Stocking Advice

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Cichlid_Scott

Members
Hey all,

I have a few questions about mbuna stocking. Right now, I have a 20 gallon tank with 5 young demasoni (4, 1.2'' and 1, 2'') but they hide ALL day long and I want to add some more variety to the tank.

1) Would it be irresponsible to add more fish to such a small tank? (I was thinking along the lines of some Lab. caeruleus, Lab. mbamba, maybe a male/female metriaclima msobo)

2) Should I just suck it up and buy a bigger tank?

3) If the tank will be fine for a few more fish, how many could I add? 1 or 2? maybe even 3?

4) If so, would I be fine with different 2 or 3 males of 3 different genuses? or should I stick to...say...something along the line of 3 of the same species like 1 male lab. caerules and 2 females.

I know a good solution WOULD be to just buy a bigger tank but is it necessary if I do bi-weekly water changes?

Thanks in advance!
Scott
 
fischfan13

fischfan13

Banned
Mbuna need a bigger tank.
Those Demasoni will not do well for two reasons...
Their numbers, you need more, and the tank should be at least a 4' long tank.
Once you get a bigger tank you will be able to increase the numbers of the other Mbuna that you put it with them.. Yellow Labs and Demasoni are a classic fit. If you go with a 55g I would go with at least 10 Dems, 6 Labs and a group of Labeotropheus, either the Fuelleborni variety or the Trewavasae variety. You can then add in a fourth group, maybe a Synodontis group (Petricola or Lucipinnis).

One of my older 55g Mbuna tanks was loaded with rocks and plants and had about 45 fish in there, and they all looked great and bred.
Don't be afraid to overcrowd once you get a bigger tank. Overcrowding with Mbuna leads to less aggression.

Good luck.
 
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toddnbecka

Members
Given clean water and good diet their fins should heal up just fine. A 55 would be the minimum size tank suitable, a 75 or 110 would be better.
Once you have a more suitable setup I'd recommend at least a dozen demasoni and a group of 5-6 yellow Lab's for a start.
 
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Cichlid_Scott

Members
Yellow labs will definitely be next on the list, however...

Almost everything I read online says that since they have been over-bred, there are some really great strains and really terrible strains. So how do I know if I'm getting a good strain? What am I looking for? And are there bad strains that look like good ones?

I feel like these are really silly questions hehe
 
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TKC7

Members
I've noticed two types of yellow labs, ones with thick black stripes on their dorsal fin and ones that don't, try to get ones with the thicker black stripes. Also some will have light barring. I really wish someone would chime in on the genetics of the black stripe. Is it like a recessive gene or a dominant gene. And whether or not you can breed the thin lined ones out?
 
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