# Which of these mbuna species would YOU keep?



## MonsterCichlids (Jan 25, 2012)

I've got a thread already up about idea for my 75 gallon tank and im getting a lot of cool ideas with a lot of cool species. Problem is, im very limited in terms of what species i can get because of my local fish stores. So, here is a list of all the different species i have avaliable to me. Let me know what you would do...i would like to have 3 different breeding groups of fish, and i want the species to be different enough to not have to worry about cross breeding, or have them be such aggressive species that everything gets killed (m. auratus for example)
so here's the species i have at my disposal:

metriaclima estherea

labidochromis caeruleus

albino metriaclima greshakei

pseudo. acei

metriaclima lombardoi

pseudo. demasoni

albino (snow white) pseudo. socolofi

melanochromis johanni (the johanni at the store are 2" long but every single one has male coloration...idk what thats about...and they dont have clean horizontal lines like maingano)

pseudo. crabro

*the rest of the species are in "assorted tanks" and you can never really be sure whats in there. sometimes i see a small rusties and other random things but there isnt enough of one species to get a breeding group from the assorted tanks. They have some haps and peacocks but i just want mbuna. please help me out!


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Given those choices, I would order online. :thumb:


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## ILCichlid (Feb 27, 2012)

Out of those, I'd consider like 1m/3f of Albino Greshakei and Yellow lab and then a good group of a dozen or so demasoni.


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Other choices I see there are.
"labidochromis caeruleus, pseudo. acei, albino (snow white) pseudo. socolofi"
or
"metriaclima estherea, pseudo. acei, albino (snow white) pseudo. socolofi"

Yep I would go on line to get more good choices.

Personaly prefer wild type cichlids in my tanks (and demasoni have not gone well for me) so a bit biased.


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## oldcatfish (May 27, 2009)

I'd do the Snow White Socolofi, The Yellow Lab, and Acei.

Any mbuna can cross breed...in fact, most Malawi's can crossbreed. But the ones I listed look different enough, and are relatively peaceful enough that you probably won't end up with a hyper-dominant male...as long as you have enough females, they'll likely stick to their own kind.


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## MonsterCichlids (Jan 25, 2012)

awesome^ i actually really do like that combo esspecially color wise. i know acei's can grow a bit larger than most mbunas, *** heard they can reach 6 inches possibly 7 inches, but do you think it would still be fine in a 75 gal to have all three of those species in their own breeding groups with each group consisting of 6 fish or so, with there being 1-2 males with 4-5 females in every group?


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## brinkles (Jan 30, 2011)

I'd get 8 each of the acei and yellow labs, and either wait until something better comes along, or order a third species online.


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## jeff12 (Oct 21, 2011)

I don't have a love for Johanni.

metriaclima estherea

labidochromis caeruleus

metriaclima lombardoi

pseudo. demasoni

I would so with those.


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

MonsterCichlids said:


> melanochromis johanni (the johanni at the store are 2" long but every single one has male coloration...idk what thats about...and they dont have clean horizontal lines like maingano)


Those are the so called "Electric Blue Johanni" , which are probably Maingano hybrids. Very common.


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## ranchialex (Dec 4, 2011)

I have or have had all of those but the greshaki.

I have estherea, labs, Acei, albino socolofi and 14 demasoni. Had kenyi, swapped em for demasoni whichi like much more. Don't mix these two.

Guess I have the same limited selection as you


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## nmcichlid-aholic (Mar 23, 2011)

24Tropheus said:


> Other choices I see there are.
> "labidochromis caeruleus, pseudo. acei, albino (snow white) pseudo. socolofi"
> or
> "metriaclima estherea, pseudo. acei, albino (snow white) pseudo. socolofi"


If you would really like to stick with what's available locally, then I like these combos as well. With the estherae and albino socolofi, you will want to make sure you only end up with one male and 4 or 5 females, where as the yellow labs and acei may be more tolerant of a sub-dom male.


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## madmort0 (Oct 29, 2011)

i would post an ad on a local fish enthusuast website. i was surprised how many cichlidiots live close and replied when i was looking for new fish.


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## johnchor (Apr 2, 2011)

i like and prefer keeping peaceful mbunas this gives the options to mix with haps or maybe peacocks.

Yellow labs, P.acei, Rusty. :thumb:



nmcichlid-aholic said:


> 24Tropheus said:
> 
> 
> > Other choices I see there are.
> ...


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