# Mbuna Male tanks



## mbuna nate (May 2, 2017)

Hey guys, i don't want to beat a dead horse at all but i did want to offer some of my experiences with an all male set up. A lot of what i have learned is extremely general and can be applied to keeping mbuna as a whole so i hope you find it valuable and please ask questions. Whenever i struggled i often came to this forum for advice and am definitely not above seeking out more and more advice from anyone so please, let me know what you think.

As far as keeping a male Mbuna tank it is actually pretty easy as long as you are actually keeping a male mbuna tank. Where you will find difficulties is if you add any fish that is not an mbuna or females. If you keep a male tank and follow these guidelines as well as all the proper care for lake malawi cichlids you should have a great tank. The biggest benifits are that every male is most dominint of his species, therefore extreamly colorful; There are no females, if you pull it off right it will be a less tense tank and you will see them out all the time; you have a huge range of species compared to other tanks often restricted to 2-3, you can expect to have 3-4x the diversity of a conventional tank, and the fact that you can squeeze in some unconventionally larger fish since you wont be buying 4-6 of them like other people. Some of the drawbacks are the amount of time and money it can take to do it properly since you should be growing them out in proper sized tanks before their final set up; you do miss out on breeding (initially, you can make a quasi conversion in the final set up); and you cannot overstock it if you do not like the look. Stocking should look for a total of 3/4 an inch per gallon at maximum size, more similar to a community tank.

In order of importance for a male tank you should consider:
1. Stocking (initial)
2. Individual personalities (of fish)
3.Size and age
4. Hiding places
5. Final (desired) Stocking
6. Water Quality (extremely important still)

This list emphasized how important a proper set up is. Water quality as we all know is essential, however a major mistake in any of the other categories is the only way to loose a large amount of fish in a couple days. Every reference to aggression carries the implication that the fish is being compared to other Mbuna. A timid Mbuna is still going to terrorize a community tank and that behavior is essential to their safety when kept with other Mbuna.

1. Stocking (Initial)
First, why it is initial stocking and not stocking. You want to know what fish you are going to be keeping in its entirety, all based on maximum size, and then purchase fish as juveniles all of similar size. When they grow up together they can experience the pains of sharing a tank with other males when they are young and small, and by the time they are larger they are much more comfortable then a fully mature fish use to a pack of females being plopped into your sausage fest. To really get the most of this they should be should in a tank *SMALL * enough for them. You do not want everyone disappearing to their territory only to fight it out once they are too large for everyone to have their own space and capable of causing damage.

The rest is pretty easy actually. You will want to prefer specimens that are "sexually dimorphic." This is advantageous because it makes spotting females a lot easier. I promise you a male fish will recognize any female long before you do and the disruption can be immense. This is true even in species without a major risk of crossbreeding. Next you want to consider the general temperament of the species. This is going to be dependent on your largest and your most aggressive fish. It is not recommended to have your largest fish be your most aggressive fish. You will be employing a technique similar to dither fish in community tanks, where a larger, less aggressive (still mbuna aggressive however, NO PEACOCKS) fish discourages fighting. Cruise forums, online retailers, ect and pick a fish you need to have in your tank. This is your starting point. A good selection is going to reach a maximum size of 4-6" (check multiple sources and never the pet store your buying from unless very reputable, this should be done months before purchasing fish), have a moderate aggression towards other fish (conspecific is less relevant but should never be high or extreme; we are trying to avoid conspecific behavior) The temperament of this fish determines which direction you work in next. If this fish is highly aggressive you are going to need to buy larger less aggressive fish. If this fish is timid, sorry, only smaller slightly more aggressive fish. A good place to work from is a Yellow Lab, since they are a unique yellow you wont get from your other stock, and you can essentially start at the bottom with this fish. It is smaller and quite brave for its size meaning you can get some larger fish of moderate aggression. I wouldn't recommend you largest fish exceeding twice the size of your smallest fish, but they should never be able to fit a significant amount of another fish in their mouths. When they fight they shake and a larger fish with a good grip can kill in seconds. Do not put two of the same fish in the same tank, do not get two fish of similar shape or color, and you should be pretty set. Size and age as well as final stocking are also factors in initial stocking.

2. Individual personalities
This is the fun part. Watch your fish. Sure it _said_ this fish was only moderately aggressive, but is this particular specimen in your tank causing a disturbance? things to look for are, MOST IMPORTANT: Getting before another fish and rapidly shaking its tail in a generally non combative mannor, may try to lead the other fish away: This fish has identified what it thinks or knows is a potential mate. Do not wait, remove one immediately and bring it back. If it is a female he may kill her or other males in competition; chasing other fish excessively; Mouth to mouth fighting: needs to be prevented immediately when adding additional fish, however when preforming the initial stocking, mouth to mouth fighters should be separated if any continues between sexually mature specimens without a clear loser. Usually 3-6 months after purchasing young specimens. They will fight normally as they reach dominance but it should not continue past then. A piece of Nori on a clip to rip apart can help diffuse the tank during these times; Finally, shaking before another fish in a combative manor: They will often push water at each other rapidly as a show of strength. This is not an issue but you should monitor it to make sure smaller fish are backing down. If they are overly combative they may elicit a deadly response from the more dominant fish.

3. Size and age
Original juveniles preferred but if you are adding addition fish or replacing any losses (i hope not) you should only be adding fish of similar size and age to your current fish, but still following all other stocking suggestions. A juvenile without its sexually mature coloring will often go unnoticed as well but can be more risky with large fish.

4. Hiding Places
A major factor in the general behavior of your tank. Lots of tocks, tons of hiding places, a sandy substrate, and a modest open area for community interaction and swimming space will look good and keep the fish happy. Many Mbuna keepers keep ideal tanks, it is uncommon to see a plastic sunken ship or something without hiding places in an mbuna tank so look at other peoples tanks online and find a look you like with all the features your fish need. Google "how many rocks can i put in my aquarium", watch the YouTube video and get over your fear. Now fill it with rocks.

5. Final stocking

This is only here and lower on the list to emphasize that your final stocking will not be your initial stocking. Here you add your oddballs, or ones that doesnt fit well with the tank. If oyu like the look of a Crabro and understand its size and aggression it may not be a great option to plop a juvenile in with other juvenile fish. Therefore, grow your initial stock out and when they are a little larger to deal with the other fish you can add them. This also gets your larger and more dominant fish use to being bullied rather than bullying, and from monopolizing the food and taking off too quickly. When it does grow out to be full size it is likely to be less aggressive than other fish of its species. You may also add additional females at this point if you are looking to make a quasi conversion. More on that later. If you are planing on a final stock in a 55g tank but started them in a 20 then anytime they are moving tanks is a good time to do some stocking adjustments. replacement of any losses can be at anytime but with fish of identical breed (down to the scientific name, don't eyeball it out of mixed mbuna tanks or take general names, these are less predictable crossbreeds) and with a similar size and personality to the lost fish. In the last two years i have lost 1 fish to my fiance leaving a window open last fall, so you should not expect a large number of replacement fish.

6. Water Quality
I highly recommend matching the waters of lake malawi as closely as possible, ideally in salt and ph. I use 1 Tbs/5gl H20 Aquatics african rift salt and an 8.2 Ph buffer. There are tons of other places that will show you how to maintain a conventional mbuna tank. These guides are great because all male tanks are stocked lighter, so following traditional maintenance and filter requirements is more than enough for good looking fish. Please make sure and use hard water for these fish. They cannot get the nutrients they need from anything less, i hate to hear of mbuna that are kept in soft acidic water. They scientifically cannot get the nutrients they need by breathing, the same as if someone living at sea level suddenly tried running a marathon on Everest; your breathing as fast as you can but there is nothing there for you to breathe, you are use to a higher oxygen environment the same as your fish are use to a higher mineral content. Please don't do that to your fish.

Quasi conversion:
A smaller less aggressive species may be allowed to breed in the final tank set up with newly introduced females. There should be a great number of females since they may be harassed by other fish in the tank, however they will be generally disinterested with a male of their species around. Try and allow a species to breed that has females that look as different as possible from the females and males of the other species in your tank to minimize the amount of disruption.

Anything you want to know more about or experiences you have had I am very interested in. I feel unconventional tanks are poorly represented online and some further collection of knowledge may be useful


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## MaKettle (Dec 30, 2021)

Thank you for posting this! I am completely brand new to African Cichlids, and it was love at first site when I saw KGTropical's cichlid tank. The only cichlids I've seen other than Oscars and Angels were all just babies at the LFS, and I never looked twice at them. Mbunas are gorgeus! I know they are aggressive, so I'm really doing my homework.

I just happened to have an empty 55 gallon aquarium sitting around, and so I'm going to try my hand with Mbunas. I have done a ton of research over the last month or two and had settled on an all male tank of one of each species. I'm thinking of going with 20 of them, mostly Labidochromis, Pseudotropeus, and Metriclima types of different colors bought as juveniles. I plan on buying them all at the same time and having them grow up together.

I'm in the middle of creating my aquascape using marco rock. I haven't found anything with the number of caves and tunnels that I want, so I'm building four main pieces that I can move to mix things up for one huge aquascape. Holey rock looked cool, but I worry the holes won't be big enough when they get older to be caves for them. I love how it's turning out! For the substrate, I'm going to use Caribsea's eco-complete black substrate since it looks like it has more body than sand for a little easier vacuuming. I think the white on black will help bring out the color of the fish.

I've decided on going with two biological HOB filters with two wavemakers to create flow in the tank. I thought of going with an fx-4 canister filter, but I think the HOBs and I will get along better. One came with my aquarium as part of a kit and will be swapped out when I start having trouble with it. My other one is an Aquaclear 70. I will also be running prefilters on them.

As you can tell, I've really thought about this. I've done a lot of reading of the cichlid forum and figured it was time I finally joined since I'm getting serious about doing this. The research I've done has even helped my community tank. If I'm going to do this, I want to do this right for the highest chance of success for me and the fish!

Any advice helps.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Note that Mbuna Nate posted this in 2017. Mbuna Nate, if you are still active on the forum I have some questions:

You say the tank must be small enough, but will you give examples? How many males would you do in a standard 55G? I am guessing you do more than 10 individuals?

You say to choose fish that look nothing alike, and especially focus on fish that are dimorphic to easily spot females. How do you find enough mbuna that look nothing alike? Once you get solid blue and blue barred, yellow and orange...the variety of less aggressive mbuna diminishes.


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## MaKettle (Dec 30, 2021)

DJRansome, thank you for pointing out the date. I figure that he meant crowded by the tank being "small enough". I've seen recommendations of 15-25 mbunas for a 55 gallon. I would imagine that one should take into consideration of how much room the rock takes up. Depending on how much mine takes up, I might end up with 15-17 mbunas in my 55.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

There is a portion of the fishkeeping world that advocates stocking beyond overstocking...so many fish that they are in a constant state of confusion. His use of the phrase made me think he might be recommending that. Approaching the look of the goldfish feeder tank in your LFS.

The rock in a mbuna tank should go to the waterline and fill the tank regardless of stocking. I like a max of 10 males in a 55G and 15 individuals if you stock mixed gender. This allows aggression to be managed (by overcrowding) but still allows the fish to exhibit as much natural behavior as is possible in a glass box.


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