Please post the pics and ages of the biggest mbuna(/mbunas) you have. Heres my Red top, not very impressive, about 13cm and hes a year old.
Biggest mbuna
- Thread starter scratanut
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My Metriaclina Callainos is about 5 inches..2 years.. .. and Zebra OB Blue male that is just over 4.5 inches and he is three years old.. and the last pic of my N.Venutus male about a year old and still growing at 5.5. inches..those are about my biggest..
Cool Fishies Red devil! the size you've mentioned is excluding tails? Thanks for sharing the pics!
My biggest will be my Labeotropheus fuelleborni 'Katale' The biggest males are only around 3" right now though.
Mbuna that big would be very unhealthy - and most likely a hybrid. The bigger cichlids of Lake Malawi will be in the Haps/Utaka groups.
Species like Nimbochromis, Copadichromis, etc. - not Psuedotropheus, Labidochromis, Cynotilapia, etc.
Species like Nimbochromis, Copadichromis, etc. - not Psuedotropheus, Labidochromis, Cynotilapia, etc.
There is nothing wrong with an mbuna of this length?
Some of the species do attain lengths of between 15-18cms. I have seen some wild caughts, a day after arriving, of around 12-15cms. The Petrotilapia species can grow to about 20cms.
My biggest mbuna is close to 15cms and is a Metriaclima Zebra gold "lion's cove". Will try and get a shot of him to post. This fish is in a pristine state.
Feulleborni "Katale" also grow quite big.
Nice fish RED DEVIL. My Marmalade spat a couple of fry. Seems there might be a male in there as my son says the one is blueish of colour.
Some of the species do attain lengths of between 15-18cms. I have seen some wild caughts, a day after arriving, of around 12-15cms. The Petrotilapia species can grow to about 20cms.My biggest mbuna is close to 15cms and is a Metriaclima Zebra gold "lion's cove". Will try and get a shot of him to post. This fish is in a pristine state.
Feulleborni "Katale" also grow quite big.
Nice fish RED DEVIL. My Marmalade spat a couple of fry. Seems there might be a male in there as my son says the one is blueish of colour.
Scotty;1222253; said:
Honestly - I had forgotten about Petrotilapia - as I don't know too many people that keep them.
They definitely get BIG!The bigger mbuna are the Labeotropheus and some of the Metriaclima, but when I think of the big SA/CA cichlids - there aren't that many mbuna with that size. Length is only one dimension of size - also think about the height and the gurth of the cichlid.
Petrotilapia are most probably the meanest mbuna there are. They have a rather large mouth to go with their size and attitude.
My zebra gold has started to fill out. We have a fish, we fish for in the sea here in SA, we call a "muscle cracker" as its favourite food is crab and the muscles that grow on the rocks. These fish get to a certain length then all they do is get wider and deeper. This is what seems to be happening to my gold. It was quite amazing to see him grow once I put him into my 800l tank. Is an absolute beatiful specimen.
Labeotropheus can also grow to around 20cms, but true what you say abot the SA/CA's, they grow a lot bigger.
My zebra gold has started to fill out. We have a fish, we fish for in the sea here in SA, we call a "muscle cracker" as its favourite food is crab and the muscles that grow on the rocks. These fish get to a certain length then all they do is get wider and deeper. This is what seems to be happening to my gold. It was quite amazing to see him grow once I put him into my 800l tank. Is an absolute beatiful specimen.
Labeotropheus can also grow to around 20cms, but true what you say abot the SA/CA's, they grow a lot bigger.
Scotty;1222253; said:There is nothing wrong with an mbuna of this length?
My biggest mbuna is close to 15cms and is a Metriaclima Zebra gold "lion's cove". Will try and get a shot of him to post. This fish is in a pristine state.
Feulleborni "Katale" also grow quite big.
Nice fish RED DEVIL. My Marmalade spat a couple of fry. Seems there might be a male in there as my son says the one is blueish of colour.
Thank you, and that is wonderful ..looking forward to seeing them when they get bigger.