55 Gallon Tank stocking help

[dragonshark]

Hey guys/gals I'm looking at getting some Electric Blue haps what do you think my info is up to date. I know I'm going to have to get rid of some fish if I do this but that's what I'm not sure on witch ones and info on them would be grate and has any one bread them. I'm going to look at them on the 23rd it is a local breeder that I'm getting them from and he has Haps for $15 each, and more than 5 he can drop the price to $10 each is that a good deal he also has a blue Mbuna (I believe jewel spot) selling him for $10 and frontosa fry 1in long for $30 or more but these are F1 first generation from Wild caught parents. I was also wanting to get some Boeseman's rainbowfish will they be ok with them too

 

[Nutter]

Electric Blue Haps get to about 7" & are rather active. They should either be kept as a single male or one male with 3-4 females. They are mouthbrooders. The female will hold the eggs for about 3 weeks before release & the fry will be looked after for about 1 week after that. Rift lake cichlids require their own tank that should have hard, alkaline water & lots & lots of rock. The only tank you have that is suitable for the fish you listed is you 100gal IMO. I think even 100gal is too small for Frontosa. They get to about 14" & need lots of room & lots of rock. Perhaps 2 in your 100gal with no tankmates.

The 'Blue Mbuna' is a bit confusing. Mbuna are from the rift lakes & require hard alkaline water. The Jewel Cichlid is from soft acidic african rivers. Do you know or can you get the latin name for this fish? Without positive ID I can't make any recommendations.

The Rainbows are not suitable to go with rift lake cichlids at all IMO. Especially the Bosemani. They like rather warm temps that would stress the cichlids out badly.

 

[dragonshark]

ok I'm wanting to use my 55 gallon for the haps

 

[Angela_96]

Hey guys/gals I'm looking at getting some Electric Blue haps what do you think my info is up to date. I know I'm going to have to get rid of some fish if I do this but that's what I'm not sure on witch ones and info on them would be grate and has any one bread them. I'm going to look at them on the 23rd it is a local breeder that I'm getting them from and he has Haps for $15 each, and more than 5 he can drop the price to $10 each is that a good deal he also has a blue Mbuna (I believe jewel spot) selling him for $10 and frontosa fry 1in long for $30 or more but these are F1 first generation from Wild caught parents. I was also wanting to get some Boeseman's rainbowfish will they be ok with them too

A 55 gallon is actually small for haps, most of the malawI hap species need 75g+ tanks to grow out good and breed. I agree with not trusting the label "blue mbuna" it could be a hybrid fish, or not even mbuna.
Also mixing any other fish with malawI cichldis is not a good idea ie frontosa and the rainbowfish. The rainbow fish require a more soft acidic water than the malawI cichlids which like hard high ph water.

cichlid forum has a lot of cookie cutters to help stock a malawI tank.

 

[dragonshark]

I was going to get them from a loclal fish breeder but fom this it looks like I'm not going to get them but would the rainbows do ok with what I got in my 55 gallon or would I need to get rid of some fish fist and witch ones to get rid of? I'm thinking some of the danios but not really sure.

 

[btate617]

Hey guys/gals I'm looking at getting some Electric Blue haps what do you think my info is up to date. I know I'm going to have to get rid of some fish if I do this but that's what I'm not sure on witch ones and info on them would be grate and has any one bread them. I'm going to look at them on the 23rd it is a local breeder that I'm getting them from and he has Haps for $15 each, and more than 5 he can drop the price to $10 each is that a good deal he also has a blue Mbuna (I believe jewel spot) selling him for $10 and frontosa fry 1in long for $30 or more but these are F1 first generation from Wild caught parents. I was also wanting to get some Boeseman's rainbowfish will they be ok with them too

He may be a breeder but here is the problem.
You buy a blue mbuna and breed it. now you sell it as a blue mbuna and that person breeds it. this goes on and on and before long noone knows what the heck they have except for a mbuna that is blue.
This is the main reasons the hobby is so screwed up with what fish is what nowadays.

I would bet a fairly large amount of money that someone who is calling themselves a breeder selling blue mbuna's....... those F1 frontosa are far from F1.
The F1 doesn't demand the high price. I would pay $30 a fry for "Moba" or Zaire Blue's but probably not Burundi.

Don't get caught up in the F1 from the same breeder selling blue "whatever".


Brian

 

[Angela_96]

He may be a breeder but here is the problem.
You buy a blue mbuna and breed it. now you sell it as a blue mbuna and that person breeds it. this goes on and on and before long noone knows what the heck they have except for a mbuna that is blue.
This is the main reasons the hobby is so screwed up with what fish is what nowadays.

I would bet a fairly large amount of money that someone who is calling themselves a breeder selling blue mbuna's....... those F1 frontosa are far from F1.
The F1 doesn't demand the high price. I would pay $30 a fry for "Moba" or Zaire Blue's but probably not Burundi.

Don't get caught up in the F1 from the same breeder selling blue "whatever".


Brian

I completly 100 percent agree with you! If they are true f1's the breeder will know because they will have the wild caught mom and dad and for that they will know the species and not label it "blue mbuna".

For the 55 gallon tank, def no on any malawI cichlids with that ph. Maybe some westies or dwarf sa cichlids. The rainbows I'm not sure about their requirements other than they are not compatable with african cichlids.

 

[Nutter]

The Rainbows would be fine in your 55gal but you may find they clash with the giant Danios a fair bit. They inhabit the same part of the tank & behave in a very similar way. Some Rainbows can be a bit aggressive at times but it depends on the individuals personality, it's not a species specific thing.

I agree completly with Brian & Angela about the breeder. Unfortunatley most backyard breeders don't know half of what they think they know & they don't usually know exactly what they have got anyway. I have learnt the hard way not to trust breeders unless you know all the details about what they are breeding & exactly how they are raising the fish.

 

[dragonshark]

ok so I went over there and my brother traded his iguana to him for a tank set up and some fish I was just looking and When my brother told me about this guy I 100% agree with you guys/gals. he dose know what he is doing and some really nice fish and I found out where he gets his fish it is from one of the owners of a LFS in my town. the owner travels to diferent countrys and gets fish for him self and for his breeders this guy...I know the owner too lol I will get some pics of his fish when they get more settled in.