# Tankmates for M. Auratus?



## nvrstk (Feb 10, 2010)

Hey all. I'm trying to get a good community sort of set up going. Right now I think I'll be looking at WWIII soon, so any suggestions are very helpful. I have a 90g with heavy filtration, lots of rocks, aragonite sand, and anubias nana plants. I have 1m/3f auratus, 1m johanni(he's gonna go), 1m/1f+2 juvies yellow labs(the female in 20g with fry temporary), 2 albino ??'s, 2 bright orange ??'s(esthera?), 1 yellow ?? with vert black bars that lost yellow and turned blue for a week when I brought him home, 1 large 4" psuedotropheus ??(blue/purple with orange fins), 1 yellow peacock, and 1 polystigma. The lfs doesn't have names for most these, so I picked on color. then decided I want the auratus to spawn so I found a male. Whose gonna get killed so I can get rid of them? How can I find out which albino's I have? What would make good tankmates for the auratus, which is still only 2"? Any suggestions are helpful. I want a peaceful hyper aggressive tank. So, remove the male johanni, peacock, and... Then replace with what?


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## Rhinox (Sep 10, 2009)

> I want a peaceful hyper aggressive tank.


Do you realize what you just said here :lol:

I know, I think you mean you want a stable tank with hyper aggressive species, right? will still, they're called hyperaggressive species because they're anything but peaceful.

Who's gonna get killed? I'm going to say its at least 50/50 that everyone but your male auratus eventually gets killed.

Johani probably first unless he's tougher and older than the auratus due to the horizontal striping. The peacocks don't usually do good with and mbuna so I'm guessing he'd be quick to go as well. The "yellow with verticle black bars" sounds like a bumblebee. They're pretty tough and might stand a chance if everything in the tank is in good m:f ratios. The albinos could be anything, if you can't identify the species, probably better returning, since you don't know what to buy to add females. The "purple with orange fins" are most likely aceis. They're peaceful, as well as the labs, so their survival will depend on how tolerant the auratus is at letting them share the tank. they won't challenge the auratus, but eventually the auratus will vote them off the island and then they don't stand a chance. I don't know what a polystigma is...

OK, here's the low down. I can't link you to a single thread on this forum where someone has successfully kept auratus for more than a year. There was even a thread calling for auratus success stories, and none of the examples really counted. If you want the best chance of success in a 90, I'd try to keep only 1 male, and add as many females as you can find. Make sure you remove subdoms and dominant females when they start to color up. The tank will be all yellow, black, and white, and you won't have any other species or color variations, but you will definately have a hyper aggressive tank that just might end up being stable. a 90 is only a 4' tank iirc, so trying to keep more species with the auratus will probably end up with lots of deaths as the male auratus decides the entire floor space is his. If you must try other species, you should try something else known for being aggressive, such as kenyi (should be able to find them wherever you found the auratus) or bumblebee. Just 1 other species, and again, only 1 male and lots of females. The odds of succes drop substantially, however.

The problem is, no one knows "the forumula" for keeping auratus either as a single species or with others. If I was really serious about keeping auratus (believe me, I've thought about it), I'd start from scratch and see what I could make work, progressively. I'd start with a single male and a ton of females in the 6' 125g tank I just bought, and wait at least 3 years to see if it worked. The thing is, there are much more interesting and rewarding setups in a 6' 125g tank, so its just not worth the tank space.


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## nvrstk (Feb 10, 2010)

That wasn't the news I was hoping for  but very useful. This really sucks because auratus are gorgeous when bigger. Are there any other's I might try, such as tropheus(I know, wrong lake, but I don't own a lake so I'm not worried), or a big school of demasoni,? Tough choices. Keep the monster or get rid of him and start over. Wish we had better selection around here. Guess I'll go back to the articles and try again.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Maybe a species auratus tank?

They are not famous for being stable fish though, even with ideal conditions.


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## Tinga (Nov 27, 2009)

A rock... get your Auratus a rock


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## nvrstk (Feb 10, 2010)

I don't know, from what I hear he might kill the rock :wink: All I know is I'm running out of time, the female auratus's, 3 of them, are becoming bossy(get out of my tank!). The male is coloring up, and the orange fish are cowering in fear at the top corners(this started today). I just walked by the tank and can't bring myself to go species tank(tried that with some tanganyikans and didn't like it). Maybe when I get a few more tanks. I need the variety. Will a single male M. Johanni(or similiar looking fish, as I don't trust the names I was given) be problematic in a community type mbuna setting? I think I'll get rid of the auratus for now  . Back to the fishing hole we go(if only it were that easy).


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## the_evil_dickfeldi (Feb 17, 2006)

Rhinox said:


> OK, here's the low down. I can't link you to a single thread on this forum where someone has successfully kept auratus for more than a year. There was even a thread calling for auratus success stories, and none of the examples really counted. If you want the best chance of success in a 90, I'd try to keep only 1 male, and add as many females as you can find. Make sure you remove subdoms and dominant females when they start to color up. The tank will be all yellow, black, and white, and you won't have any other species or color variations, but you will definately have a hyper aggressive tank that just might end up being stable. a 90 is only a 4' tank iirc, so trying to keep more species with the auratus will probably end up with lots of deaths as the male auratus decides the entire floor space is his. If you must try other species, you should try something else known for being aggressive, such as kenyi (should be able to find them wherever you found the auratus) or bumblebee. Just 1 other species, and again, only 1 male and lots of females. The odds of succes drop substantially, however.


That was my thread!  And you are most definately right, NON of them counted! :wink:

These guys could possibly be one of the hardest cichlids to keep because of their aggresion! I think they surpass even the aggresive crabro by much! We don't hear THAT many crabro stories!


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

nvrstk said:


> I'm trying to get a good community sort of set up going. ?


In a 90G that would be four species and 1m:4f if you don't go with hyper aggressive species. The problem with hyper aggressive species is you need twice the females to spread aggression so you lose your variety. Or you could try an all male tank which gets you your variety, but one fish of each species only and no two that look alike.



nvrstk said:


> I have 1m/3f auratus,
> 1m/1f+2 juvies yellow labs
> 2 albino ??'s,
> 2 bright orange ??'s(esthera?),
> ...


Given your list it seems like all male would suit you best.

If I had to make an aggressive mixed-gender tank out of the above list I'd do:
1m:4f metriaclima estherae (orange) OR 1m:7f metriaclima lombardoi (yellow/blue)
1m:4f pseudotropheus greshakei (blue/purple with orange fins?)
1m:7f melanochromis auratus 
1m:4f pseudotropheus socolofi

Post pics of all the unidentified fish as if my guesses above are wrong, the stocking and combinations could change.


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## nvrstk (Feb 10, 2010)

Thanks for your time folks, I really appreciate it  As for the all male tank, I prefer to see the mating behaviors and like having females. I ended up with this mix due to money and lack of availability(the only good shop here recently reopened after a fire and is quite expensive). I'm not hooked on any 1 species, so anything can be changed. My goal is variety of color, personality, and few victims to fish out(and yet I still got the meanest bugger out there-go figure  ).. I'll look up your suggestions and try to get pics today. I would like to keep the auratus since I have 1m/3f, but it's not required, and judging by the aggression of the females, may not be possible.


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## nvrstk (Feb 10, 2010)

Yep, it's a Metraclima Greshakei. Thanks.


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## nvrstk (Feb 10, 2010)

Lets try posting pics. Wish me luck.










That didn't work. Anyone know what I'm doing[/img] wrong?


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## GoofBoy (Jul 3, 2007)

*nvrstk*

http://i836.photobucket.com/albums/zz288/nvrstk/DSC_0015.jpg[b]?t=1266341219[/b][/ img]

The highlighted text causes issues with the board software. The [b]?t=1266341219[/b] is a parameter you don't need, just the path to the jpg file.

Then you get a shot of a young crabro :D.

[img]http://i836.photobucket.com/albums/zz288/nvrstk/DSC_0015.jpg

Edit: I can spell :roll:.


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

The problem with Auratus' is that once they breed they will protect the female and eggs to death, hyper aggressive turns into extremely hyper killer aggressive. The male will take a huge part of the aquarium as its territory and WILL kill anything that crosses into it, it will not only chase it out but it will hunt it down until it is no longer a threat (death). It will do the same to any fish not only other Auratus'.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Crabro changes your stocking.


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## oldcatfish (May 27, 2009)

I know several people (besides myself) that have successfully kept M. Auratus, as well as other "hyper aggressive" species (Kenyi, etc.) long term with success.

The keys to doing it are the following:

---Very high ratio of females to male. Think 8+ females per male.

---Very large aquarium....minimum is a 6ft 125g, and that's small. An 8 foot tank works better.

---Only 3 species, with very distinct territories.... several large rock piles with at least a foot of open space between them.

Most people break one of the 3 rules...you have to do all three.


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## nvrstk (Feb 10, 2010)

I'll try again with the other pics tonight. I removed the auratus's. Fished out the first, then the others started trying to spawn, sort of a last act of defiance  I put them in my 20g  till tomorrow(don't hate, I had no choice). The dominant female beat the yellow back into the male so I'm watching them closely with a net in hand opcorn: Guess he's not man enough yet.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

oldcatfish said:


> I know several people (besides myself) that have successfully kept M. Auratus, as well as other "hyper aggressive" species (Kenyi, etc.) long term with success.
> 
> The keys to doing it are the following:
> 
> ...


I love this post. :thumb:


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## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

I have kept Kenyi, Auratus and Red Zebras along with other fish in a 55 gallon tank but when they get to about 3-4" they start killing each other with the Auratus being the dominant ones in my experience.

Here is my tank in Oct. 2008, I had the same fish since early 08...






Here is the same tank again in June 2009 with my two Auratus, three or four Red Zebras (cant remember), and my three Kenyi one of which morphed to yellow. All fish were about 2" and smaller when bought.






This is my tank when upgraded to 110 gallons for the reason that the above fish started killing each other. All the Kenyis were killed, two Red Zebras were left and the two Auratus were still alive...










You can see the lonely Auratus in the bottom center of the tank, the rest of the fish were waiting to be transferred, the next day.

The next day after that, I took the two remaining Zebras back to the LFS along with the Auratus, I didn't want them to keep killing fish, I knew they would so out they went and I got myself other fish. I did not have the rocks to keep aggression down.


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## nvrstk (Feb 10, 2010)

lets try this again. a yellow peacock. 4 y. labs+2 fry, 2 orange ??, 2 albino ??, 1 johanni?, 1 nimbochromis polystigma, and 1 crabro?. Where to go from here :-?


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## GoofBoy (Jul 3, 2007)

DJRansome said:


> oldcatfish said:
> 
> 
> > I know several people (besides myself) that have successfully kept M. Auratus, as well as other "hyper aggressive" species (Kenyi, etc.) long term with success.
> ...


 :lol: - +1

- 8ft tank :drooling: - I know this isn't the Tang board but Cyathopharynx foai (Karilani) would be way cooler than M. auratus in a tank that size. A guy can dream can't he :roll:.


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## GoofBoy (Jul 3, 2007)

nvrstk said:


> lets try this again. a yellow peacock. 4 y. labs+2 fry, 2 orange ??, 2 albino ??, 1 johanni?, 1 nimbochromis polystigma, and 1 crabro?. Where to go from here :-?


Call this a test start, learn from it, then research, research, and more research to figure out what you really want and then do it up right.

Research local fish clubs and breeders - you will find way better fish, way cheaper than at a store.

Good Luck.


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## nvrstk (Feb 10, 2010)

It's a test start for sure. I switched from tanganyikans to mbuna because I couldn't get the fish I wanted locally. Thought I'd try something new. Well, at least now I have a little time to figure it out 

How do you find local clubs and breeders?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

There is a menu item on this website "Links". If you click on it you can enter your state and get a list of clubs.

The breeders are probably members, or the members can refer you to breeders. You can also put a Want Ad in the Trading Post and ask for breeders that allow local pick up to respond.


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## nvrstk (Feb 10, 2010)

The auratus spawned in the 20g! Now what? 1m/2f in 20g, with 1f holding in net. Could I put her in the main tank-she's the baddest of all fish(she beat the yellow back into him for an hour or two), would she be ok? There's ALOT of hiding places. Maybe I'll keep them after all. At least I got what I wanted, spawning auratus 8) What happens next I'm not sure...Any suggestions are needed and appreciated.


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## Rhinox (Sep 10, 2009)

nvrstk said:


> The auratus spawned in the 20g! Now what? 1m/2f in 20g, with 1f holding in net. Could I put her in the main tank-she's the baddest of all fish(she beat the yellow back into him for an hour or two), would she be ok? There's ALOT of hiding places. Maybe I'll keep them after all. At least I got what I wanted, spawning auratus 8) What happens next I'm not sure...Any suggestions are needed and appreciated.


I wonder if they'll keep spawning fast enough to stay ahead of the death rate


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## nvrstk (Feb 10, 2010)

So far they are, I let you know tomorrow


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

You can put her back in the main tank as long as the other fish don't harass her. She can't bite them very well right now, LOL.


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## nvrstk (Feb 10, 2010)

good thing for them. I think this is their way of telling me to keep them  I put her back, and every single rock was changed around so she should have a good chance of claiming a hiding spot as she used to push everyone else around. Then again maybe not.

I'm actually now considering either a species tank(why not, it could be fun) or maybe lombardoi or crabro if they can handle the auratus. Max of 2 species.

Once the female is holding do I need to separate them? What if it's a species tank with 1m/8+f? I read that he'll defend her to the death, but I have been told he'll kill anything not receptive to his advances including uncooperative females. Should I aim for 12 or more females or is that too many for the tank?

Will he eat his fry or be a good dad till they get a little bigger?

Do I need to count my fingers after working in the tank?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Both parents will eat the fry. You can use the 20G for a fry tank.

If you do a species tank, you will need a lot of fish just because if you don't put in enough fish they will hide a lot. I'd try the 1m:12f and see how it goes.

Normally females don't need to be in a separate tank for their holding period, but nothing is normal with auratus so you will have to play it by ear. I said put her in the main tank in this case since "he" is in a 20G...quarters are too close.

Get rid of the rest of the fish and put her back in the 20G. Remove her when she spits in about 28 days. Grow out the fry and add everyone to the main tank.

You may have a problem with the remaining adult fish (not enough females) and reintroducing the mom. You may end up with the male in a separate tank until the fry grow out enough to hold.


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## nvrstk (Feb 10, 2010)

Cool, this might work-for now...I usually remove holding females just because the males don't leave them alone(but have only had 3 malawi's spawn in my time so far, red peacock-yellow lab-auratus, so it could just be them). I'm stuck till friday, so for now the male an 2 females are stuck in the 20g, but I have extra mature filters and rubbermaid bins if they get out of hand. The male seems to be getting the worst of it, but not bad yet. Everyone else is in the 90g. the 20g was originally set up for fry so that will work well.  If he ends up quarantined for a few months I'm ok with that. I do have a 15g I can use for the fry if I have to, but I don't believe in anything that small for any reason but emergencies (20g is too small for my tastes, hence the fry tank  ). Thanks for all the help, I'd have dead fish soon if it weren't for yall(and may still get dead fish, but that's just the way it goes).


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