mbuna tank stocking advice

[Xplanes]

I'm converting my tank to an mbuna tank. I've read that to keep aggression down you should have a bunch of them, lots of rockery and hiding places, and you should introduce them to the tank at the same time. My tank is 1 foot x 8 feet 60 gallons with good filtration. How many 3"-4" mbunas can I get in there? 

[Colu]

I think @Fish Folkkeeps mbuna maybe he can help with stocking opinions

[Fish Folk]

On 12/5/2021 at 1:57 AM, Xplanes said:

I'm converting my tank to an mbuna tank. I've read that to keep aggression down you should have a bunch of them, lots of rockery and hiding places, and you should introduce them to the tank at the same time. My tank is 1 foot x 8 feet 60 gallons with good filtration. How many 3"-4" mbunas can I get in there? 

We used to keep a bunch of mbunas. We got ours young, and let them grow up together. I think we started with about 24 in a 55 gal. If you're starting with already mature fish, you'll need to keep the population up to spread out aggression. Even then, there's going to be fatalities. Africans are just intense if they get it into their minds. Here's what our tank looked like...

You'll need to choose very hardy plants if you want them to survive. Ours really liked the texas  holey rock (limestone). We also put in large shells for them to hole up in. But they can get caught in there.

Beware that if you choose to stock any Auratus, they'll eventually take over and terrorize all of the other mbunas.

If you like Peacocks, consider stocking a tank full of them if you like color. They're less aggressive than the typical Malawi mbunas. 

Edited December 6, 2021 by Fish Folk

[Xplanes]

Thank you