# Yellow Tail Acei, Saulosi, AND....?



## MikeM (Feb 8, 2009)

The Acei and Saulosi are a must in my tank...I love the coloring and behavior...but I can't decide on a third species to put in with them. Something colorful with a similar temperament would be ideal. Make all the suggestions you want! I'm open to anything! Tell me your favorites..

(Will be getting ~6 of each, in a 55gal 4' tank...)

:fish:


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## CichlidWhisperer (Apr 12, 2008)

Sounds like a pretty combination. I have a bunch of different ideas depending on the look you are going for:

*OB zebra*: they come in a large variety of different orange hues, but I love the super bright orange ones. They are a little more aggressive than the others you are thinking of, but IME they will mix fine. I definitely prefer the OB to the regular red zebra-much more striking a fish.

*Labidochromis hongi SRT*: simply a great fish and I think the color would be great with the fish you have already selected.

*Labidochromis perlmutt*: of the three suggested, these probably have the closest temperament to the acei and saulosi. I think the subtle coloring of these with the white body and yellow fins would be a very very pretty combination with the acei. The girls tend to keep their black stripes, so this would also add a different dimension to the tank.


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## MikeM (Feb 8, 2009)

Thanks CichlidWhisperer, great suggestions!
The last two appeal more to me, as I want as many different colors as possible and they'd contrast more with the yellow/orange of the female Saulosi.

Anyone else??


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## MikeM (Feb 8, 2009)

Anybody else have an opinion? 
All thoughts are welcome!

Thanks again


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## nicksdsm (Nov 24, 2007)

if your not planning to keep or sell any fry, you could keep both color Acei's.


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## MikeM (Feb 8, 2009)

What about Polits? I really like the look of them.. Are they much more aggressive?


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## MikeM (Feb 8, 2009)

Actually, I didn't notice before that the female Polits have fairly bland coloring. Any other suitable species with nice male AND female coloring?

Thanks,


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## kodyboy (Dec 9, 2007)

cyaneohabdos, nice coloring for male and females, not too aggressive, don't get too big.


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## Curator (Feb 18, 2009)

I really like Cynotilapia Afra, they are actually suggested within the cookie cutter tank section as good fish to have in a tank with with your acei and saulosi, which btw, those 3 are the ones im planning on putting in a 55 gallon my friend may be giving me in a month or two...


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## CichlidWhisperer (Apr 12, 2008)

I love the C Afra various morphs as well, but the girls are not colorful at all and I believe that is a major concern for you.


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## Bogman (Nov 7, 2007)

From what I have seen, the _Cynotilapia sp._ "Hara" (White Top Afra) females are nice; the males are striking.

Optionally, you could add either _Ps. socolofi_ or _M. callainos_. Both are monomorphic and a nice lighter shade of blue.


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## MikeM (Feb 8, 2009)

> I love the C Afra various morphs as well, but the girls are not colorful at all and I believe that is a major concern for you.


 The reason nice looking females are a concern is that I will only have 1 or 2 males and 3 or 4 females of each, so I don't want the majority of my inhabitants looking bland.

wow..now it's going to be even harder to make the decision. aha
I really like the White Top Afra, where the females are a nice blue, with awesome looking males. I think that would be my top choice of suggestions so far. The maingano are a nice choice too, but I'd prefer to be able to tell the difference between male and female..but it's not a _huge_ concern..

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, keep 'em comin!


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## CichlidWhisperer (Apr 12, 2008)

Actually the male and female mainganos are pretty easy to differentiate. The belly of the male is dark almost black while the female is light blue


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## MikeM (Feb 8, 2009)

> Actually the male and female mainganos are pretty easy to differentiate. The belly of the male is dark almost black while the female is light blue


Really? I didn't know that! Hm...thanks for making my choice even harder! aha. Well I've got a bit of time before I have to actually buy the fish..so I'll try to decide between now and then I guess :-?


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## 1_cich_fish (Feb 1, 2009)

the afra and male salousi will constantly go at it because of the blue and black striping. male salousi will take the afra as a threat and they will constantly fight. vice versa

I have 9 salousi 5 acei 5 socolofi 3 mainganos 3 sunshine peacocks and they get along perfectly fine 

all the yellow salousi's mix with the socolofi/maingano and 3 male salousi and it looks amazing !
.
boss of the tank is a male salousi, mainganos are pretty peaceful to my surprise. Out of the socolofi there's one that likes to chase the female salousi's hahah. acei's swim in a school and leaves everyone alone, but there's one acei that has the hots for a male salousi and keeps following him around hahaha its so cute. No one really touches the peacocks, they're alot bigger than the rest and show full color. People say you shouldn't mix peacocks with mbunas, but i personally think it has to do with the fish's personalities. each and every fish acts differently. I put these guys all in at the same time and they all grew up together.

i got 2 female salousi's holding too  but im just going to let nature take its course


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## MikeM (Feb 8, 2009)

> the afra and male salousi will constantly go at it because of the blue and black striping. male salousi will take the afra as a threat and they will constantly fight. vice versa


That's a good point...I forgot to think about the similar baring...maybe I'll go with the Maingano then (the more peaceful the better), plus it adds a little more color with the blue+black barring.

1_cich_fish..what size tank do you have all of those fish living in??


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## MikeM (Feb 8, 2009)

Also, does everyone think my numbers are good? 6 of each species?? or should i get more/less?


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## natalie559 (Dec 6, 2007)

MikeM said:


> I really like the White Top Afra, where the females are a nice blue, with awesome looking males. I think that would be my top choice of suggestions so far.


I have acei with my white tops and find the colors of the acei and the white top females to be too similar to each other- a lot of blue! Just something to consider.


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## 1_cich_fish (Feb 1, 2009)

> 1_cich_fish..what size tank do you have all of those fish living in??


I had them in a 60 gallon, then moved up to a 75 and added 3 more socolofi


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## MikeM (Feb 8, 2009)

> I have acei with my white tops and find the colors of the acei and the white top females to be too similar to each other- a lot of blue! Just something to consider.


Good point... Another reason why I'm leading towards the Maingano.


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## Curator (Feb 18, 2009)

1_cich_fish said:


> the afra and male salousi will constantly go at it because of the blue and black striping. male salousi will take the afra as a threat and they will constantly fight. vice versa


Well, its this website in their cookie cutter 55 gallon article that suggest them as tank mates, I dont know from experience, so I was only making a suggestion based on what theyve suggested...


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