The Mbuna Aquarium (PART 2)

Stocking the Tank

Overstocking

Overstocking is the most common way of dealing with aggression with mbuna. The idea is that more fish means less aggression toward any one fish. Any fish that is picked on can easily ‘get lost in the crowd’. This is true, but don’t take it too far. Overstocking does not mean cramming the tank wall to wall with fish, it just means keeping enough to avoid any one fish getting beat on. Overstocked tanks are less stable, more susceptible to problems, foul the tank more quickly and require more maintenance. There is something called a ‘happy medium’ and that is what we are looking to achieve.

So how many can you keep? Well that depends on what fish you are keeping, what size aquarium you have, what filtration you are running, and how often you maintain the tank. It is best to list your aquarium specs and desired fish on a forum to get advice specific to your situation; any rules of thumb are bound to be inaccurate, if not plain wrong.

Choosing the right fish

Because of the different levels of aggression it is important to make sure that the fish you are choosing are suitable for your tank, and each other. How many you can fit, and what gender ratio’s are best depends on what fish you will be keeping. Before stocking the tank browse through some galleries and make a list of what catches your eye. Then post this list on a forum and experienced fish keepers can help you sort out which fish are not compatible with each other, and which are not suitable to the size of your tank. Take the advice seriously, or you may be the cause of death of otherwise healthy fish. There are some tips to choosing species that can get you started however. The following are methods that are best used with the Overstocking method to keep aggression to a minimum.

-When it comes to the number of species in a mbuna tank, less is more. Keeping each type in higher numbers spreads out aggression and has the tendancy to keep any aggression within the species. Kept in groups the fish exhibit better behavior and arguably result in a more impressive setup then a tank full of random singles.

-Keep approriate gender ratios and purchase extra juveniles to make sure there are enough females. With a couple of exceptions, the aggression of the male needs to be distributed among several females. Mbuna are not 'pairing' fish as so many New World and Tanganyikan species are and keeping just two of anything will lead to problems. Multiple males may or may not work together, depending on the species chosen.

-Fish of different species that look too similar will end up fighting. Choosing species of varied appearance can avoid this common problem. If they look similar to you, they'll look similar to the fish. We might think that a fish might detect the minor differences between species, especially considering their keen eyesight and instincts, but this just isn't the case.

-As with fish of the same appearance, multiple fish of the same genus, yet different species, can also lead to further problems. The Genus is the group of fish the species in question belongs to. For example, Melanochromis Auratus and Melanochromis Johanni are two different species of the same genus.

Choosing Non-Cichlid Tankmates

There are very few fish that can live with mbuna because of their very aggressive nature. Community fish don't stand a chance, and even those tough enough to survive will end up living in constant stress. It is best to make the aquarium specific to mbuna, with a few specific exceptions. Haps from Malawi can be included if the mbuna chosen are of the less aggressive varieties, and provided that the aquarium is big enough. Some catfish can make excellent tankmates, specifically those from the Synodontis family. Remember, catfish tend to do best in numbers, so try to get them in groups. If you are interested in keeping biotopes, Synodontis Njassae is native to lake Malawi.

-------------------------

Diet

There are many myths involving mbuna, and some of these should be cleared up right away.

1: Pellets cause bloat. This is not true, pellets are a clean and efficient way to feed fish, and makes it easy to ration. It is often thought that because pellets expand in water, they will expand in the fish too. As the pellets soften they expand in water, but they actually break down in the fish. If you squeeze a pellet that has been soaking, it just falls apart, right? There is no need to soak pellets before hand either, though this may make it easier for younger fish to eat. Pellets are very condensed and dry nutrition though, so don't go overboard with them because they don't need as much as it seems.

2: Protein causes bloat. This is the most popular myth of all. Spirulina, the food most recommended for these herbivorous creatures, has a protien level of over fifty percent! It’s not the protein that causes harm as much as the source of it. Fatty, slimy foods foreign to their natural diet will cause the problems. Avoid any type of worms, including the larvae known as blood worms, and any products from mammals, like beefheart, will only complicate matters. Bloat is not just caused by diet, but by any type of stress including foul water and improper tank mates or tank size.

The best kind of food is a variety of food. Actual diet depends on the mbuna. On one end of the scale there are mbuna that feed almost exclusively on algae. On the other end are mbuna that eat almost no algae. Most of them fall somewhere in the middle, hence the variety.

Regardless of what brands you go with, don’t cheap out on the food. Big Bob’s budget line of fish food is not the same as a high quality brand. Check the ingredients and look out for an over-abundance of fillers, or the use of any non-aquatic animal products. Since prepared foods loose nutrients over time, puchasing bulk is best avoided unless it can be stored properly.

For the staple diet it’s best to feed two types of food. A good spirulina flake along with a good standard cichlid pellet or flake. A balance between the two of them will provide a complete diet. For some species like labeotropheus the diet should contain primarily spirulina, while others, like labidochromis, don't need much at all, learn diet of the species you are keeping.

As supplements you can use live frozen foods like brine shrimp, mysis, and Cyclops. These are supplements, and should only make up a smaller portion of the diet, but provide an excellent source of nutrition in moderation. Again, some species can handle more of this then others.

Fresh vegetables can be fed as a supplement also. Shelled peas, spinach, and zucchini are common choices. If you do decide to do this, don’t leave the veggies in long enough to foul the water. Remove the uneaten portions after 24 hours at most. I've always found them messy to feed, but many aquarists enjoy feeding these treats.

Cichlids are pigs. They will always appear hungry and will eat more then what is good for them. Overfeeding is easy to do and quite common because of this. There is no magic method to use for feeding, but use discretion and common sense. Mbuna are grazers, and in the wild are continuously foraging for food and eating small amounts throughout the day. Feeding small portions more often is generally the best way to feed, but twice per day is fine, and fits into most peoples schedules. If you do feed the fish every time they swim to the top and beg for food, which may be every time you pass the tank, you will end up with fat, unhealthy fish and a dirty aquarium.

----------------------

Breeding

Breeding mbuna is easy. All you need to do is provide proper conditions and they will do the rest themselves. Many of them are so prolific that they will breed readily in less then ideal conditions, so don’t fool yourself into thinking that things in the tank are perfect just because the fish are breeding.

Mbuna are mouth brooders. They hold the fertilized eggs in their mouths until they hatch and the fry grow large enough to be free from their yolks. When fish have a mouthful of eggs or fry are considered to be ‘holding’. A holding fish looks like her mouth is full of chewing gum. Depending on species, this is typically close to a month long period. The females don't eat while they're holding, though they may cruise around with the others when you feed them and appear to ‘sniff out’ the food. Some will even sneak a bite or two in.

It's not uncommon for a young female to fail on the first attempt at holding, and they will often swallow or spit the eggs, so don't get nervous and think that you did something wrong.

If you want to save and raise the fry you will need to separate the holding fish (the mother). In general the fish are more comfortable in the tank they are used to, so it is best to separate them as close to the end of the holding term as possible. Three weeks is usually a good time to move them. Sometimes holding fish cannot find a good enough hiding spot and will get overly harassed by the male, in which case it would be a good idea to move the female sooner.

I don't separate the holding fish at all. After three weeks I 'strip' the holding fish. To strip a fish means to (gently) force the female to spit the fry. The fry get stripped directly into a fry tank, and the female goes back into the main tank to resume life. If you want to try stripping the fish read up on it fish as much as you can before attempting it to avoid harming the fish.

The fry grow quickly, so 10 gallons is the absolute minimum I recommend for the fry tank, and even still they will be limited in the size that they can grow under these conditions. If you want to grow them out to a nice, sellable size then a larger tank is best.

Filtration needs to be something that is effective yet safe for fry. Sponge or box filters are ideal, and power filters can be used provided you put netting or foam on the intake so that smaller fry cannot be sucked up into the filter.

The fry should have staple similar to the adults. In fact, the adult food can be crushed into a powder, and makes an excellent diet. There are some brands of food that make specific ‘fry food’, but crushing adult food is just as effective. Baby brine shrimp are readily accepted as a fresh supplement.
Fry don’t eat very much, but they like to eat often. Feeding smaller portions more often is always the best method. Three times per day is typically reasonable for the average working person.
Harvesting algae on rocks is a great way to keep the fry busy, and provide a bit of nutrition too.

For the best growth the water should be as clean as possible, and fry can be messier then one might think. You simply can’t do too many water changes on a fry tank. The cleaner the water, the better the results, and daily water changes are not unheard of.

To keep the fry tank as clean as possible consider going with a ‘bare bottom’ tank, that is, with no substrate. Any excess debris can easily be vacuumed away. There is no need to provide heavy decoration in a fry tank, a couple of rocks, or something easy to remove and clean, is enough to provide some security.

You can move the female back to the main tank when you notice that she has ‘spit’ (released) the fry.


Sexing Mbuna and Deciding on gender ratios

Almost all mbuna are tough or impossible to sex when they are young juveniles. Gender specific traits tend to develop as they become sexually mature.

When they are mature the difficulty in sexing varies. With some species the males and females are completely different colors, with others it is minor marking and shape differences. A few species are near impossible to tell apart no matter how old they are.

The best way to achieve the gender ratios we want is to buy extra fish. Since the fish are young and small, the tank can handle more juvenile fish then adults. For example if you wanted one male and three females of a certain species, it’s best to get 6 or 7 young fish, so that you can remove extra males as they become identifiable. In addition there is always a chance that a fish can be occasionally lost through no fault of the fish keeper. If you choose fish that are difficult to sex physically you will need to rely on behavior – males will be more aggressive, and a dominant male will often extra aggressive toward other males then toward females most of the time. The good news is that with many of these difficult–to-sex species males will grudgingly co-exist in the same tank, given that there is enough room.

The most common ‘rule of thumb’ when establishing ratios is the ‘trio’, which is one male and two females. This is, in general, a safe way to go, but there are exceptions. A couple of species are hyper aggressive and you should really have at least 5 females to a male, while some varieties can exist without problem at a 1:1 ratio. This is where learning about the fish you will be specifically keeping comes into play, and research is your best friend. In addition there is personal preference. You may want four, five, or ten of a species, rather then three. Keeping them singly is a good way to reduce aggression in a tank as well. In small tanks especially, having a single breeding group in the tank is a good way to curb aggression. Single specimens can still be added for variety. Females are generally less aggressive then males, but this is by no means always the case. Cichlids are generally social fish, and interact with each other in many ways. Keeping species in groups is, in my opinion, the most rewarding way of keeping them.


Good luck!