# Stocking a small Mbuna Tank



## Philip.Chan.92 (Jun 14, 2010)

*Stocking the tank*
I have a 25 gallon long at the moment and won't be getting a larger tank for a while since I am just going into university. I am aware of the fact that this smaller tank limits the number of species as well as the number of fish that I can have. I was wondering if anyone can help me with stocking this tank? Do these fish need to be around it's same species or can I have say...one of a few species? Any advice would be helpful in regards to stocking the tank. I am not planning to breed them.

*Setup*
I have a general idea of what the setup will look like, planning to either make or buy a DIY styrofoam background. Also for styrofoam backgrounds, I know that you cut spaces to put powerheads and such in the corners of the background, how would an underwater filter be placed? I am using a combination of a HOB filter and an underwater filter. Can't afford a canister filter at the moment. As for substrate is silica sand good to use? I hear that they don't fully require a pH of 8.0 to be happy and that they do well in Toronto water.

Thanks in advance,

Philip[/u]


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## electyellowdude (Feb 18, 2010)

what are the dimensions? putting a diy background would make the space in the tank even smaller. if anything i think the only mbuna you could do would be saulosi. 1male and 3 females. you could do a shellie tank.


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Jun 14, 2010)

My tank is 30x12x13. I am probably just doing to stack a few rocks and leave the rest for swimming space. Can I stock 1 of a few species? I was planning to maybe get a a single member of a few species that stay within 4"


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## Raschael (May 8, 2009)

Honestly, a few species of 4" mbuna will end in 1 fish in the end. Mbuna aren't the "nice" fish. You could do shellies or maybe a few dwarf mbuna, but I wouldn't attempt a few 4" mbuna, that's just not very fair to the fish. There are lots of cichlids that stay fairly small that would be better than mbuna. The space is just too small and they are extremely territorial. Just my 2 cents!


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## Kanorin (Apr 8, 2008)

Note that an underwater filter (assuming you mean the type that lays below your substrate) does NOT work with sand.

You'd be pushing the limits with just 1 species of dwarf mbuna. I don't think two males of any mbuna species would tolerate each other in that size tank whether they are the same species or not. If you're lucky, you can keep 1 male with 3 female Ps. Saulosi or 1m 3f c. afra. But I wouldn't classify your chances of success as high.


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## GotCichlids? (May 21, 2010)

He is right in such a small tank you would one need to have alot more hiding spaces for Mbunas and you would also have to do something like he said with the saulosis one male to three or four females. Sometimes when you just have to have mbunas and you are limited in space like your self some suggest to try an all male tank but you will def have to have alot more rocks to break up the line of sight and places for the less dom males in the tank to hide there will be constant battles in that tank. I would suggest going with some docile shellies like he suggested or there is some really beautiful dwarfs out there that would work fine in that tank like a colony of Nanochromis transvestitus, Pelvicachromis Pulcher, Pelvicachromis subocellatus, Pelvicachromis taeniatus! Most of these dwarfs should be housed one male to several females but are docile enough that you can have some community fish in with them to have a beautiful natural looking setup! Good luck hope this helps!!


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## electyellowdude (Feb 18, 2010)

AfricanCichlidSweetPea
what kind of fish is that in your avatar?

i agree with all of them. can you do a 30 gallon or maybe a 29 gallon? 30 gal. would be 36" and a 29 would be 30". i have seen somebody do a 29 gallon with success but it is a lot more work than a larger tank. oh and the 29 gallon had saulosi in it, 1 male and 3 females.

good luck but it will be a lot of work if you decide to do mbuna. i just dont think you would have any luck at all in a 25 gallon.


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Jun 14, 2010)

My tank is as long as a 29 gallon, 30" long. Are the males of different species aggressive to each other or only towards males of the same species?


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Jun 14, 2010)

I've done some more research and I am now planning to get Yellow labs and Pseudotropheus socolofi. They both get up to around 4" and are rated as one of the least aggressive mbuna species. Any feedback on this stocking?


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## electyellowdude (Feb 18, 2010)

still you should only do 1 species. and it should be a dwarf. pretty much all males are going to fight in a tank that small. you should do saulosi with lots of rock work, i mean like fill up the tank.


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Jun 14, 2010)

I like the saulosi, how much do they cost approximately? What is the price from ppl say on this forum and how much in LFS? Thanks for introducing me to this beautiful species. How many should I have? I will be running two HOB filters so I will have more room in the tank. I read that the more there are, the more the aggression is spread out and I see this with my tiger barbs and odessa barbs. what is the absolute MAXIMUM amount of Pseudotropheus saulosi that I can keep? Please include the ratio of males:females


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