# Haps and Mbuna in 125gal.



## Bweb (Mar 31, 2009)

What are some opinions on keeping haps and Mbunas in a mixed malawi tank or suggestions on what groups would work well together Just exploring all the options.


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## Mikey13 (Apr 1, 2008)

I'm sure I'll get pounded for this, but someone once told me.......it's your tank...put whatever you want in it. Take that advice with a bit of common sense, and a bit of research. Not many people like to be told what fish to keep, but there is some "history" as to what works and what MIGHT not. If it seems like something that's ridiculous, then don't bother, but if you get mixed reviews, or no one seems to have a definitive answer...then you have the option of throwing caution, money, and fishes lives to the wind, and try to experiment.

I don't say this to discourage you, because at many different times over history, people have tried MANY different combinations of fish, some which worked in some tanks, and some which didn't go so well. There are no 100% right answers, only guidelines. Some which are proven strongly accurate , and some which are blindly followed because they "heard that's what they used to do". Fish keeping can be a very political and touchy subject among some, and a very non-chalant hobby with others. The choice is yours.

Happy fish-keeping.

Do what makes you happy!!


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## lotsofish (Feb 28, 2008)

I've always heard that rusties & labs do well with haps. I've never kept rusties but I've had a group of labs, a group of haps and and a group of peacocks together and breeding. I also had a group of shellies breeding in the same tank with them.

I got tired of fry. Have an all-male tank now and have haps, peacocks and some less aggressive male mbuna.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

It really comes down to which mbuna and which Haps you are going to choose. Not all combinations are likely to work.


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## Bweb (Mar 31, 2009)

My main reason for asking is that I have two male electric blues 2" in size currently in my 55gal. so I'll need to move them to the 125 since they go 6" at full size they are the only haps I currently have and would be the only ones in the 125 but if that sounds like it would be problematic to have them with 5 breeding groups 1/m 5/f of mbuna then the poor guys could go back to the LFS or remain in the 55.

Any thoughts or recommendation you guys are the pro's and thanks for the quick feed back

Only two weeks left until the 125 is cycled give or take a few days I used lots of media from a couple of other cycled tank filters to hopefully speed the process

Their are so many sweet mbuna to chose from It's a little over whelming I'm thinking of taking a ride to Atlantis (Breeding facility) about 2.5 hours from my house to get some quality fish :dancing: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish:


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## Bweb (Mar 31, 2009)

Hears a Pic of the 125Gal


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## Carmesi (May 8, 2008)

I agree with the first response. Put what you want in. I have found that fish will have seperate personlaities and not to generalize except in extreme agressive species.
I have a 125G and the LFS i thought i trusted kept telling me not to mix at all and I finally just did it anyway. I have 6 cyntolopia afras (cobue) and some pseudotropheus in with many peacocks, a frontosa, a calvus, and copidacromis borleyi.
They told me the cyntolopia and pseudotropheus would stick the the rocks and bug all the fish that came near. 
This was far from the case in my tank. they actually are always out in the open with the peacocks and havent tormented a single fish. On the other hand the copidacromis (supposedly the most dosile of the fish in my tank) is crazy agressive toward everything. (including my hand) 
But a 125 is big enough to give room for fish to run and if you stock it with many fish, then the agressive fish gets distributed enough not to stress a single fish too much. 
Moral of story:
Do whatever you want! your exact set up may work for you and not for the next guy.


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## fancy diver (Mar 21, 2009)

By 2 electric blues do you meen blue ahli(scianochromis fryeri). If so that is one of the haps *** seen housed w/mbuna. This could work honestly. they can hold theyre own. The only thing is the diet differences mbuna are usually herbivore haps usually carnivore. If you feed nls cichlid formula that would be good for all parties. 
Of course now i say that someone will drill me on the post, and your tank will turn to a warzone.
There is a chaos theory with these fish and if anybody could predict 98%, it would work, theyre a genius.


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## Bweb (Mar 31, 2009)

fancy diver said:


> By 2 electric blues do you meen blue ahli(scianochromis fryeri).
> 
> Yes
> 
> ...


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## Intermision (Sep 14, 2007)

I have a mixed hap mbuna tank
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... p?t=193546
It seems to work well, I find that you just have to make enough room for the haps to swim while having enough rocks for the mbuna.


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## kodyboy (Dec 9, 2007)

I have lots of haps and some peacocks with my mbuna. 
I have Otto. Lithobates, spilonatus, freyeri, phenochelius, some vics, dragonsblood peacocks, 
OB peacocks, and a pair of dwarf blue fire red empress. These guys are in with yellow labs, cyaneohabdos, labeotropheus, red zebras, chewerre, afras, white labs and galleria reefs long pelvic. All is working fine, little to no aggresion and lot of breeding (too much in fact). Oh almost forgot the demasoni 
I would not put them with auratus, kenyi, chipokee or bumblebees, but I would not put much of anything with those beasts.
sorry about the spelling


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## JlNXX (Jan 20, 2015)

I have a wide tall 60 gallon. And have been experimenting with what will get along with my mbunas. the peacocks were a bit timid,but surviving. They just weren't colorong up much, so they got moved to a semi agressive tank and are doing great. My OB peacock was being a bit of a dick so I grabbed 3 larger guys from a mixed mbuna tank at the lfs to find out they had haps mixed in there and some yellow labs. They did exactly what I wanted and the OB chilled out. They all seem to be doing great. Colored up, and very little chasing. I guess only time will tell.

Mbuna - 2 female auratus, 1 female red zebra, 1 female albino zebra, 1 f snow white socolofi, 1 m johanni, 1 m red top zebra, 1 rusty.
Haps - 1 m milomo, 1 midnight mloto
Labs - 1m hongi.
Peacocks - 1 m OB.
2 one spot jewels, 3 upsidedown catfish, and 2 common plecos.

Keeping a good eye on the tank dynamic is your safest bet when mixing. If it looks like it's getting picked on, get it out.


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## jw85 (Dec 24, 2013)

Some odd advice in this thread.

I would assume most people who are saying they have mixed tanks and it works fine haven't had their tanks setup long and/or the fish are still really small. The videos you see on youtube with whacky setups I'd say the same thing. The odds of it working for years is very small.

Based on your plan of breeding groups for the 125, I'd say either keep the blues in your 55 or get rid of them (you probably won't be able to keep 2 males in one tank long term BTW).

Based on my experience, I wouldn't do anything other than labs with haps. Maybe rusties, I haven't tried them, but labs work. My acie didn't work. He was about 5.5 inches long and was a horrible fin nipper.

I'd only try your mixed group if you have a backup option to rehome. My old acie is now in my LFS show tank.


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## Ten Tonne Tomahawk (Apr 24, 2015)

I have always mixed, will always mix and am currently mixing.
Electric blues are some of the easiest fish to mix in. Rarely dominant outside of breeding conditions. They will be more likely to give each other a hard time than to hurt or even acknowledge the Mbuna. The Mbuna, for their part, will likely restrict and and all aggression to a quick assertive 'squirt' to remove the Blue from their favorite cave. Once the Blue s out, the aggression aught to stop.

This is a 4x2x2 all male mixed set up I ran 10 years ago. You can see there is a large Albino M. Zebra, a medium M. Lombardoi, a medium Cobalt Blue M. Callarnos and a nearly full sized Electric Yellow Lab and in the far end, slightly obscured by the plant is a L. Fuelborni. In with it are a very mature N. Venustus, a decent sized,C. Moorii, a N. Polystigma, a slightly larger than juvenile N. Fuscotaniatus, a C. Spiloryinchus, a D. Compressiceps, an as yet un-coloured Red Empress and just under the Cobalt Zebra, if it isn't an Electric Blue.... (Also, an L.Elongatus from lake Tanganyika. for that added dimension of mixed)
Keep the rocks to the back, leave the front fairy open and you should not get many issues. Haps are open water swimmers. Mbuna translates from native African as Rock Fish. If you take this into consideration, you should avoid all issues.
That tank survived with little change for a couple of years before I replaced it with a 7x2x2 and changed to American cichlids for a while. (I went through a nasty split and needed a full change)


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