# Beginner mbuna species



## kgrieve (Nov 28, 2017)

hi guys,
im new to mbuna and have a 100g, 5ft long tank that is cycled and has 8 electric yellows in it atm (juvenile).
i heard from multiple sources that yellow tail acei and rusties are great for beginners as they are the less psychotic strains of mbuna. unfortunately my LFS is useless and i quote "didnt even know they existed" so looking for alternatives. i would prefer a tank with minimal fish destruction. i found a video suggesting good starter mbuna and i would appreciate hearing a second opinion on the content of the video.

the link is: 




any insight from you guys would be fantastic,
thanks in advance.

btw external dimensions of my tank are as follows: 155cm L, 55cm H, 53cm D
and i have a fluval fx6 running on it so filtration is not an issue.


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## joselepiu (Jul 22, 2017)

this links might help you... 8) 8) 8)

cichlid Profiles

cookie cutter setup for 75-gallons +

species recommendations for beginners

hope it helps... it did help me a lot...

:fish: :thumb: opcorn: :thumb: :fish:


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

If your goal is easy-going fish I would choose acei instead of cobalts (scientific name is Metriaclima callainos).


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## kgrieve (Nov 28, 2017)

DJRansome, im not necessarily bothered if they are easy going or not, im assuming you're referring to how active they are, im more concerned about fish killing each other. 
im a student so i dont have tonnes of cash to throw into stock and i cant afford to replace a whole tank should a male go rampant during the night. but if you mean that the cobalts are likely to kill a fish here and there then totally go with the acei, its just i cant source them which is why im looking for alternative strains of mbuna.


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## kgrieve (Nov 28, 2017)

and thankyou joselepiu, this helped me tonnes


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The cobalts are more likely to kill fish (themselves or others) than the acei.

What about rusties or Cynotilapia?


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## Wildjester23 (Sep 10, 2017)

Yellow tail acei would go great, get about 7-10 off them. They usually swim together and are peaceful mbuna. I have 7 in my tank and i love them. 
My OB zebras are fairly calm as well and add a nice orange color to tank.


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## kgrieve (Nov 28, 2017)

both the rusties and the yellow tails i have failed to source in nz. like i said in my original post, my LFS didnt even know that either existed and they have supposedly been in the business for 35+ years lol. and they wont ship from the US so unless i can find acei/rusties in nz i need alternative strains. i havent heard of cynotilapia so ill look into those? and due to already having alot of yellow labs i would rather not have red zebras but if i cant find anything else then that will have to do.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

cobalts and red zebras are about the same aggression level...but Cynotilapia are more peaceful. Cynotilapia sp. hara are ideal. Cynotilapia zebroides (any collection point) would be even more peaceful, but females are drab.


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## kgrieve (Nov 28, 2017)

good to know about the cobalt & red zebra having the same aggression level. i really like the cynotilapia as well, like alot. the females dont bother me, at this stage its really just about trying to find some diversity lol otherwise im stuck with a 100 gal full of electric yellows. but thankyou for broadening my species selection because it was looking rather grim for a while there hahaha. since my LFS didnt even know what acei were, im not putting my money on them having any of the cynotilapia but its worth a shot aye.
and just because i know my LFS actually stocks cobalt zebras, what is the chance of them actually being aggressive enough to kill fish in a tank of the dimensions i described in my original post? because it might just come to the point where i only have access to cobalts and auratas lol in which case it would become the lesser of 2 evils.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

All mbuna can kill each other...even yellow labs. But your odds are better with the labs. Any Metriaclima may not tolerate multiple males in a tank.

Usually deaths are not outright murder, but continued harassment until the victim becomes sick.


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## kgrieve (Nov 28, 2017)

righto steer clear of the cobalt zebras


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## kgrieve (Nov 28, 2017)

DJRansome could you give me a little more info on the cynotilapia? why are they not recommended anywhere for being peaceful? also i have actually managed to source some cobue but not the hara strain as of yet, im in the process of stealing an import contact from germany from one of the local shops


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## joselepiu (Jul 22, 2017)

kgrieve said:


> DJRansome could you give me a little more info on the cynotilapia? why are they not recommended anywhere for being peaceful? also i have actually managed to source some cobue but not the hara strain as of yet, im in the process of stealing an import contact from germany from one of the local shops


 :lol: :lol: :lol: ...


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## kgrieve (Nov 28, 2017)

lol joselepiu they wanted 45 bucks per fish from the shop so i decided to just steal their contact.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

They are a little more aggressive than the acei, but a little less aggressive than the metriaclima. Cobue are more peaceful than hara, so you should be good.

As mentioned, it is a stretch for any mbuna to be called peaceful, but yellow labs are the closest thing.


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## BlueSunshine (Jul 13, 2014)

I would try for the cynotilapia hara, the males look great and the females have a nice blue to them.


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## kgrieve (Nov 28, 2017)

DJRansome, i found out today that there is a list of fish that are legally allowed to be imported into new zealand. yellow tail acei and rusties are actually illegal to import because they are not on the list, hence why i am unable to find any lol. i have instead bought 4 juvenile jalo reef cynos to add to the tank and will be stocking with another 4 once i have another 140 bucks lol. i dont think the sp hara is legal cause its not specifically on the list but maybe they could "unknowingly" import it because it is of the same genus as the jalo reef's and cobues? would it be a wise idea to mix cobues and jalo reefs?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

No better to stick with one blue barred species per tank.


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## gillmanjr (Jan 27, 2017)

You could just get female cobalts if you really had your heart set on them and were worried about aggression. I recently just added 2 female Red Zebras to my tank. So far so good, they can handle themselves but they don't harass anyone else. I'm not sure how much of a color difference there is between male and female cobalt, I think its minimal though.


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## joselepiu (Jul 22, 2017)

would not they cross-breed with the jalo reef cynos ?... == to hybrid ? :-? :-? :-? ...


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## kgrieve (Nov 28, 2017)

i rang up my nearest cichlid expert and he said, while some species are more or less aggressive in the wild, putting them in a small tank will make the most placid of mbuna somewhat aggressive (and so to scrap my bias on "peaceful" vs aggressive mbuna). so he suggested a group of female auratus and a group of female snow white socolofi alongside the electric yellows and the jalo reefs i currently have. interestingly enough he also suggested adding a group of blue dolphins as a sort of dither fish which i was intrigued by but unfortuantely my tank is only just big enough to keep them and to be honest i dont want to keep a fish that is only just fitting inside. i want all my fish to be comfortable and happy and i definitely dont want any "only justs".
so my mind has moved past cobalts just because i would rather not have breeding between the labs and the cobalts.
let me know your guys opinions


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

Auratus are one of the most aggressive species of Mbuna... Definitely not one I'd choose if you're going for peaceful lol. I'd also not recommend adding haps with any Mbuna and moorii are not what I'd refer to as "dither" fish. Is this "expert" perhaps the owner of an LFS? I'm just wondering because I don't know why in the world he would suggest that grouping if he didn't have some kind of motive.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

For any breeding groups in your tank...to minimize the risk of crossbreeding, I would have 1m:4f of each or even more females. 1m:5f snow white socolofi would be a nice addition however.

I like auratus and dolphins better in a 72" tank.


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## kgrieve (Nov 28, 2017)

caldwelldaniel26 said:


> Auratus are one of the most aggressive species of Mbuna... Definitely not one I'd choose if you're going for peaceful lol. I'd also not recommend adding haps with any Mbuna and moorii are not what I'd refer to as "dither" fish. Is this "expert" perhaps the owner of an LFS? I'm just wondering because I don't know why in the world he would suggest that grouping if he didn't have some kind of motive.


well yes i know the auratus are aggressive and i raised that point. he seemed to be very certain that while the males may be hyper aggressive to everything that moves, a group of FEMALE auratus (emphasis on the female bit lol) would be a great addition. and in regards to your concern over the dolphins, i also said to him about the haps mixing and whatnot, he was also VERY certain on the dolphins as additions to mbuna tanks. his idea was that they are open water swimmers bringing the mbuna out of the rocks, and also not adding any/much aggression to the tank (dither fish effect). and yes he is what i would call an expert, he is a breeder and cichlid "specialist", has a degree in marine biology and has his own business in breeding cichlids, selling/renting full set-ups and also specialises in aquaphonic set-ups. his website is here: http://www.fish2water.co.nz/ if you want to have a look.
by no means am i disregarding what you guys are saying but he seems very reputable and has alot of 5 star ratings on everything. and all of his set ups normally have dolphins???

im actually so confused now.


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## kgrieve (Nov 28, 2017)

DJRansome said:


> For any breeding groups in your tank...to minimize the risk of crossbreeding, I would have 1m:4f of each or even more females. 1m:5f snow white socolofi would be a nice addition however.
> 
> I like auratus and dolphins better in a 72" tank.


and DJRansome, yeah i agree, and i also raised that point to him while i was on the phone. but he said he would highly recommend them (the dolphins) and if I didn't upgrade my tank by the time they got too big then he would buy them back off me. now hes a smart man because he knows that as a fish geek myself, i cant resist the opportunity for a bigger tank, should the opportunity arrise hahahaha. but yeah, nothing was really said about the auratus and apropriate tank size.

oh and i forgot to mention, he does have the rusties if i wanted to get those, however he didnt seem overly fussed about them.
but he didnt have any acei


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Yes, starting to sound more like a sales pitch then solid fishkeeping advice.


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## joselepiu (Jul 22, 2017)

DJRansome said:


> Yes, starting to sound more like a sales pitch then solid fishkeeping advice.


+1...


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## kgrieve (Nov 28, 2017)

fair enough, so ill just stick to the socolofi and rusties?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

If those are the only suitable species you can obtain in New Zealand, they will work together.


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## kgrieve (Nov 28, 2017)

well i cant get any acei as far as im aware. *** got the cynotilapia, are there any others?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

What about the socolofi and rusties?

Are there others your LFS will get?


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## kgrieve (Nov 28, 2017)

yes im pretty sure the socolofi are at the fish store but i went there yesterday and they were just putting their freshly ordered fish straight out of the styrofoam box straight into their tanks. no quarantine process and that gives me unreal levels of anxiety lol. reason being my very first tank got wiped due to tb so now im very cautious about cross contamination etc. 
plus my LFS is useless to be honest so any fish ill be getting from now on will either be from the dungeon fish shop down the road that hasnt got new fish in 6 months or from the cichlid breeder i mentioned above who quarantines his fish prior to sale. rusties i will have to order from the breeder. other then that im pretty stuck in terms of species. *** got cynotilapia and labs, i can get rusties and socolofi but other then that its just auratus and kenyi and every other hyper aggressive fish on the planet lol.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The four available will make a nice tank.


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## kgrieve (Nov 28, 2017)

i think it will too, thanks for your help, youve been a life saver hahaha.


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## joselepiu (Jul 22, 2017)

DJRansome said:


> The four available will make a nice tank.


did not he mention 6?... :-? :-? :-? ...
socolofi...
rusties...
cynotilapia...
labs...
auratus...
kenyi...
:fish: :roll: :? :fish:


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I think auratus and kenyi were mentioned only as unacceptable options that were available.


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## joselepiu (Jul 22, 2017)

oopppssss...


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