# Saulosi & Maingano



## swrighty747 (Aug 30, 2011)

Hey guys,
I am thinking of starting a new tank and get some Saulosi (1m, 3f) & Maingano (1m, 3f). Just wanting to know peoples thought and what size tank you think I would need??? 
Thanks :thumb: opcorn: :thumb:


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

You will want a 75G rectangle (48" x 18") or larger for the maingano and 1m:7f to manage their aggression. I'd try for a few more saulosi females as well.


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## swrighty747 (Aug 30, 2011)

DJRansome said:


> You will want a 75G rectangle (48" x 18") or larger for the maingano and 1m:7f to manage their aggression. I'd try for a few more saulosi females as well.


Thanks for the reply  Would there be somthing that would go better with the Saulosi then the maingano other then yellow labs???? :-?


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## QHgal (May 18, 2006)

You don't want saulosi and yellow labs together, too much yellow. Maingano NEED at least a 75 gal, they get big and are aggressive, I've even had holding females circle and fight with males.

Rusty's are a good addition, and are friendly, like a pack of puppies LOL What color are you looking for? Anything that doesn't have similar barring like the saulosi male would mostly work, depending on aggression.

If your going with a 75 gal tank, you could easily do 4 species. If you want a 55, then go with 3 at the max. The species that can go with saulosi will ultimately depend on your tank size.


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## The King Crabb (Jun 28, 2011)

QHgal said:


> Maingano NEED at least a 75 gal, they get big and are aggressive, I've even had holding females circle and fight with males.


That's interesting. I have Maingano (1m:7f) in my 55G downstairs and haven't had any problems with them. They're getting fairly large too, dominant male is around 4" and females range from 2"-3.5"


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## swrighty747 (Aug 30, 2011)

QHgal said:


> You don't want saulosi and yellow labs together, too much yellow. Maingano NEED at least a 75 gal, they get big and are aggressive, I've even had holding females circle and fight with males.
> 
> Rusty's are a good addition, and are friendly, like a pack of puppies LOL What color are you looking for? Anything that doesn't have similar barring like the saulosi male would mostly work, depending on aggression.
> 
> If your going with a 75 gal tank, you could easily do 4 species. If you want a 55, then go with 3 at the max. The species that can go with saulosi will ultimately depend on your tank size.


Yer I dont like the idea of yellow labs and saulosi... Rusty's sound good is there other ways of sexing them beside venting??? and would 1m 3f be a good ratio??? Oh and its a 55gallon and only putting 2 species...
Thanks and sorry for all the questions :-?


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## The King Crabb (Jun 28, 2011)

Since it's a 55G and there's only two species (and one of them is a dwarf) that means you can have more of each! :thumb:

I'd do:
4m:14f Saulosi
1m:5f Rusty

Venting is the only sure way to sex :fish:


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## swrighty747 (Aug 30, 2011)

The King Crabb said:


> Since it's a 55G and there's only two species (and one of them is a dwarf) that means you can have more of each! :thumb:
> 
> I'd do:
> 4m:14f Saulosi
> ...


Sounds good  well sorta good lol is there any other fish that will mix well with the saulosi its just that if not to fussed on the rusty's :?


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## DIAMOND_CICHLIDS (Sep 22, 2011)

yes this is true female maingano can be very aggressive, i bought one that i added to my tank (thinking it was a male) and this fish took over the tank while holding i think. Before her , venustus was dominating and when she was in he started hiding in corners....And that female gave me a little baby and then died the day after


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Socolofi? Perlmutt?


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## QHgal (May 18, 2006)

Y'know, a lot of people back off of Rusty's because they aren't as flashy, I know I did for a LONG time. I got my first rusty's about 2 months ago and I just LOVE them. They aren't the prettiest fish in the tank, but they are the first to greet, and they lead the pack when they all follow you from one side of the tank to the other.

Also, I've had huge maingano before, with the dominant male and at least one female seriously pushing 6 inches. Right now it may be fine, but as they get larger, you might start having issues.

It really depends on what color you want to add. Saulosi are so vibrant, no matter what you add, they are going to be the eye catchers of your tank. Socolofi would be nice, even the albino (tho I'm not a fan of the red eyes) especially if you have dark rockwork. M Callianos (Cobalt Blue Zebra) might be nice, no stripes, so no competition with the saulosi. the females are a pale blue, males get a deeper blue. Or Red Zebra, IF you can get some nice stock. They are so overbred and common in the hobby, watch that you don't buy from the "mixed african" tank at the LFS store, they are notorious for hybridizing with other species, most commonly with labs, so watch that your actually getting a pure species. Or, if your looking for something that looks unusual, you might try the OB Zebra. Splotched, so then you have spots, stripes and solid  Just, if your going with any kind of zebra, watch those ratios.

If your going with juvies, not really any way to sex them. Just get more than you plan to end up with and weed out the extra males.


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## swrighty747 (Aug 30, 2011)

Hey guys 
Thanks for all your info and thoughts, what about Afra Cobue and saulosi :-?  :-?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Two blue-barred fish in the same tank can cause problems.


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## swrighty747 (Aug 30, 2011)

DJRansome said:


> Two blue-barred fish in the same tank can cause problems.


Ok I think I will just go with the saulosi alone and just get more of them :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

So 2m 9f :-? :-? :-?


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## QHgal (May 18, 2006)

If your doing a saulosi only tank, up those numbers quite a bit, maybe something like 4-5 males and 20 females. Could possibly go even higher on the females... Give them hiding places on each end of the tank and you'll have males claim each side, which means you'll have more colored up males. Not a bad thing


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## Murkin (Jan 5, 2012)

I've kept Maingano in a 40G breeder for almost 2 years now. I have 1 male, and 3 females (1 dominant, 1 of them unconfirmed, both are spawns from the older female). While it is true that they chase each other A LOT, and there is always some minor fin damage on all of them (except the male), they are always coloured up, hungry, and full of spunk. I started with 3 (1m:2f, one of the females died shortly after purchase, so I doubt it had anything to do with aggression at the time). Their tankmates are 4 yellow labs, 1 tropheops elongatus boadzulu (no, he is not nearly as aggressive as the mainganos) and 8 saulosi (2m:6f - newest addition, just traded for 8 demasoni). The demasoni had to go for reasons that had nothing to do with the Mainganos, they mostly ignored each other.

My Mainganos have spawned at least 3 times in the past 8 months, and are by far the most dominant fish in the tank. They usually get along fine with their tankmates, save for any time the male yellow lab starts getting cocky (his aggression shrinks considerably as soon as he finds himself face to face with either the dom male Maingano or the dom female).

I think the key to keeping these guys are having A LOT of hiding places for them. I would say that more than 30-35% of the actual volume of the tank is taken up by rocks and fake cave decorations I've put in there. There are probably at least 2 hiding spots per fish in my tank. Also, once every 2 months or so, I re-arrange the decor so as to break up territories, and they get a 20% water change every week. I also have 2 filters, a 70G rated one, and a 30G rated one working at once.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

So good to hear you continue to enjoy your tank, Murkin!


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## Murkin (Jan 5, 2012)

I actually am enjoying it quite a bit. Not as much as I enjoy proving naysayers wrong, but still


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

Murkin said:


> I actually am enjoying it quite a bit. Not as much as I enjoy proving naysayers wrong, but still


There are always going to be exceptions to every generality. In general the advice provided here is on the conservative side, mostly because the people asking are usually relatively inexperienced. Heck, I've bred maingano in a two foot cube tank, and a friend breeds all of his mbuna in 3ft 50 gallon tanks. Having said that, if we make such suggestions to newer hobbyists, and the fish are too aggressive as often is the case for smaller tanks, then we run the risk of running them out of the hobby. It isn't so much that people are naysayers, as it is providing advice that has the greatest probability of working, for even the most novice hobbyist. In my experience, 1:7 for maingano is incredibly conservative, most of the time I've had 3-5 females, with 1-3 males and been perfectly fine. The only time I had a larger population was in the two foot cubed tank, where I had about 15, though I can't recall the ratio now.

On the other hand, plenty of times there are exceptions that even with conservative stocking, thing won't work out because someone ends up with a more than aggressive than usual specimen and it causes issues. I've heard of circumstances where someone had an Aulonocara baenschi picking on a tank of mbuna. Makes you scratch your head, but these things do happen from time to time.

I've kept saulosi and maingano together in both a 125 and a 75 gallon without issue to either one. If they were the only two species in a 55 gallon, I would try it. Of course I've kept these fish for over 30 years now, and can spot potential issues, where a newbie might not. The better the ratios, the better the chances for success. (Meaning more females to male) The bigger the tank, the better the chances for success.

When giving advice, you need to know your audience. Just because it has worked for one person, when it might not have for a half dozen, doesn't make it good advice. I've bred demasoni as a trio... doesn't mean it will work very often, nor would it be recommended for most.


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## Murkin (Jan 5, 2012)

Fair enough, and I understand where you guys are coming from which is why I ended my original post with a disclaimer in terms of how much work it does take to make sure these guys are happy and healthy. That being said, I felt like I was getting turned away from the hobby BECAUSE of the totality with which some of the more experienced people tend to categorically deny the possibility of success in these kinds of set ups. All I am trying to do is share my experience over the past 2 years, as it has gone somewhat against the grain. Perfect example of this is the utter failure which my experiment with demasoni was. Started with 20 and they fought and squabbled all the way down to 7. I even added at least 6 along the way to keep the total number over 12 but to no avail. Again, just sharing my experience but saying those guys can be kept with yellow labs in a 40g is just plain crazy to me. Anyway I appreciate the advice, but lets be honest here, it really depends on how much work the keeper is willing to put in. Unless youre dealing with demasoni. In which case, you are entirely powerless


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