Auratus (Melanochromis auratus)???

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waveman

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 21, 2006
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philippines
pls give me some tips and ideas about this fish,my friend gave me 4 of these and add to my tank with 1 Powder Blue Cichlid (Pseudotropheus socolofi) and 6Red Zebra Cichlid (Pseudotropheus estherae) they are all 2-3 inches long... i think all are youngs :headbang2


and ideas also to Red Zebra Cichlid (Pseudotropheus estherae) and Powder Blue Cichlid (Pseudotropheus socolofi) thanks more power to mFK
 
Red Zebras are Very Aggressive. Matter of fact all zebras are pretty aggressive. My auratus is more docile then my zebras. They should be fine as small as they are right now. Once they get bigger they will kill each other in that size tank. Tha auratus will probably be the first one to go.
 
Thats a lot of violent fish for a 35g tank.get a 55g,put a large pile of rocks at either end of the tank,and get rid of the socolofi or the other fish will get rid of it for you.
 
I would not add any Red Zebras to the tank. Mbuma should be kept in groups of four as well and the tank you have is too small. A 55 galon would work for all of those fish minus the zebras but like I said you would want to add 3 more of each species 3 females to 1 male. Get the zebras their own tank or get rid of them they are extremely agressive and will most likley kill less agressive species. A 75 gallon with tank mates or larger is what I would recommend for them.
 
N-E CICHLIDS;613978;613978 said:
Red Zebras are Very Aggressive. Matter of fact all zebras are pretty aggressive. My auratus is more docile then my zebras. They should be fine as small as they are right now. Once they get bigger they will kill each other in that size tank. Tha auratus will probably be the first one to go.
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What a load of ------- spoken here. :irked: :screwy: Auratus are known to be one of the more aggressive mbuna you can have. If the fish are all more or less the same size and they grow together you will probably have very little aggression towards the other species. Males of the same tend to become extremely dominant when they have a female that is about to spawn. I have about 150+ mbuna, wild caughts, and do not experience what has been described here!!!!!!!!!!!!!:confused: :confused:
Make sure you have enough rocks which create suitable hiding spots for your fish. Keep your water in good condition and feed your fish with top quality food and you should have very little trouble. Bought a new Labeotropheus fuelleborni "Katale" 10 days ago and they have just spawned for the first time. Beautiful fish the male. :naughty: :ROFL: :headbang2
 
I have to agree with Scotty, what a bunch of BS! Raised together in a group tank those mbuna will be fine. As for Red Zebras vs. Auratus on agression levels you are talking apples and oranges. The Auratus is quite possibly THE single most aggressive of all Malawi mbuna species commonly kept!

If you have a good aquascape with plenty of rockwork and such you will be just fine with those fish! Also remember that African Malawis and other Rift lake cichlids come from and do better in Crowded conditions! Crowding helps reduce aggression not add to it.

My worst scrapped ( currently isolated til the rest of the fish can grow a bit larger ) is my larger Damasoni! It is a brute! As for Zebras ( reds are my favorite and I have more of them than any other species ) they can hold their own and are okay scrappers, but they are not even close to species like Johanni, Auratus, Damasoni, etc. They are a more midrange fish like Kenyi for example. My most docile fish are probably my Labidichromis.

Also there are tricks that can difuse aggression in tanks. If the tank is long then certain species of fast swimming fish can help to bring aggression down drastically. I use large danios ( yes I know that they are not Africans ) to quell a lot of tank aggression. A fast moving small shool races back and forth in my tank and they can swim rings around my Africans. But they do tend to break up tension in the tank. This can also me done with a small school of certain types of barbs.

Anyway, listen to Scotty, because most of the rest of the posts are the stuff one would fertilize the lawn with! Crap. Best of luck to you!

- Erik -
 
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