# Any suggestions on a colorful female???



## gmoney1585 (Apr 13, 2009)

I have a 55 gallon set up, and i am concerned that i might not have enough females. So, i am looking to add some females, just want them to be colorful. Any recomendations on species with colorful females will be greatly appreciated. I am not concerned about crossbreeding, not selling anything. This is my current fish list. All are juveniles 1"- 2". sizes estimates.

1-Red Zebra- 2.25" not sure of sex. Still bright orange, has 4 egg spots, so female??
1-Bumble Bee- 2", not sure of sex, still really yellow, so maybe female?
1-Electric Blue-2" head gets intensely dark blue. pretty sure male.
1-Acei- 1.75" not sure of sex
2-Red Top Hongi- 1.75" not sure of sex
1-Giraffe- 1.75" not sure of sex
1- Demasoni(6 stripe)- only 1" not sure of sex
1- Demasoni(7 stripe "Mozambique") only 1" not sure of sex
2- Polit- 1.75"and 1.50" one male, one female. bought as pair
2- Christmas Fulu- 1.75" and 1.50" one male, one female. bought as pair
1- Pleco- 2.50"


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## jjleetest (Mar 12, 2009)

you could add a few red zebra females, they have more color than the males


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## gmoney1585 (Apr 13, 2009)

i kinda wanted something i dont all ready have.


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## kodyboy (Dec 9, 2007)

I would remove the bumblebee, too mean, giraffe, gets too big and add a bunch more demasoni (maybe 12-15 more sex not a big deal), five more accei (sex is not a big deal) and five more red zebras (keep it to one male).


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## Dave (Feb 9, 2003)

I really do not recommend adding females of something you do not already have. You are just asking for hybrids. There is also a very real possibility that you could upset any balance you have with the tank when the males start fighting over breeding rights. Spawning in a tank of this size with this many species is also likely to result in hybrids.

Finally, your giraffe, N. venustus, and bumblebee, Ps. crabro are going to out grow a 55 gallon.


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## gmoney1585 (Apr 13, 2009)

points well taken, dave and kody. i will have to find a new home for the bumble bee and giraffe. of the other breeds that i have, which have the more colorful female?? I just wanna stay away from "muddy" color, like my polit. I originally started with the red zebra, bumble bee, elctric blue and a kenyi in a 10 gal while they were all fry. the red zebra killed my kenyi, so i had to upgrade quick. but since i did, the red zebra went from being the bully to always hiding in a cave. and my blue went from bein the "wuss" to the king. i added the rest in two different batches, one week apart. they have alot of fin nippage goin on, alot of hiding and are just getting over ich (either to much stress or was transfered, but doubt it). I just keep waiting for the "community" to level out. Been about a month now. That is why I want to add some females (when the ich is completely takin care of). I went with the salt treatment, should be fine in a few more days. I caught it early.


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## kodyboy (Dec 9, 2007)

Monomorphic (same color male and female) species are going to have colorful females, like demasoni, cyaneohabdos, yellow labs, red zebras (the females are actually more colorful IMO), saulosi, msobo deep, accei, and some others. Some like the msobo and saulosi the red zebras are not monomorphic but still have nice colors for the male and female.


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## LeeKai (May 1, 2009)

If you want to avoid agression you dont want to get females especially since you have a 
fairly agressive mix already putting female mbuna is gonna create problems once they become
sexually mature, you will end up with a very dominant male mbuna and when he wants to spawn he could potentially torment or kill any other male mbuna
looking for color go with an all male tank!!especially in a 55 gal your gonna max out at like 10-15 fish because depending on the species they get rather large... some of the cynotilapia like the afra and cobue, also the pulpican is very nice to those only get about 3 in max size so would be very suitable in a 55 gal... who knows mabye you'll upgrade eventually and want to get a bigger tank and bigger cichlids  we have upgraded 3 times in 1 yr lol gool luck


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## tikva18 (Jul 27, 2007)

Years ago, before I had any real cichlid knowledge. i went to petsmart and got two cute little electric blues to put in my tank (had other cichlids). One day there was only one electric blue - it had eaten its brother...


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## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

the female hongis dont look bad either same color as males just dont get nearly as bright and vibrant


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