rollergirl Posted June 24, 2008 Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 I've just purchased a 220L tank off Trade Me and want to set it up as an african community. Have kept malawi mbuna before (dems, e-yellows, ice blue zebras and melanchromis auratus from memory) but I'm no expert on africans by any means, and want to know what fish I could have in there that are colourful, not too aggro and relatively easy to look after. The tank will have a Fluval 305 plus an internal filter (can't remember the type now but it's on par with a Fluval 3-plus) to help deal with african messiness. It will have black granite sand, coral rock for caves, a nice bit of driftwood, and hopefully I can get some java fern and val growing in there for a spot of greenery and contrast 8) I really like demasoni and have been offered a breeding group of 4 (1m, 3 females) for cheap- but I've read on here that they must be kept in groups of 12 or more? Which I don't know I could either afford $$ wise, or fit in that size tank! The idea was to have the demasoni and maybe 6 electric yellows, perhaps a few tangyanikans such as brichardi or transcriptus, and a couple of male peacocks for colour. Will this work in a tank this size or am I dreaming here? Any ideas are welcome and appreciated! Cheers, Tash Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted June 24, 2008 Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 If your tank is 220L you need to stay away from the bigger hap's giraffes comp's etc.. Sometimes you can also get in trouble with zebra's and melo's but again might get lucky with them as your tank is not that small. Dem's yellows and some peacocks would work, however I would recommend staying away from all males I have had issues with them getting along in smaller tanks and have even had problems in my 540L tank with male peacocks scrapping all day and not colouring up etc.. That is just my experience and you might get lucky though Dem's are grumpy and best kept in large groups 12+++ you can do that many in your tank size easily lol flick me the 1m 3f I need more girls in my colony.. I have a pair of jullie marlieri in my big tank and they get along fine with the mbuna and peacocks, marlieri are a bit more colourful than transcriptors but each to their own.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted June 24, 2008 Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 i have a tank that size which i have got stocked as in my sig below. I tried venustus (giraffe), melan auratus & found them far to agressive for the fish i have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollergirl Posted June 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 Yea, not after melanchromis or zeb's this time, just thinking e.yellows (6?), demasonis, 6 tangs of some kind, and maybe just the one male peacock for colour (I like A.baenschi ), would this work? (Even with 12 demasonis?!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted June 24, 2008 Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 Yeah that would work.. While I was at it with the peacocks I would just get half a dozen youngsters grow them out there is no point in not having females they wont cross breed with the yellows/dem's and it helps the male's keep colour and also if down the line you want to keep the babies you have the option Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted June 24, 2008 Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 While I was at it with the peacocks I would just get half a dozen youngsters grow them out there is no point in not having females they wont cross breed with the yellows/dem's and it helps the male's keep colour and also if down the line you want to keep the babies you have the option hey Ryan, I have noticed that you post alot about crossbreeding & how to avoid it. How many batches of cross breed fish have you had? The reason i ask is i have had about 20 to 25 spawns in my "african community tank" & have seen about 80% of them with my own eyes & never has another male tried to actually fertilise the eggs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afrikan Posted June 24, 2008 Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 Obviously you have the right balance in your tank smidey... often isn't the way in other tanks and some fish can hybridize rather easily and willingly... I have seen many a x mbuna or x hap etc at a LFS that a joe bloggs has taken in to sell.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted June 24, 2008 Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 Obviously you have the right balance in your tank smidey... often isn't the way in other tanks and some fish can hybridize rather easily and willingly... I have seen many a x mbuna or x hap etc at a LFS that a joe bloggs has taken in to sell.... oh yeah, i have seen all sorts of crazy looking things for sale. the worst was at animates, cross red zebs with e yellows & they wanted $70 a piece. I wouldn't have kept them if they were free (no offence A.Prochecy). Im certainly under no allusion that it can't happen, just curious how often it does Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted June 24, 2008 Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 I have hundreds of cross bred fish result in my display tank but they are left to be eaten or if they make it destroyed.. All breeding is done in a seperate tank fish are removed from the main tank put in their own tank bred and then parents are put back in display tank and another batch of parents stuck in the breeding tank, its the only way to make sure they're pure. Your fish are quite different and the odds of producing hybrids are unlikely I watch the fish in my tank breeding and have seen 3 males (kadango, maleri male and ob peacock male) all breed with one female peacock and she held full term, it is always a risk in a mixed tank and if you want to sell or pass on any babies you cant really chance the fact that they bred true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted June 24, 2008 Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 I have hundreds of cross bred fish result in my display tank but they are left to be eaten or if they make it destroyed.. All breeding is done in a seperate tank fish are removed from the main tank put in their own tank bred and then parents are put back in display tank and another batch of parents stuck in the breeding tank, its the only way to make sure they're pure. Your fish are quite different and the odds of producing hybrids are unlikely I watch the fish in my tank breeding and have seen 3 males (kadango, maleri male and ob peacock male) all breed with one female peacock and she held full term, it is always a risk in a mixed tank and if you want to sell or pass on any babies you cant really chance the fact that they bred true. the main problem is with peacocks then? I can understand how they could mix, thats like england, ireland & wales mixing. they look very similar but slightly different tounges Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afrikan Posted June 24, 2008 Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 Oh and forgot to say before, rollergirl, glad to hear you are going into more africans again Dems, Yellows and a nice species of Peacock sound good 8) And re.. breeding Afs... I would never keep any fry that have been produced in a mixed display.... regardless of how sure I am that they have bred true, all mine get seperated off in single species tank, infact I don't have a Malawi display tank a anymore, all mine are in seperate breeding or holding tank of their own in shed... and some species in the back room. Mbuna will readily cross breed aswell, not just Peacocks 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted June 24, 2008 Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 Yeah all africans can and will cross breed given half a chance, it is very hard to make statements about what will and wont because people will believe it and try it.. You are just lucky that at this stage in your tank everything is working, it is very rare for all the males to be at the same stage in the tank that when they breed they can defend their females, I wonder if this will always be the case as your fish mature I mean 1-2 years old isn't that old and fryeri especially can get big and do have a reputation (although ive never seen it in mine either) http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/s_fryeri.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rollergirl Posted June 26, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2008 Stoked, really looking forward to setting this tank up now!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.