# Feed back



## Jeff84 (Oct 22, 2017)

Brand New to this. Done some research and this is what I put together. An African thank I don't know what species they all are. 
Any feed back or suggestions would be great. 
Thanks


----------



## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

well, you have ... from Lake Malawi

Auratus, white and gold horizontal black stripe
Yellow Lab, nice deep yellow with a black line in dorsal
Kenyi, light blue (for now) with faint vertical bars
Cobalt Zebra, solid light blue
Demasoni, nice dark black and blue barred
common "Red Peacock"... light browinish with faint bars and some orange-reddish color

and non Malawi...

That background illusion is effective, at least in the photos
Jewel Cichlid, red and shiny blue spots


----------



## Jeff84 (Oct 22, 2017)

Thanks for identifying my fish!


----------



## thornsja19 (Feb 4, 2017)

Good that they're identified. As far as feedback/suggestions... That tank is going to be a bloodbath. Can pretty much guarantee you're gonna be restocking that thing because of aggression issues


----------



## FireHorn123 (Apr 16, 2017)

Tank Size?


----------



## Jeff84 (Oct 22, 2017)

It's a 60 gallon.


----------



## FireHorn123 (Apr 16, 2017)

I agreee with thornsja19. That Peacock won't mix well with the Mbuna for very long but I have seen people do it before like KG tropicals but it isn't recommended for a 60. The aggressive jewel cichlids constant attitude will stress out the other fishl. If I were you I'd take out the jewel and the peacock and keep it strictly mixed Mbuna. You probably could add more to reduce aggression via over stocking. Did you buy these fish from Petco or Petsmart?


----------



## Jeff84 (Oct 22, 2017)

The demisoni, yellow lab and peacock are from a local place called fish attics. The rest are from pet smart.


----------



## Jeff84 (Oct 22, 2017)

If I decide to go the over stocking route. What do you suggest I add? 
I wouldn't mind another demasoni so I don't just have the one token black guy. Lol


----------



## FireHorn123 (Apr 16, 2017)

I wouldn't add another demasoni they are one of the more aggressive species. Do you have a real price range here?


----------



## Jeff84 (Oct 22, 2017)

Not really. But that peacock was my most expensive at 40 bucks. I wasn't planning on spending huge cash on fish as this is my first tank. So checking water levels and doing water changes isn't routine yet.


----------



## thornsja19 (Feb 4, 2017)

Might wanna return that peacock then. He's definitely the weak link in the tank, gonna wind up dead. And the jewel should probably go too, because it's also non-mbuna. Now you'd have auratus, Kenyi, Cobalt Zebra, Demasoni, and yellow lab. Honestly, Kenyi and auratus are too aggressive for this size tank unless it's a species tank. So, if you want this tank to work long term, here's some options on what you could do with your current stock...

1) Get rid of everything but the aurautus, then buy like a dozen more aurautus. Extra males you can remove as needed when they mature.
2) same thing as 1, but with the Kenyi instead of aurautus
3) Get rid of everything but the Yellow Lab and Demasoni. Buy 14 more Demasoni and 9 more yellow Labs, with the intent on finishing with about 10-12 Demasoni and a group of 1M:4F Yellow Labs when they mature and you remove extra males.
4) Get rid of everything but Yellow Lab and Cobalt Zebra. Buy another 9 of each. Then choose another group like Rusties, Albino Socolofi, a cynotilapia species, something along those lines. Add 10 of that species. You'll wind up with about 1M:4F of each of those 3 groups.

If you insist upon not stocking properly and just want a completely overstocked, random mix, still get rid of the jewel and the peacock and add another like 20 random mbuna. Don't recommend that route though


----------



## FireHorn123 (Apr 16, 2017)

thornsja19 said:


> Might wanna return that peacock then. He's definitely the weak link in the tank, gonna wind up dead. And the jewel should probably go too, because it's also non-mbuna. Now you'd have auratus, Kenyi, Cobalt Zebra, Demasoni, and yellow lab. Honestly, Kenyi and auratus are too aggressive for this size tank unless it's a species tank. So, if you want this tank to work long term, here's some options on what you could do with your current stock...
> 
> 1) Get rid of everything but the aurautus, then buy like a dozen more aurautus. Extra males you can remove as needed when they mature.
> 2) same thing as 1, but with the Kenyi instead of aurautus
> ...


I think he wants an all male tank not breeding groups. It's his first tank.


----------



## FireHorn123 (Apr 16, 2017)

If i were you I would take out the auratus and kenyi then add about 8 or so Mbunas that you like and make sure they are all male females would cause aggression.


----------



## FireHorn123 (Apr 16, 2017)

Here are some I'd suggest
. Cynotilapia afra Cobue
Metriaclima Lanisticola
Melanochromis maingano
Cynotilapia afra Jalo Reef
Pseudotropeus Elongatus Usisya
Zebra Chilumba Maisoni Reef
Metriaclima zebra gold kawanga


----------



## Jeff84 (Oct 22, 2017)

Thanks for the feed back. I don't really have a direction I'm going with the tank. If they breed cool I have a 20g tank I can use. Just picked the fish I have based on looks. Excepts for the kenyis. They were just cheep to start the tank off with. The jewel is the only one of 9 fish that survived a big nitrate spike. I will try adding a few of the suggested fish to see what happens. As of rite now they all seem happy. Maybe the nitrate poisoning killed any agression the jewel should have. But I'll get that 20g up and running to use as a jail if any of them act up. Lol


----------



## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

You don't have to go too strict a setup, but be aware that the Red Peacock may not show good color in a stressful tank.

Not sure if the Jewel will be a major problem, but if it gets territorial might be a pain, but a single can't breed. I'm sure many have kept a Jewel with Mbuna, maybe someone has some experience. I remember a book I got when I was 10 said that Jewels were "extremely pugnacious", so of course I wanted one.

Kenyi and Auratus tend to be major pains as they get bigger, fish that get meaner and usually less colorful as they get bigger get a bad rep.


----------



## Jeff84 (Oct 22, 2017)

Thanks for all the feed back. As for the moment they are all getting along. The peacock is the biggest in the tank so no one picks on him yet. I do have a 20g I can set up either for the bully or the week link in the tank. I will also see about over stalking with the suggested species. Thanks again!


----------

