# What is compatible w/Fuscotaeniatus (newbie)



## PortiaD (Mar 7, 2011)

Yes, I'm a newbie and yes, I have a tank large enough (210gal)...it's not setup yet, but he/she is still little and in a juvie hap/peacock 55gal tank. I've decided I want to keep him or her, which is why I got the larger tank...but what would you want to keep with a full grown fusco other than nimbochromis and tyrannochromis?

Obviously, fish it can't fit in it's mouth, but what would that be? I'd like some different colors... Also wondering how many adult fish (of that size) will fit in my 210gal tank?


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

Mixed all male, or breeding groups?


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## rgr4475 (Mar 19, 2008)

I have a nice big fusco in my all male hap/peacock tank. I am on my phone so I can give you a stock list later. I got him as a juvie but he is now the tank boss. He is pretty aggressive and did end up almost killing my nimbo vc-10 bit has been compatible for the most part with a wide variety of haps and peacocks. But also take into account this is an all male tank. Throwing females in can complicate things. Sort of like real life humans :lol:


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## PortiaD (Mar 7, 2011)

It will probably be mixed m/f, I've been tossing around the idea of breeding but am not sold on it yet.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

PortiaD said:


> It will probably be mixed m/f, I've been tossing around the idea of breeding but am not sold on it yet.


Let me rephrase the question then... are you going to add females or not? Until you decide which, suggesting stocking is a pointless endeavour.


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## PortiaD (Mar 7, 2011)

Yes, there will probably be females.


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## fox (Jun 11, 2009)

cyrtocara, fossorochromis, champsochromis, copadichromis ...

These would work with a fusco inna 210 :thumb:


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## mokujin22 (Jan 19, 2010)

fox said:


> cyrtocara, fossorochromis, champsochromis, copadichromis ...
> 
> These would work with a fusco inna 210 :thumb:


Yeah, those guys - borleyi if Copadichromis. D. compressiceps, A. christyi, Exochromis, almost any Protomelas would work. Large Placidochromis (johnstoni, milomo).

While fuscos get big (12"), they're not total eating monsters like Champsos or Buccochromis, which get 14"+. You could probably get away with any hap over 7" or so (so long as your fusco was at the top of the size range).

I'd avoid putting in any Tyrannochromis as the most common varieties are very similar in body shape and color to fuscos.


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## PortiaD (Mar 7, 2011)

Thank you fox! If I did breeding groups about how many fish could I comfortably fit?


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## fox (Jun 11, 2009)

PortiaD said:


> >snip<
> Also wondering how many adult fish (of that size) will fit in my 210gal tank?


We have a 210 with mixed haps/ mbuna. You'd be surprised what you can fit in there. Innit are mostly peaceful haps, the fusco is more of a tyranochromis and can get assertive. In our 210 we stock:

(4) rostratus two are fully mature males, they get huge, the others are ~ 6".

(2) cyrtocara moorii, we have others but they did not play nice together

(3) Champsochromis caeruleus, they don't like each other and divided up the tank

(2) copadichromis Borleyi, both large males, wanted red in the tank, mind their own business

(3) dimidiochromis Compressiceps, juvies, finally something to keep the mbuna fry in check

(4) Venustus, two mature and two juvie that are ~ 2", mom spit them before we could strip.

Plus 2 dozen or so mbuna.

You need to give them sandy spots to graze and lottsa open area up high as they go bump in the night. They all have their own personalities and you will need to watch for aggression once you add girls into the mix.

This combo works for us and gives some unique shapes, personality and color to the tank. Have fun stocking yours :wink:


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I know there can be issues with haps crossbreeding, but I don't know which ones are risky. Maybe all the posters to date have made low-risk recommendations?


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## mokujin22 (Jan 19, 2010)

Keeping breeding groups of large haps in a community tank is something of an exercise in planning and patience. I typically don't have the patience, so my 180 and 150 are both a hodgepodge of single males and groups. Because there's so much in each tank, you cannot reliably pull holding females except for holding females from the species of the tank alpha male.... and this is not a guarantee.

I'm planning on moving towards groups when I upgrade my 180 to a 265 this summer. I'm planning on getting rid of extra males/groups that don't fit into the final plan. At that point, I'll stock it with my group of 7 rostratus, 6 Mara Rocks spilonotus, 6 phenochilus and possibly another small open-water Utaka. 4 groups. Lots of room for swimming, behavior and territories.

If you're into Fusco-size fish, you'll probably comfortably fit 4 groups of haps (1:3 ratio for the larger guys, maybe 2:4-5 for the smaller/less aggressive ones). Perhaps something like:

N. fusco
Protomelas (Spilonotus, red empress, taiwan reef, etc)
Blue "follower" placidochromis or C. moori
Open water Copadichromis or Nyassochromis
Dimidiochromis

There are a ton of different permutations you can try. Just make sure that the fish are not too similar to minimize male-male aggression and crossbreeding. If you stick with smaller fish (7"-8" males), you could probably squeeze 5 groups in the tank, so long as they are different. Conversely, if you wanted to do something like Fossochromis, Fuscos and Champso, then those three trios or quads of adults would pretty much fill a 6' tank.

As I mentioned about planning and patience, there are two ways to go about getting your planned setup. Either buy 8 or so of each species when they're small and grow them out (for a year or more before they start to fill the tank) or buy adults. Unless you find random good deals through local fish clubs, the latter can be prohibitively expensive.

Because of this, more often folks go with all-male tanks or tanks with a few females and don't worry about trying to keep fry. It's easier to find random adult or decently-sized males than it is females.


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## PortiaD (Mar 7, 2011)

mokujin22 said:


> Because of this, more often folks go with all-male tanks or tanks with a few females and don't worry about trying to keep fry. It's easier to find random adult or decently-sized males than it is females.


Well, I am buying my fish as juveniles and thus far I seem to have an amazingly uncanny ability to pick females. In my peacock/hap tank it looks like I have managed to pick only 3 to 5 males...my fusco is still unknown, but appears to be female, as well. So unless my luck changes, or I start buying adults, I somehow doubt I'll have much trouble selecting more females for my 210gal when I'm ready.

Thanks to everyone who contributed for your advice! I'm not ready to stock it yet, but I'm trying to get everything worked out in advance. After researching all your suggestions and looking at what is readily available to me, I'll let you know what I choose.


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