..


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## paradigmsk8er (Apr 13, 2009)

*Just to clarify, in my above post when I put "aulonocara" I meant auratus...woops..I'm picking up a new batch today and have aulonocara and haps on the mind :lol:

I have had dems and crabros in a tank together and though feisty, they weren't horrid...but its funny how some fish reputations proceed themselves


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## eeztropheus (Jan 10, 2010)

IME Melanochromis auratus, never have kept M. chipokae.


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## brinkles (Jan 30, 2011)

How big do the auratus get before their real nasty? I have a couple, only about 2.5" now and they're only nasty to their own kind.


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## Mudkicker (Apr 2, 2003)

Mudkicker said:


> astatotilapia calliptera...even the females were nasty!!!


oops, not a mbuna  i take it back  
i change my vote to Pseudotropheus crabro


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## Josh83 (Jun 8, 2010)

I was expecting to see melanochromis species mentioned never kept any myself probably for that reason, kenyi and crabro I have had in the past and havent had much problems with either.


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## fox (Jun 11, 2009)

I think with the kenyi and crabro tank size has a lot to do with it. We keep ours in tanks with plenty of room for them to stretch out their legs and stake out a bit of tank for them selves and they are quite content.

Now with the melanchromis tank size does not matter, they are just nasty by nature. Some though are no problem at all while others are the devils spawn. Funny that.


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## AZcichlidfreak (Nov 16, 2010)

fox said:


> I think with the kenyi and crabro tank size has a lot to do with it. We keep ours in tanks with plenty of room for them to stretch out their legs and stake out a bit of tank for them selves and they are quite content.
> 
> Now with the melanchromis tank size does not matter, they are just nasty by nature. Some though are no problem at all while others are the devils spawn. Funny that.


I think your statement is pretty much dead on. 
My vote is for Mel. Auratus, but I haven't kept Mel. Chipokae.


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## Frenzy (Dec 29, 2007)

For me it would be Tropheops Chilumba. Piscatorial terrorists.


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## biglove (Jan 4, 2010)

Kenyi. Never had a problem with a female; but, when the males reach sexual maturity, they are vicious!

Had my favorite fish, a male Kenyi called "The Runt" take over a full 1/3rd of my 125 gallon out of the blue. Sucker would repeatedly attack even me. Rabid fella' had to go to the LFS for some other poor soul to deal with. Shame as he was beautiful!


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## Chromedome52 (Jul 25, 2009)

Most vicious Mbuna I ever saw was the fish we called _Pseudotropheus elongatus _back in the mid 1970s. They are not around these days, closest image I can find is the sp. elongatus from Eccles Reef. They fit the description of elongated, shaped very long and round, kind of like a real _Labeotropheus trewavasae_.

Anyway, a friend with a store got a young pair of these, put them in a 55 gallon display tank with about 30 other adult Mbuna. The male _auratus _thought he was boss, for about two minutes. Almost didn't get them out fast enough to save him, he was pretty torn up. Heard from a number of other people who had the same problem with these fish. Probably why they aren't in the hobby these days.


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