# Looking for colorful females! Do they exist?



## Metalshade (Feb 14, 2009)

I have been researching all the african rift lake cichlids for colorful females.
The Electric Yellow Lab and the Red Zebra of coarse.
Can anyone give me a list of possible candidates?

I planned to include one of the more aggresive Peacock's with the Electric Yellow, as well as other mildly aggressive Mbuna's, but I have find very few colorful females.

I am this close to wiping the slate clean and going back to the colorful tropics.
Sorry, but the wife wants only radiantly, colorful fish.
Or maybe I should lower the pH and go for a community of Discus.

Thanks,
Michael
125 gallon
[email protected]


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## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

Many of the Mbuna have colorful females, The Haps and Peacocks, not so much!


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## Metalshade (Feb 14, 2009)

Thanks. That narrows it down a bit. I can stick with researching the Mbuna's.

How's this for an idea?
How about if I just put in one colorful male from each species.
Of course, that sentence is simplicity at best, but the general concept should be feasible, right?
I may not get to watch the cichlid families mate and have babies, but my wife would be happy with here rainbow of bright colored fish.
What do ya think?


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## ridley25 (Jan 5, 2008)

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/a ... malawi.php


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## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

Yes, and all male tank is much more doable with smaller fish, but you have to pull females. As the fish are larger, it gets more difficult to mix and match.


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## Metalshade (Feb 14, 2009)

Awesome! Thanks everyone!


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## gherlevi (Dec 16, 2004)

Just to provide an alternate viewpoint... I tried an all-male tank before, with mixed results. It produced one obvious dominant alpha male, a solid #2, but the rest were not their best color because they were kept low on the "totem pole".

I think with mbuna you have plenty of options for colorful females, and keeping them in groups ensures that the alpha male in each group looks his best. For the most colorful males, you mentioned yellow labs, red zebras, and that's true! Other good looking females IMHO include saulosi, acei, melanochromis cyaneorhabdos, and socolofi.

Just food for thought...


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## Hoosier Tank (May 8, 2007)

If you're trying to find Malawi sp. where the females and males look the same. The technical word for what your looking for is "Monomorphic". You can search the "Profiles" here for them by chosing that selection in the "Gender Diff:" box on the first page. HERE.
Like my Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=756

Or there are some sp. that are "Dimorphic" where the two are different colors but the females are beautiful and not drab... like Pseudotropheus saulosi http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1


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## Metalshade (Feb 14, 2009)

Cool deal. This web site is great. Petsmart is clueless.
Great info and smart people.
I am gonna run that search right now.
And just to prove how smart I am - I thought the monomorphic and dimorphic had to do with whether the cichlids ran in pairs or harems or whatnot. HeHe :roll: 
Just when I thought I had researched everything, I find that I am just beginning.

An all male aquarium would be a sight to behold, but as a beginner or even for an expert it could be challenging, time consuming, probably expensive - not to mention frustrating and a lot of patience involved. Unless of course you ended up with the perfect set of fish the first time around.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

My monomorphic favorites
Demasoni
Maingano
Yellow Labs
Red Zebras
Cobalt Zebras
Socolofi
Acei

Dimorphic with colorful females
Saulosi
Msobo
Cynotilapia sp hara


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## gbleeker (Jul 31, 2007)

Msobo are some of the most gorgeous fish in my opinion:

Females are orange and males blue..


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## gherlevi (Dec 16, 2004)

Just one more thought...

A key to your planning is a reputable source for fish. As you point out, the typical Petsmart does not cut it. I'm fortunate to have a local fish store that specializes in cichlids. Another huge benefit of this site is that it can help ID local stores or cichlid clubs in your area. These will be a huge bonus as you start to find all the crazy species that people start suggesting your way!

it's no fun having posters suggest 20 different exciting species... when your pet store has two tanks of "mixed african cichlids" and "yellow labs."

Good luck!


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## emptyhead (Apr 16, 2007)

If you want bright tropical color - I recommend a mbuna tank. The colors will really stand out with the right light - high wattage with a mix of daylight and actinic bulbs (but I would worry about the lighting later).

With a 125g you could have a lot of mbuna. Here is what I think would look cool and be readily available:

20 demasoni
10 yellow labs
10 red zebra
10 cobalt blue

Some say not to keep the yellow labs and red zebra together because you will get hybrid fry - but I think the orange and yellow look great together with some blues. There are plenty of other great looking mbuna to choose from - research and see what you find.

Good luck and post pics.


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## letstalkfish (Dec 25, 2008)

I would be concerned that the Cobalt and Red Zebras might cross


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

letstalkfish said:


> I would be concerned that the Cobalt and Red Zebras might cross


Yes, they would...I would not house those two species together if I planned on salvaging fry.

DJRansome has pretty much included all my favourites, but I will add one more...

Labeotropheus fuelleborni OB (Katale is my favourite variant)

For this size tank, I would choose 5 compatible species with minimal risk for crossbreeding. You will then want to build harems for each species, meaning one male to every 3-4 females.

The all male set up would look nice, but as pointed out previously, they might not all show their best colour.

With females in the group, the males will always be showing off.


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## Bogman (Nov 7, 2007)

Replace the 10 Red Zebra suggested by emptyhead with 10 Msobo and you have your orange ... and a very colourful and nice looking tank, in my opinion.


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