Best Tanks Mates for yellows, cobalts

[Lush]

Hi all i have just gotten rid of my dominant fish that constantly picked on my other fish and now i am only left with 2 cobalt blues and some yellows (1 female who is currently holding and 4 males, 3 are going to new homes soon) and 1 demasoni who is actually getting a hard time from one of the male yellows. I have a 4ft tank and i want to add more colour as its looking a bit dull now, i also have a grow out tank that has 2 red shoulder peacocks unsure of sex at da mo and 3 lionheads, would the peacocks and lionheads be ok to go in with my yellows etc. also what else thats colourful would be suitable for my tank. was thinking maybe a pair of red zebras? or peacocks? any help would be grately appreciated.

[firenzenz]

I think when you mix mbuna's with peacocks or Utaka species which are by in large less aggressive and territorial then you will always have some issues.

I've never kept cobalts so not exactly sure how aggressive they are in the world of mbunas but they do appear to be the limiting factor when you list your other fish, probably most of all with the lionheads which will be competing for the same spaces as the cobalts, so that could be problem.

I'd say that without the cobalts all the other fish will co-habitat in relative harmony, and give you more scope to build the colour your'e after, as you could happpily add a few of any number of colourful species.

Other Peacocks, Electras, Red empress, Copadichromis, will all add colour. Add more than one so aggression levels are spread around, as I regard the red shoulder as one of the more bullish peacocks

I'd definitely look to increase the number of Dems as that guy will be not happy by himself, they need to be in groups.

Perhaps increase the yellows as well, hopefully you can grow up your babies in the growout tank and reintroduce when big enough

The red shoulder's should be fine, even if you kept the cobalts. as long as you have defined spaces for both they won't mind each other, well as much as a mbuna can tolerate other tankmates.

The great thing about these fish is that you can have quite a busy tank as long as your maintenance is good, and those numbers can help dissipate the aggression levels.

[Navarre]

I have or will have

Red top Ice blue ( M Greyshakei) 2 sizes

Mealanochromis (x 2 types)

A. S. Maleri Gold

A. S. Maleri Red

S. Fryei

P. elctra (Females holding now)

D. (H) Compresscips

Adult male red shoulder

for sale even if the spelling isnt all correct (sorry)

Let me know if you would be interested in any of those

Navarre

[Lush]

Fire thanks for that info, yeah i know my demasoni should have some friends but i'm a lil put off with the fact he used to have 5 but he killed them and i dont really want to fork out that much money again just to loose them.

Navarre

I could be keen on some maleri gold and reds, pm me with price

[wayneh]

I currently have E.yellows (breeding) in with my Maleri Red colony (also breeding) and had 4 Cobalt's in there as well and everyone was happy, until the cobalt blue male decided to kill off his harem one by one when they got to breeding age, now I have him in a separate tank as he wont leave anyone alone..

[Johannes Visser]

Cobalts (ALL MABUNA) need to be kept in Big groups for breeding We have 22 females in with 4 males and they are happy no problems with aggrestion !

[Lush]

hmm well that may explain a few things. i originally had 4 cobalts but 1 died then about 6 months later i lost another, and out of the 2 i have left i have noticed that the female hides alot and at one stage was separated cos of injurys, she was returned to the tank when all the dominant fish where gone and has not been attacked since, but in saying that she rarely comes out and they still haven't had babies but have showed signs of wanting to breed. females are so hard to find down here otherwise i'd add more.

[smidey]

i ahve cobalts, e yellows, peacocks, red zebs in trios of 1M/2F & haven't had any major aggression isuues. the males all chase others when they want to breed but once the deed is done its all mallow again. no one ever gets alot of damage.

[mj]

my tank consists of 3 yellows, 3 empresses, 3 orange peacocks, maybe 5 lumpheads (juveniles they hide a lot) 1 adult and about 7ish juvenile red jewels, 1 dem, 2 HUGE electric blues, 3 white and 3 striped convicts (<3 mystic) and 2 baby golden spot plecos

they all get along fine, they have their moments - lil dem been chasing the striped convicts around and male empress has his moments at nipping at the tails of the 10 times his size electric blues (lol)

[edit] oh and 4 juvenile kribs (that I have seen)

there are rules to be followed but my personal feelings are how you maintain the tank - I totally reorganize all the rocks/caves when introducing new fish (after letting them float in a bag for a while) - lots of plants, driftwood etc

with the dems as they say ya need at least 12 to stop them killing each other - so I'm sticking with one(for now) - he seems really happy

to me it is all about providing enough hiding places and areas for territory

[ryanjury]

I think it all depends what size tank you have and how mature the fish are.. Also sometime you do just get bullies who will destroy any female you give to them.. How big is your tank MJ? It is a rather interesting mix you have.

I successfully kept cobalts in a pair in a big mixed tank with no problems, but I cannot take them out and put them into their own tank for breeding as there are not enough targets and then male hunts out the female and bashes her. Had the same problem with Afra but managed to breed them through a divider and then grow out all the offspring so will keep a heap of female.. Generally with mbuna 1m to 2-3+ females works alot better.