# FINALLY - Fish in the Tank!!!!



## grommeckdr (Jan 18, 2010)

Okay Ã¢â‚¬â€œ the day finally came. Got my delivery of fish todayÃ¢â‚¬Â¦ As those of you who have been following this know, I ordered the following:
- 8 Yellow Labs 
- 8 Rusty 
- 10 Snow White 
- 10 Acei 
- 10 Maingano 
- 5 Synodontis multipunctatus

This was to add to the 6 Msobo that I bought at the LFS earlier this week, so 57 fish total. When I opened the box, I was pleasantly surprised to find 4 free Ã¢â‚¬Å"bonusÃ¢â‚¬Â


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## PhillyFish (Jan 25, 2010)

Great photos! Looks like you've got yourself a nice set-up. Keep up the good work!

Where did you order your fish from?


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## ridley25 (Jan 5, 2008)

How exciting! It looks fantastic!

kevin


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## grommeckdr (Jan 18, 2010)

PhillyFish said:


> Where did you order your fish from?


LiveFishDirect.com

I know we're not supposed to comment on retailers here, so I'll be submitting a review in the "Review" section (probably in a few days). PM me if you want to know anything specific.


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## grommeckdr (Jan 18, 2010)

ridley25 said:


> How exciting! It looks fantastic!
> 
> kevin


Thanks, Kevin. Definitely exciting... And thanks again for all your help!!!


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

The cichlids are all very common fish, why did you decide to order them like that?

The small bag system is rather odd with less air than usual, not sure why they did it that way.

Don't expect miracles from those Yellow Labs if they don't turn a nice deep yellow after a couple of days.

You have alot of fish already, but you are missing out on vertically barred Mbuna, like Afra for example or Demasoni, which are some of the most stunning. The Msobo males should turn out interesting thou.


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## Tinga (Nov 27, 2009)

The Labs will color up soon. I ordered a some a few days ago and they were a bit smaller than yours. They were pale and whitish, but have now put on a bit of color. Good looking fish.. Keep the pics coming


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## grommeckdr (Jan 18, 2010)

noki said:


> The cichlids are all very common fish, why did you decide to order them like that?


A lot of reasons:
1) A lot of thought went into the mix (compatibility, color variation, cross-breeding issues, etc.).
2) I wanted to get all of the fish from the same source so that I could stock all at once to minimize aggression. My LFS's would never have all of these at the same time.
3) Better quality than the LFS.
4) COST! Much cheaper this way when buying in quantity...
5) I, as a newbie in the hobby, know more than most LFS employees, which is VERY frustrating.
6) Do I need to go on?


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## grommeckdr (Jan 18, 2010)

Tinga said:


> The Labs will color up soon.


That's what I'm expecting, but still good to hear... They're supposedly a good strain.


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## grommeckdr (Jan 18, 2010)

noki said:


> you are missing out on vertically barred Mbuna, like Afra for example or Demasoni, which are some of the most stunning. The Msobo males should turn out interesting thou.


I actually thought long and hard about that. Almost went with Demasoni, but chose Maingano instead for my "bully" blue fish. Wanted Afra, but couldn't find one that I really liked (particularly the females)...

My Msobo male is changing color by the day it seems. Looking forward to seeing how he turns out...


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## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

Love the tank setup... As u have a lot of fish, u may have to add more caves to the mix, but it looks great...

I was very curious to see the labs. If its not too much to ask, in the next few days update us on how they color up, or not... The rusties look interesting, *** never had them before, so I am curious how they will color up... The maingano and the acei look nice... I got albino socolofi from them as well, and they looked nice as do yours.

How are you liking the color mix? As another poster mentioned, yes they are common, but to get all those fish in bulk at once for the price made it easier on u. Plus, as u have said, ur new to this. But, the process of picking a stock list was done well...Plus ur open to down the road switching out to a vertical barred species if u choose. Again, well done sir


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## grommeckdr (Jan 18, 2010)

justinf67 said:


> Love the tank setup... As u have a lot of fish, u may have to add more caves to the mix, but it looks great...


Thanks, and yes I've been thinking about adding more rock to the middle section. Will make cleaning a bear, and forget about catching fish... :lol:



justinf67 said:


> I was very curious to see the labs. If its not too much to ask, in the next few days update us on how they color up, or not...


I will definitely give you an update....



justinf67 said:


> How are you liking the color mix? As another poster mentioned, yes they are common, but to get all those fish in bulk at once for the price made it easier on u. Plus, as u have said, ur new to this. But, the process of picking a stock list was done well...Plus ur open to down the road switching out to a vertical barred species if u choose. Again, well done sir


So far, so good. If I end up not liking one of the species, I can always swap out for some Afras or something else...

Thanks again for all your help.


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## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

grommeckdr said:


> Thanks, and yes I've been thinking about adding more rock to the middle section. Will make cleaning a bear, and forget about catching fish... :lol:


Sadly, this is a necessary evil. My tank has a prob 200 lbs of rock in it. If I take out rocks, its pretty hard to remember where they were... Its such a pain for me to catch fish. I end up needing to remove rocks. I try to do it a little at a time so I remember, lol... Tomorrow I actually have to do so as I have 2 female Demasoni to catch and strip and to thin out a few of my Msobo.

Glad the forum was able to help u in your decisions! Now just have to enjoy and watch for males.


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## gatorsaver (Jan 3, 2010)

..... the crowd is silent ... awe struck with the shear beauty of the tank
Very Nice. =D> =D> 
I never thought of the snow whites, but man they look great.


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## grommeckdr (Jan 18, 2010)

gatorsaver said:


> ..... the crowd is silent ... awe struck with the shear beauty of the tank
> Very Nice. =D> =D>
> I never thought of the snow whites, but man they look great.


Thanks. Yea, I'm pretty happy with the Snow White decision. They add a nice color contrast.


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## grommeckdr (Jan 18, 2010)

justinf67 said:


> Now just have to enjoy and watch for males.


Now I need to learn how to identify males... I definitely have no idea at this point (other than the Msobo)...


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## Belexes (Oct 5, 2009)

Great looking tank...Gratz :thumb:


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## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

Depending on how much u end up watching the tank, u'll figure out most males by sight. They TEND to be the more aggressive. Maingano, they will be the ones who act out a lot. Honestly, some u may not figure out till u witness them attempting to spawn. From your list, Id only be concerned with the maingano really. They can be nasty little buggers


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## gatorsaver (Jan 3, 2010)

grommeckdr how is everything going.. whould you make any changes to your numbers of each fish??


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## grommeckdr (Jan 18, 2010)

gatorsaver said:


> grommeckdr how is everything going.. whould you make any changes to your numbers of each fish??


So far, so good... The biggest positive so far is that I've seen significant improvement in the Labs - their color is MUCH better than when I got them, and the barring that some have is fading. I think they're going to turn out nice. I'll weed out the least desirable examples when necessary. The Rusty have also improved. A few of them are developing a really nice bronze color with a beautiful purple sheen - very cool.

I lost one fish - one of the the 11 Maingano (the smallest and least colorful of the group). All others seem to be thriving. My male Msobo is my favorite. He's rapidly undergoing his color change. When I got him, he was nearly entirely yellow/orange, and he's now probably 50% blue/black with a nice dark dorsal fin and a striped face. It's fun to watch the change.

In terms of the numbers, I definitely feel like I have too many across the board. I'm currently keeping a few in my 20G for now. Once they grow a bit and I figure out how to vent, I'll start pulling some males. I haven't seen any significant aggression problems yet, but I definitely have a couple of dominant Maingano, a couple of very active Socolofi, and the my male Msobo ("Flounder", as my 4 year old son named him) appears to be the king of the tank.

In terms of the mix, I'm happy with it so far. The labs and female Msobo result in a lot of yellow/orange, but I'm okay with that for now (my wife really likes all the yellow). The Rusty and Acei look a little bit alike at times with their purple coloring. I LOVE the Synos - they're very active and fun to watch. I sometimes wish I had picked a vertical barred species - maybe someday...

I'll try to get some updated pictures to post.


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## grommeckdr (Jan 18, 2010)

Double post...


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## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

told ya u'd miss the vertical barred ones  The fun is, no matter what its ur tank and u can swap out to whatever u want... maybe dems? maybe a cyno? anything...I'm setting up a new tank, and having trouble picking, lol


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## sgwn73 (Jan 1, 2010)

I was curious how your tank handled the bioshock load of adding that many fish at once...did you experience any spikes at all? Hows the water now?

Sean


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## sgwn73 (Jan 1, 2010)

I was curious how your tank handled the bioshock load of adding that many fish at once...did you experience any spikes at all? Hows the water now?

Sean


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## grommeckdr (Jan 18, 2010)

sgwn73 said:


> I was curious how your tank handled the bioshock load of adding that many fish at once...did you experience any spikes at all? Hows the water now?
> 
> Sean


Handled it very well. I tested for a trace of ammonia the first day or so, but none since. No positive tests for nitrite. Doing 50% weekly water changes currently, and nitrates have been low so far...


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## grommeckdr (Jan 18, 2010)

justinf67 said:


> told ya u'd miss the vertical barred ones  The fun is, no matter what its ur tank and u can swap out to whatever u want... maybe dems? maybe a cyno? anything...I'm setting up a new tank, and having trouble picking, lol


I know - you're the one that "seeded" my head with that idea - THANKS!!! :lol:

Yea, I might swap one of my current species for a cyno in the future. Maybe get rid of the Labs since I have yellow covered with the Msobo. Think Dems and Maingano would "play nice" together?


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## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

I had one aggressive male maingano and he never bothered my dems. so, in my limited experience on that mix, it worked for me...hes gone now though for trying to kill my albino socolofi.


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## grommeckdr (Jan 18, 2010)

Justin, how do you like your Mbamba? They might be an interesting replacement for my labs?


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## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

I like them. I originally ordered them from the same place u got ur fish...I think I ordered 6. ended up being 3 males, 3 females. One male was bigger. As they grew up some he made the others turn off their purplish colors. They went a dark black color. I got rid of the 2 excess males to my lfs, and kept the biggest dominant one. One female died. So, I have 1 male, 2 females. He loves one of the females. She is way dominant over the other. They have bred for me prob 6 times. I have prob 40 fry from .5 to almost 2 inches right now. I will be trading in the male juvies prob next month as they are starting to develop the bright purple of the male...

The male when in breeding dress is awesome. When he isn't he still has the bright purple coloration, but the bars arent as prominent. The females are a bit drab, they look dark purplish/brown. I've def had worse looking females, lol...Overall, they are nice fish to keep, and the male tolerates the juvies pretty well. But, the females are a little bit of a turnoff.

If I was you, I would find some amazing variant of barred afra, and go with them no matter how drab. The rest of ur tank will make up for it colorwise and the afra could be the centerpiece fish...Just a thought...

By the way, I just placed an order myself and will be stocking new fish next week. 8)


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## grommeckdr (Jan 18, 2010)

Thanks for the feedback.



justinf67 said:


> If I was you, I would find some amazing variant of barred afra, and go with them no matter how drab. The rest of ur tank will make up for it colorwise and the afra could be the centerpiece fish...Just a thought...


Yea, that's probably what I'll do, particularly since I already have a lot of blue/purple. No need to add more with the Mbamba.



justinf67 said:


> By the way, I just placed an order myself and will be stocking new fish next week. 8)


From the same place? Looking forward to hearing how it goes and seeing some pics!!! :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish:


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## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

No, its not from the same place u got urs. I have gotten a little snobby with what I want to keep next, lol...Trying to get harder to get species. The place I ordered from rhymes with rave's, lol... I got two afras myself, only problem is they will be super small, so they will have to growout a while before I can see the amazing colors. I got jalo reef's, nhkata bay's and metriclima lime nkhomo...The lime nkhomo was at the suggestion of the vendor and I am very curious how they turn out as theres not too many pics of them online... I am super stoked for the nhkta bay's as well...


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## grommeckdr (Jan 18, 2010)

justinf67 said:


> No, its not from the same place u got urs. I have gotten a little snobby with what I want to keep next, lol...Trying to get harder to get species. The place I ordered from rhymes with rave's, lol... I got two afras myself, only problem is they will be super small, so they will have to growout a while before I can see the amazing colors. I got jalo reef's, nhkata bay's and metriclima lime nkhomo...The lime nkhomo was at the suggestion of the vendor and I am very curious how they turn out as theres not too many pics of them online... I am super stoked for the nhkta bay's as well...


Nice... Looking forward to an update once they arrive.


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## grommeckdr (Jan 18, 2010)

Here are a couple of updated pictures. I can't seem to take a good quality picture - I have a hard time focusing through the glass...any pointers???

My dominant male Maingano (I believe):









My male Msobo part way through his color change:









One of my Rusties:


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## justinf67 (Jul 19, 2009)

ur maingano looks amazing! Im jealous. The 3 maingano I have havnt turned the dark shade yet. My msobo is still not changing, such a slow process...Your rusty looks similar to my mbamba, but it has vertical barring. Overall, very nice! U happy with them?


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## grommeckdr (Jan 18, 2010)

justinf67 said:


> ur maingano looks amazing! Im jealous. The 3 maingano I have havnt turned the dark shade yet. My msobo is still not changing, such a slow process...Your rusty looks similar to my mbamba, but it has vertical barring. Overall, very nice! U happy with them?


Thanks. He's by far the darkest of my 10 Maingano. One other is fairly dark, but the rest are much lighter in color (and smaller).

The Msobo is changing pretty quickly - looks different every day... When I got him (about 3 weeks ago), he was almost entirely yellow/orange - just a very slight blue tinge on his forehead.

Yes, I'm happy with everything so far...


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## TheBanker (Jun 14, 2008)

nice, must have been exciting getting all those fish at once.


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## gatorsaver (Jan 3, 2010)

Darrin 
Just checking in to see how everything was going if you have made any changes? Do you still like you total numbers?
I just added Astatotilapia Latifasciata "Zebra Obliquidens"x 4 and P. Zebra Albino x 5 
to my tank today after a stay of almost two weeks in the QT Tank.. what a nice change. The Obliques are Haps and really look good and the Albinos are not the Snow Whites but are very close.


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## grommeckdr (Jan 18, 2010)

So far, so good. I did weed out a few to reduce the total numbers in the tank. I took out 4 of the Acei, since they are by far the largest and with 10 of them, I felt like they were visually overpowering the tank. I took out a few Labs and a couple of Rusties as well. I'm now at 49 total fish in the tank. The rest are in my small tank until I can re-home them. Have any pictures of your new additions, Gatorsaver?


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