# best looking and most value mbuna?



## johnchor (Apr 2, 2011)

hello folks,

there are many mbunas.
but which 1 is consider most beautiful/colorfully looking and highest sale value?

we can have more than 1 here.

Cynotilapia afra?

thanks


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## Guest (May 16, 2012)

everyone has their own opinion of which is considered most beautiful/colored mbuna. so you'll get a wide variety of answers asking that question.


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## GaFishMan1181 (Dec 17, 2008)

Well if your talking money then wild caughts will fetch the most followed by F1s and then all the rest will bring about the same.

If your talking most beautiful then that is all personal opionions. My current favorite that i kept is my msobo male. My all time favorite is saulosi.

If your looking for large purchases at one time then i would go with demasoni because most people buy 12+ at a time.


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## Narwhal72 (Sep 26, 2006)

Demasoni and Yellow labs are the most marketable mbuna. Mainly because they have good colors from a young age. C. afra and many zebras only the males develop good colors and then not until they mature. So they are more valuable as adults but as juveniles they are just little gray fish and not very marketable in the general market.

Remember that marketable is not the same as highest price. Demasoni and Yellow labs aren't all that expensive but they have a much greater return on investment than C. afra.

Andy


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## Baggly (Feb 2, 2012)

Narwhal72 said:


> *Demasoni* and Yellow labs aren't all that expensive but they have a much greater return on investment than C. afra.


Depending on location of course. The last few times I've seen Demaoni in my neck of the woods they were selling for $22 each, at 1.5-2" :x Online is something different of course.


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## Narwhal72 (Sep 26, 2006)

They are usually about $8-$10 here.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

My demasoni bring the most among mbuna I have sold.


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## Rare (Mar 31, 2012)

Tropheops Chilumba for me. As it is very STUNNING!

the only negative side are they grow freaking slow and won't show colors until they reach maturity size.


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## quentin8 (Sep 30, 2011)

DJRansome said:


> My demasoni bring the most among mbuna I have sold.


+1


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## Gags (Mar 23, 2012)

DJRansome said:


> My demasoni bring the most among mbuna I have sold.


Can you post pic of your demasoni :fish: 
Your avatar pic is too small :drooling:


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Not my best demasoni necessarily, but my best pic of one. :lol:


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## oldcatfish (May 27, 2009)

The ones with the most colorful juveniles tend to be more popular. Also the less aggressive ones. I used to breed many Malawi cichlids and sell them to several LFS. Here's the list of the ones that I never had trouble selling:
1) Yellow Lab
2) Saulosi
3) Melanochromis Joanjohnsoni (Exasperatus)
4)Acei
5) Snow White Socolofi
6) Powder Blue Socolofi
7) Electric Blue Johanni (Maingano)

I bred others too, including peacocks and some Haps. And a few Victorians and Tanganyikans. But the mbuna were by far more marketable. And I put them in order of how easy they were to sell. The Saulosi and Exasperatus are still less common in my area than the other mbuna, so would probably still sell fairly well. But when I was breeding them, it was more difficult to obtain them---now anybody can order them online. There are also fewer LFS still around.


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## newforestrob (Feb 1, 2010)

I had a Saulosi only tank,wasn't really interested in keeping fry to sell at first,but saw that they were in demand,so,I got a ten gallon,sponge filter,air pump heater,I stripped a female too soon once,so I got some parts to make tumblers,needed another air pump,the fry outgrew the ten,got a twenty,new aquaclear filter,heater,had a few holding females,got another ten gallon set up,breeder nets,another twenty,and then a 75 gallon setup to grow them out,traded fry for equipment sometimes,at the end,I had two tens,two twenties,two 75s,filters,heaters,airpumps,etc etc.
At times I had a few hundred fry and juveniles at various sizes,I had alot of fun doing it,I probably broke even in the end,but I met alot of nice people along the way,and hope they are enjoying them as much as I did


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## johnchor (Apr 2, 2011)

hello wonderful response

i thought Labidochromis sp. "Mbamba" is a killer looking mbuna!

same as some of the Pseudotropheus sp. "Elongatus "

simply too difficult to ignore...


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## Ryan82 (Aug 3, 2011)

I like the way lab sp mbambas look too, and I currently have some. The only thing that I don't like about them is that they are very slow growers. I would go with pseudotropheus sp elongatus mpanga instead of lab sp mbamba because I think that they look the same, but the mpangas will probably grow alot faster, and they will get to a larger adult size. Also, I think that the mpanga females look better than the mbamba females.


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## littleolme (Nov 1, 2011)

I am enjoying the Saulosi Rob! I still haven't decided whether I'll mix a smaller group of them into my mixed large display tank or keep them in their species only tank that they're in right now and breed them.

We breed Acei and have found them to be a great "bang for your buck" fish. They show nice colour very young, they are one of the "bread and butter" African cichlids and are a great starter because of their relatively peaceful temperment. While we don't ask a lot of money per fry, our females have been spitting 50+ fry each and they grow pretty quickly. I think we have a little over 200 fry at the moment, all 40 days old or younger with the largest of them measuring around .75".


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## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)

DJRansome said:


> Not my best demasoni necessarily, but my best pic of one. :lol:


Not to hi-jack but. Dj - Is/was the Red Zebra in this pic as red as the photo indicates?


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## johnchor (Apr 2, 2011)

hello folks,

i actually think these mbunas below are really cool

Cynotilapia afra (Cobue)
Labidochromis sp. "Mbamba" 
Pseudotropheus flavus

just wonder are they consider aggressive killer types?



Ryan82 said:


> I like the way lab sp mbambas look too, and I currently have some. The only thing that I don't like about them is that they are very slow growers. I would go with pseudotropheus sp elongatus mpanga instead of lab sp mbamba because I think that they look the same, but the mpangas will probably grow alot faster, and they will get to a larger adult size. Also, I think that the mpanga females look better than the mbamba females.


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## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)

The Cobue are fairly passive. The other two are supposedly more aggresive than most but not in the category of Mel. Auratus or Chipokae.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Yes the zebra is that color. She was one of my first fish and I've had her since 2005. I saw even redder ones at the ACA this past summer.


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## cantrell00 (Oct 30, 2010)

DJRansome said:


> Yes the zebra is that color. She was one of my first fish and I've had her since 2005. I saw even redder ones at the ACA this past summer.


That is awesome & quite impressive. I had some that were REALLY orange but never quite that red.


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