Stocking ideas for a 75 gallon Mbuna tank?

[DeadStang]

I am doing a fish shuffle and will soon have a cycled tank (I will be switching literally everything from a 40 breeder into this new big 75 gallon tank, including as much of the water as I can). I just finished a mini test, going from a 20 long into a 29 gallon tank. It took about 2 hours and so far, all water parameters are stable and the fish are begging and eating, exploring, and doing well. [OK, there are only 2 fish for the time being to make sure the tank stays stable before I start adding fish in from a second 20 tall I have to combine them and free up space...things may go south, but so far, so good.]

I read here that it's important to match fish to your water and I have found that personally with houseplants, too. I cannot grow a jade plant for the life of me, but my philodendrons, spiders, wandering Jews, and pathos are insane -- so I have lots of different colors of the same plants.

So, on point: I'm on a well with nitrates from the tap at 40ppm and a moderate amount of GH and KH. The pH of the water from the tap is under 7, but it off-gases (CO2???/something) and sits stable at about 8-8.4 in my tanks after it sits overnight and remains unchanged. So I have a busy, "planted" tank (none in the bottom substrate) with lots of things to hide in (rocks, rock piles, and structures), full of anubias of different types, moss, and lots of java ferns (I have figured out what likes my water and at least will not melt -- if not actually grow). I have a wave maker to move water for current and aerate, a high pH, hard water, and I keep my tanks set at 77* degrees...why not make the 75 a Mbuna tank as what I read to be their ideal environment seems to match mine?

I have googled around and found suggestions of 20 fish total, all of approximately the same size-ish. It's recommended to get 4 or 5 species, either 1 male to 3-4 females per group to make up the 20. And to try to get fish as dissimilar in coloration as possible (if possible). My questions are:

*Which species of Mbuna would you mix in the mini-harems and why?

*Would you do 4 or 5 different species?

*Would you strive to add them as much all at once as possible...? I can see doing that from a territorial standpoint, but going from 5 fish in an established 40 gallon breeder into a 75 makes me worry that I'll crash the tank as my biofilter with be unprepared from such an influx all at once, although, due to various bumps in the road since I started fish keeping, I can do a 50% water change very efficiently these days, sigh. I just would rather not have to be so aggressive with my water once the fish are in if it can be avoided.

Thoughts? Ideas? Too crazy for me to try...?

Thanks!

[Zenzo]

As someone who keeps a lot of African cichlids, I would suggest starting with less than 20. That is really pushing it to start off with in a 75. Depending on the species, I would aim for maybe 12-14 or so, knowing that they will spawn and you will have more in the coming months. As far as how many to add at a time, I would suggest 4-5, wait a few days, add 4-5 more, and then repeat again a few days later. I have made a few videos that you can find on my channel about how to add African cichlids to an aquarium (Tazawa Tanks). 

If it were me doing it all over again with a 75 gallon mbuna tank, I would choose dwarf species, as you can have more in there and some are extremely colorful (see my Saulosi tank by looking at the photo on my forum profile - tank above the chair).

[Matt Armstrong]

On 1/23/2023 at 11:01 PM, DeadStang said:

*Which species of Mbuna would you mix in the mini-harems and why?

*Would you do 4 or 5 different species?

My first and only African Cichlid tank was 75G and I kept it simple and probably "boring" for someone who is really into them: a group of six Labidochromis caeruleus and another group of six Pseudotropheus cyaneorhabdos. Both of these species are very commonly available (hence "boring"), but as a first dip into these fish I think this is a plus. The contrasting colors of these two species was great. A fun tank to watch.

On 1/27/2023 at 11:16 AM, Zenzo said:

If it were me doing it all over again with a 75 gallon mbuna tank, I would choose dwarf species, as you can have more in there and some are extremely colorful (see my Saulosi tank by looking at the photo on my forum profile - tank above the chair).

Looking at it, my tank and mix of species looked a lot like the tank Zenzo pointed to!

Edited January 27, 2023 by Matt Armstrong

[DeadStang]

Thanks for the replies! Elsewhere I have seen these ideas, so that's kind of the mix I was thinking of following:

Labidochromis caeruleus (Yellow Lab) 1M 4F
Labidochromis chisumulae 1M 4F
Pseudotropheus sp. acei (Yellow Tail Acei) 1M 4F
Pseudotropheus saulosi 1M 4F

or

1m:4f Labidochromis caeruleus yellow labs
1m:4f Pseudotropheus acei
1m:4f Iodotropheus sprengerae rusties
1m:4f Cynotilapia zebroides Cobue

[Sorry for the black text -- it's a cut'n'paste that I couldn't seem to change.]

I also saw some fish people recommend "controlled over stocking" to minimize the aggression where fewer fish are actually more of a problem than the 20. I want to do my research and start out more planned for this tank than I have done so far.