Quoth ,

"Christopher Kollmann" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I'm starting a 55 gallon Mbuna tank. After doing some research,
especially on www.cichlid-forum.com, I was thinking of stocking the
following mix of fish:

4 Labidochromis caeruleus
4 Pseudotropheus socolofi
3 Synodontis multipunctatus

Will these fish get along together? Is this stocking level good? The
tank is heavily decorated with rocks, with many hiding places. Any
other suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

Chris Kollmann


I generally put mbuna into larger tanks (70g+) so they don't get on each
other's cases too soon, however Labs are fairly mellow (on the mbuna
scale of aggression ;~), and Socolofi are dwarfs (though testy). It
sounds like a nice mix. You could put some ditherfish in there too, to
bring the mbuna out more and to give some color/activity to the upper
portion of the tank. Since you have yellow, blue and black, how about
some Tiger barbs (green, albino or even regular). If you want to stay
with the African theme, some Julies or Lamp. Brichardis would work too,
though they can sometimes reproduce faster than desirable.

Thanks for the feedback.

Hmm, I kind of like the idea of some dither fish, if that won't put too
much bio-load on the tank. However, my research indicates Barbs prefer
softer, slightly acidic water. Is that true? If so, that's not exactly
the environment I going for with these Mbuna. I'll look into the
Julies, that may be a good idea. I was hesitant to mix Tanganyika and
Malawi fish, but I just love the looks of the Cuckoo Cats, so I'm
already messing with nature in this tank. Anybody else have good
suggestions for dither fish that will get along with this mix and enjoy
harder, higher pH water?



--
Chris Kollmann