tankmates with small mbu

[Mbootiful]

Hi all, soon i am putting my 4 inch mbu in a rio 400, i am wondering if i can keep small malawi cichlids with the mbu, i know they are buggers for nipping etc so i am wondering if the space will clear the aggression, any imputs would be great.

thanks a lot

Dom

[manutius]

Hi there Dom, I would not add any fish to that tank as before long your tiny little Mbu will be far too big for it, less than 2 years IME. I am speaking from experience here, I have that tank and kept my Mbu in there, 2 years old and 17 inches from baby until he died which was very traumatic for Clooney, me and my wife . I had other fish in with him but at the end I was battling nitrate levels of 160ppm+ as the scale didn't go any higher. Have a look at the article in my sig for plenty of helpful info (i hope)

[flash.dan]

if you must have fish with him i would recomend tetras, barbs, danios, and if you must have chilids NOT Malawi as fin nipping at such a small age will be stressful for the mbu. Id recomend A Borellis or A Pulcher umbrella chilids / Blue acaras that are a lot more passive.Seriously consider a bigger tank.

I got a new baby mbu yesterday at 1.5" hes already in a 6x2x2!
my 14" mbu is in a 8x3x3 next year he will need a 10x3 which currently houses a red arrow.

if you cannot accomedate for this fish in the long term i would seriously consider replacing him for a smaller species of FW puffer.

Mbus are the most facinatng puffers (for me at least but im biast) but there are a lot of considerations to make.

for example just on the 6x2x2 with the 1.5" mbu and about 50-70 tetras etc im running a ehiem 2080 + 2999 with a water turnover of over 2K LPH and the media sets me back over £110 every 4-5 months just for that tank alone.


Good news on the 'baby' still with no name but he seems to of settled in great! hes stuffing his face with krill as im typing!
and the banded botia doesnt mind him as he absolutly hates most fish and tries to chase them! the banded even has had pops at my 14" mbu before with little success! dont think he even realised he was swimming into him.

usually my bit of advice for mbus / fahakas is. if you dont have the space now dont buy one, but as you have one i wish you all the best as if they are kept well they will reward you in so so many ways

[Mbootiful]

Sweet nice to hear about your fish, i wont be mixing the mbu in that case, i wont be buying any new world cichlids due to the ammonia etc levels in the tank, i was only asking about the mbuna due to me having a tank full and my electricity bill being through the roof. I will be getting a 7x3x3 when i move out in a few months to accomadate him, ive read through most of your writings on the site and found them very interesting. What did your mbu die from? i know a few that have died through hemorages.