aquired a 72 gal bowface thinking about this species mix????

[budracn]

i just quired a 72 gal bowface, and after building the stand and purchasing the filtersand so forth, was thinking about this mix of species
4 Maylandia estherae
1 male Maylandia lombardoi
2 female Maylandia lombardoi
1 Labidochromis caeruleus
1 Pseudotropheus flavus
2 Colbalt zebras (sorry not sure the scientific name)
and 2 syndo cats

[budracn]

oh yeah is it possible to put some shell dwellers in this tank or are these guys to agressive??????

[Mbuniac]

IMHO, I think the shell dwellers would make great snacks for your other choices. As far as your main list goes, I have nearly that many mbuna in my 29 gal. tank (8). Of course it's a bit chaotic. Can't wait to move to my new tank. You should do fine in a 72 gal. bowfront. Just make sure you do your homework as to the water requirements for them. LOL
Sam

[jonah]

4 Maylandia estherae
1 male Maylandia lombardoi
2 female Maylandia lombardoi
1 Labidochromis caeruleus
1 Pseudotropheus flavus
2 Colbalt zebras (sorry not sure the scientific name)
and 2 syndo cats

The cobalt scientific name is Maylandia callainos and they will definitly hybridize with the red zebras (May. estherae). I had a psycho male cobalt that killed 3 of my fish, including my dominant male red zebra and my dominant male electric yellow and then proceeded to knock up every red zebra in the tank.

Shelldwellers will probably be victimized by the larger, more aggressive mbuna. I wouldn't try it myself.

[budracn]

ok one more crazy question LOL. My wife and i have seen a mbuna that change color due to his temperment. I have no idea what it is called but she really wants it.(LOL) so if any one can help there i would greatly appreciate it. I know it is a stab in the dark but its worth the try.

[jonah]

I think several of them do that, but one that I'm sure of is Maylandia crabros, the bumblebee cichlid. It's the one species my wife insisted on keeping when I changed my tank around earlier this year. My male is black most of the time, but sometimes he'll fade to a lighter more female like coloring, not for long though. They get pretty big and are considered fairly aggressive. I don't think it would be unworkable in your tank, but you might want to make sure you have a back-up plan in case it gets ugly.

[SGypsyMermaid]

almost all, if not all, cichlids are capable of changing color depending on mood to varying degrees.

[Cichlid Jeans]

ok one more crazy question LOL. My wife and i have seen a mbuna that change color due to his temperment. I have no idea what it is called but she really wants it.(LOL) so if any one can help there i would greatly appreciate it. I know it is a stab in the dark but its worth the try.
Check this link dealing with the crabro's amazing and amazingly useful colour-changing ability!

http://www.gcca.net/index.htm?content=/fom/Pseudotropheus_crabro.htm

Cichlid Jeans