# Bluegrass Aquatics Prestige Assortment?



## Squad Leader (Oct 19, 2010)

Have any of ya'll bought this package?

I have a 90 gal that I was thinking of doing an all male mbuna set up in. I called and spoke to the gentleman at Bluegrass today and he recommended the Prestige package. He said that he could not tell me for sure what it would have in it until he went to pick it. He stated that he will simply pick what looks best when he goes to the tanks and that he would vary the stocking list as much as possible. He said that I could do 30-35 fish in my 90 gal.

I told him that I didn't really want breeding pairs and he recommended a couple of Compressiceps to help control the fry numbers and suggested that I could add a couple of Ahli to the package as well. I was surprised to hear that I could put so many in there. I assume that the number of fish he recommends plans for some loss as they grow.

So what say you oh experienced sages? Do you think that this is a good starting point? If you have it, would you recommend it? Thanks in advance for your help.


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## redtop72 (Jun 7, 2010)

Honestly I would never buy what i cant see. Most likely you will get the stuff they cant get rid of. When speaking of mbuna, you will probably end up with red zebras,yellow labs,kenyi,cobalt blue, bumblebees and other very common types of mbuna. Nothing wrong with the types, but I recomend getting a list of types, how many of each kind and size. JMO


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Cichlid-forum would like to keep Review type information about specific vendors in the _Reviews_ section and out of the forums. In general I would have concerns about relying blindly on the stock recommendations of * any *vendor without my own research.

Any seller has to consider profit and "sell" in order to maintain a healthy business. The more fish sold, the better the profit. Like redtop72, I would worry that the selection was influenced by the seller's overstocks and could not possibly reflect my personal preferences.

On the flip side, choices by me are motivated solely by my needs and wants regarding number/species of fish. For me the research is half the fun of setting up a tank. Also if you don't research the fish going into your tank, how will you know what to expect ongoing?

My two cents.


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## Squad Leader (Oct 19, 2010)

Redtop, I would like to see what I'm buying as well; however, my LFS on occasion has a specific breed of cichlid but usually has the mass "Mixed African Cichlid" tank and doesn't really know what is there.

DJ, I won't make posts like this in the future. I read several of the reviews for Bluegrass in the reviews section but found little specific information regarding what I was looking for.

I am new to African Cichlids and even the common species are new to me. I have spent a great amount of time in the last three months studying stocking lists, compatability lists, and vendors websites. In that time, I have learned that I don't know squat, there is a great deal of conflicting information on the interwebs, and that until I get an African tank going of my own I am only collecting others experiences and developing none of my own.
The more practical matter at hand is expense. To get the all male stocking list that I wanted put together was going to be painful and the fish were going to be different sizes and I don't have a dedicated growout tank. So, with all of that, I started thinking about how I could get started without going broke, needlessly harming any fish, and stock the tank at once. I thought that these packages solved most of those problems if the vendor was reputable, delivered the goods as promised, and was respected by the pros. 
I am really not too hung up on what I start with knowing that I can rotate them out as I learn more about what I want/will work. My thoughts were that this would be a good baseline to start with. I had hoped to learn here if Eddie could be taken at his word. He said that he wouldn't stick me with surplus fish.


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

> I have learned that I don't know squat, there is a great deal of conflicting information on the interwebs, and that until I get an African tank going of my own going I am only collecting others experiences and developing none of my own.


I went through exactly the same thing when starting out with tanganyikans. I think you're thinking is sound and it's obvious you've researched and thought this out. Great way to get started and learn. You can only read Internet stuff for so long and learn so much from it. Eventually you just have to get some fish in the tank. I'd go for it. Sounds like a great way to get a tank going. I was interested in starting an all male hap tank, but saw the same obstacles that you've pointed out. Thanks for the idea. I didn't know these kind of packages were offered.

I just want to add that I'd get some assurance that nothing you're getting comes from a mixed hybrid tank.


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## marvo (Nov 24, 2010)

first off think about 35 fish in a 90 gal... insane so is he forget him. find fish you like do your research* i wish i could give you a store in fl. address but dont think its allowed he has hundreda of SA and African..


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Members here would love to advise you on tank stocking with no motivation but love of the hobby. Just give us some criteria!


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## borohands8593 (Apr 15, 2009)

*** kept fish for years, ever since I was 5, and have had everything from peaceful little tetras, barbs, danios, etc, to large predatory fish such as knifefish, shovelnose, and arrowana, to large SA cichlid collections through the years. It wasnt until about 2-3 years ago I came into the african cichlid world thinking I could wing it since I had successfully kept all sorts of fish and mixed anything I wanted to without many problems, and man was I WRONG!!

African cichlids are a whole other beast and the first couple tanks I put together were a disaster with constant fish deaths and an empty wallet! Many refer to this as the welcoming into cichlids since many experiences keepers started at this point.

The best advice I could give you would be to try what you want and learn. What works for one keeper will not for another. I have mixed many things people told me would not work with great success. I also have purchased many "delicate species" which I swear would've survived in a toilet if they learned to swim upstream and likewise many hardy species that seems to die without reason. Many "peaceful fish" became the tank terror with the aggressive fish hiding in the corner. Just like humans the fish you get will have different temperaments and personalities. The best luck I have had usually comes when buying the fish as babies so they can all grow out together and buying a bunch at once since once everything is established it is hard to add in another fish. I started wanting a Lake malawi setup due to the colors but have since converted everything to Tangs for the personalities and ease of keeping fish , mbuna cause more stress on me than each other :lol: Good luck


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## marvo (Nov 24, 2010)

borohands8593 said:


> I've kept fish for years, ever since I was 5, and have had everything from peaceful little tetras, barbs, danios, etc, to large predatory fish such as knifefish, shovelnose, and arrowana, to large SA cichlid collections through the years. It wasnt until about 2-3 years ago I came into the african cichlid world thinking I could wing it since I had successfully kept all sorts of fish and mixed anything I wanted to without many problems, and man was I WRONG!!
> 
> African cichlids are a whole other beast and the first couple tanks I put together were a disaster with constant fish deaths and an empty wallet! Many refer to this as the welcoming into cichlids since many experiences keepers started at this point.
> 
> The best advice I could give you would be to try what you want and learn. What works for one keeper will not for another. I have mixed many things people told me would not work with great success. I also have purchased many "delicate species" which I swear would've survived in a toilet if they learned to swim upstream and likewise many hardy species that seems to die without reason. Many "peaceful fish" became the tank terror with the aggressive fish hiding in the corner. Just like humans the fish you get will have different temperaments and personalities. The best luck I have had usually comes when buying the fish as babies so they can all grow out together and buying a bunch at once since once everything is established it is hard to add in another fish. I started wanting a Lake malawi setup due to the colors but have since converted everything to Tangs for the personalities and ease of keeping fish , mbuna cause more stress on me than each other :lol: Good luck


 right on the mark IMO


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## GoofBoy (Jul 3, 2007)

I purchased one of this and one of that for a number of years when I first started keeping Africans back in the early 90's - I had very little success with that approach and almost gave up the hobby because of it. I finally started keeping a larger groups of species has given my much greater success and enjoyment.

Buying an assortment of 30 mbuna strikes me as the one of this and that an approach - so please be aware.

Looking at what might come in your assortment I would be very.... ummm - *concerned* about single males of:

Melanochromis Auratus
Melanochromis Auratus (Albino)
Metriaclima Lombardoi (Kenyi)
Melanochromis johanni
Pseudotropheus elongatus(Likoma)
Pseudotropheus Crabro (Bumble Bee)

All of which would are _challenge_ to successfully keep in a 4ft tank even with plenty of girlfriends to keep them occupied.

I have kept both D. Comps and S freyeri in a 4ft tank and would not recommend it based on personal experience and there actually isn't a need, since the adult mbuna you have will be more than willing to eat any fry released into the tank.

I could offer to pick your stock list for you if you want to start somewhere  how about a 'Goof mix of 24':

6 - Pseudotropheus saulosi
6 - Labidochromis caeruleus (Nkhata Bay)
6 - Pseudotropheus Sp. acei
6 - Iodotropheus Sprengerae (Rusty)

Way lower aggression mbuna tank with Blue, Yellow, White, Reddish Lavender, Purple and no highly or extremely aggressive mbuna.

Good Luck.


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## Squad Leader (Oct 19, 2010)

Thank you all for your replies, you have given me some very useful information. I am going to take my time and study my options a bit more. I have been studying some of the stocking lists found here on the site and I can't find all of those fish available all at once even at different breeders. I haven't given up on the all male tank, but not dead set on it either.


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