# Cichlids for my south Maui pond



## MauiMike (Dec 28, 2019)

Just found this forum. My Maui pond had been overrun by black guppies. In fact they out-ate anything (comets, small koi, shubunkins) I put in there. A friend just took almost all of them away, although there are undoubtedly some number of small fry still in the depths.And of course they won't remain fry forever.

The pond is approximately 12' L x 3'W x 2' D. It's winter now and the pond is at 72 degrees (pretty much night and day). Summers will increase the temp to around 82-85 max. The pond has a nice waterfall/fountain that runs about 12 hours a day.

A pond expert here suggested electric yellow labs and cobalt blues for my pond. I was thinking three of each. Does that make sense under the above conditions? Should they be introduced all at once? Do I need to worry about bloat with the guppy fry still hanging around? (I assume some fry will get gobbled up). There's plenty of vegetation cover and lava rocks - but not much in the way of substrate. I'm hoping I can get away with gravel over sand. Will that work?

I know it's the holidays - and I just asked a ton of questions - so not really expecting much of a response from anyone - but thought I'd give it a shot anyway.

Thanks! MauiMike


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

I assume that the pond expert thought you can actually see the Yellow Labs and Cobalt Zebras from above. They would probably do okay, 70 degrees is pretty low but if that is as low as it gets they should live. I would want more than 3 or each, maybe ten of each and hope they breed with the right species. I wouldn't think there would be any major health problems, unless there is overcrowding eventually. If the pond grows some algae they can eat that too.

The "black guppies" (not sure which you mean) will keep breeding, and the mbuna will probably not be very good at complete eradication. Maybe you could get a predatory species to keep numbers of guppies and fry down.


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## MauiMike (Dec 28, 2019)

regarding the guppies, i just meant that they were dark colored and very hard to see. but thanks so much for the response and advice. much appreciated!


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