# mbuna tank mix



## djnid (Nov 29, 2017)

I saw a video on YouTube that showed picking out about 20 different mbuna cichlids for a 55 gallon tank. I was wondering what everyone thought about doing this as opposed to the more common approach of getting 4-5 of each species. I do not care about breeding and with mbunas, I understand that females can be as colorful as males so I just plan on buying unsexed juveniles.

Also wondering how many I can introduce at one time into a fully cycled 55g.

And finally, what do you think of mail order vs LFS? I am in North Idaho with very little in the way of local stores with much variety of mbunas.

thanks for any and all advice, looking forward to discussing some things on this forum


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

Well you can, just try to avoid situations where lone females of a type can be harassed too much. Similar males will compete with each and may battle or one may lose color. Avoid the nastiest adult Mbuna, like Auratus or Bumblebee, they can be quite annoying and not even look that good when adults.

The biggest problem is that you end up with a few dominant males and a lot of mediocre fish. You can plan a non breeding tank, but just throwing 20 different Mbuna together results in many fish not doing their best.

Many females are colorful but females do not change for the better, and some look worse when adults. Now males, they can really fire up their color when dominant and I've always found this to be a great appeal of Malawi cichlids. I never think of a Malawi tank as being a static color tank like Tetras... some fish are always being dominant and "shine", some fish are always lower in the pecking order and look mediocre. You are not going to get 20 different Mbuna, and have them all look their best.


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## CraGunner (Feb 12, 2016)

djnid said:


> I understand that females can be as colorful as males so I just plan on buying unsexed juveniles.


That's going to be very species dependent. SOME Mbuna have pretty females, many have drab females.



djnid said:


> And finally, what do you think of mail order vs LFS? I am in North Idaho with very little in the way of local stores with much variety of mbunas.


Unless you have a top notch LFS you don't always know what you're getting. The LFSs by me have mixed mbuna tanks with some pretty sketchy looking fish. Mail order is the way to go (unless you can make a day trip and head south to Salt Lake, the breeder there, whom I'm not supposed to name, is excellent and very helpful).

As for your strategy of 20 random fish in a 55 gallon... 
1-That seems like a lot of fish for a 55 to me. I have a 75 with around 18 fish, and it seems pretty full. 
2-Most people on this forum will tell you to go with the standard 1 male to 3 female breeding groups. That's the tried and true method and generally yields the best results. My own tank, however, is an all male Mbuna tank. If you are not going to go with the standard breeding group setup, you really should think about an all male tank. If there are females in the tank, the males will fight over the females. You'll probably have a warzone on your hands, and at the very least all your females will probably be killed. My all male tank is actually quite a bit more peaceful now than when I had it set up in a standard breeding group tank. I've been thrilled with the success of my all male tank so far, but many of the fish are not full sized yet. Anything could happen when they all get bigger.

Just my two cents. Good luck mate.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

You can do all-male, one of each in a 55G...it's just much more challenging than mixed gender groups or even all-male in a larger tank. I would stock more like 8-10 individuals though...and mbuna are more difficult than haps and peacocks with all-male.

You want extra tanks and a rehoming plan.

For unsexed juveniles in a 55G with no extra tank and no way to rehome...I would go with Chindongo saulosi (formerly known as Pseudotropheus). They may tolerate extra males and all the fish are colorful.


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## djnid (Nov 29, 2017)

CraGunner said:


> My own tank, however, is an all male Mbuna tank. If you are not going to go with the standard breeding group setup, you really should think about an all male tank.


How exactly did you get to the all male tank? What steps did you take? What species did you end up with?
Thanks


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## The Morning (Nov 22, 2017)

Are we not allowed to name reputable online dealers? I just made a decent sized purchase from I believe the same in mentioned above. They arrived alive and all look great. Acclimated and placed in tanks yesterday. It is tough to beat online for the variety that they offer and the costs even with shipping are very competitive.

And the dealer above allows you to purchase males for additional $


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Naming vendors often turns into a pro/con debate in the forums so it is suggested to either use the Reviews section or PM the member with suggestions.


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## CraGunner (Feb 12, 2016)

djnid said:


> CraGunner said:
> 
> 
> > My own tank, however, is an all male Mbuna tank. If you are not going to go with the standard breeding group setup, you really should think about an all male tank.
> ...


I didn't actually start out for an all Male tank. It's a long story. Short version: My harem tank ended up with almost all males, so I flipped out, bought some fish I probably shouldn't have bought, came to my senses and decided to come up with a new plan, which was an all male tank. I re-homed the few females and all the extraneous males, then went to the breeder in Salt Lake and those excellent people did their best to sex some fish for me, and now I have an (almost) all male tank (my Perlmutt was pretending to be a boy and was a beautiful pearly white, now the little devil turned yellow and I've spotted her holding...).

As was mentioned above, many of the online dealers will sex the fish, though it usually costs a bit more. But be warned, they don't always get it right. You still have to keep an eye on things. So if you are doing an all male tank, you can either buy a bunch of juveniles and hope to get at least one male of each species, or you can just pay a bit extra and order males. I would just order all males, if it were me.

If I had it to do over again, and was set on an all male Mbuna tank, the steps I would take are as follows:
-Fishless cycle your tank with enough ammonia that you can add all your fish at once. 
-Do your research on which fish you want to buy. 
-Do your research again. Ignorance will kill your fish. 
-Find a dealer that will sex your fish and offers the species you want. This forum has reviews on all the big dealers. (And seriously, if you have a free Saturday, make the drive to Salt Lake. Those guys are super helpful, will possibly give you a discount if you are actually in the store, and it's just cool to see the operation.) ((Sorry DJ, but I didn't name any names :wink: ))
-Monitor your tank closely once the fish are in. It's a balancing act. I had two deaths right off the bat when I switched to all male (red zebra and albino socolofi), and had to rehome my Maingano, he was a jerk. Since then the tank has been pretty dang awesome.

As for my stocking list (let's see if I can remember all of them at work, without looking at my tank: 
-Saulosi
-Afra Blaze
-Cobue
-Lime Nkhomo Mbenji
-Rusty
-Ice Blue Zebra Greshekie
-Yellow Tail Acei Msuli
-Perlmutt *female darn it! Am looking for a new home for her. 
-Powder Blue Socolofi
-Polit
-Textilus Exasperatus
-Chailosi
-Bristlenose Pleco *not an mbuna, but they're awesome.

And for the fish I bought in a fit of madness/was offered an amazing deal, that you probably shouldn't put in your tank, and will probably give DJ an aneurism when he reads this: 
-3 Ob Peacocks 
-Tropheus Bemba Flame
-Tropheus Chidumbi Red Stripe
-Tropheus Duboisi

The Peacocks will probably be just fine. They are getting big, and only occasionally chase each other. The tropheus... so far so good, but they are only about 3 inches right now. They have been model citizens, but they make me nervous. As awesome as they are, and for how cheap I got them, I am still very worried they are going to turn my tank into the thunderdome. Stick to the Mbuna.

Final bit of advice, 
1- don't buy any super aggressive species. No bumblebees, Auratus, etc... 
2- In a 55 g, you might want to stick to Dwarf Mbuna that won't exceed 4 inches. 6 inch fish in your tank are going to be crowded. More than half of my mbuna are dwarf, so you have plenty to choose from. 
3- As DJ said, 8-10 fish is probably good for your tank. I have a buddy with an all male 55g tank, and he tried to stock his tank with about 20 fish. They killed each other off and the tank only stabilized when they got down to 9, I believe. 
But this advice is coming from someone that broke several of the *rules* so do with it what you will. Good luck.


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## djnid (Nov 29, 2017)

thanks for all the info, I appreciate it


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