how bad is this?

[sergo]

3 (2f/1m)small zebras in a 10 gal with a tetra whisper 60 and enough plants to keep nitrates at 10pmm and less. granted this is not a long term set up as i plan out my next tank and i know they CAN NOT go into my 55. when i do aquire the next tank what would be some good tank mates, i know other mbunas but don't know what all is considered that. labs...?

[Drumachine09]

Yellow labs and blue socolofis are good tankmates. Of course you could also do others, but these are just a few that i have heard are slightly less agressive than most malawis. Another 55 would do nicely!


Have they begun to eat your plants yet?

[sergo]

actually i'm planning on a much bigger one :)

[Drumachine09]

actually i'm planning on a much bigger one :)

Always good to hear!

[sergo]

i'm just a little confused with the whole catagory of pseudos and how it splits into other groups. ugh, so confusing.

[jessie]

In my experience, the zebras are pretty aggressive (and any other pseudotropheus species); the labs are the only ones I have that are docile. I would say the zebras are pretty equal in aggression to kenyis, and the labs will likely get picked on by dominant males of the other species. definitely need a big tank with lots of rocks to keep the labs from getting picked on. A pretty equal match for the zebras would also be Aceis, and they are by far the best looking fish in my tank, if you like brilliant blue colorations. A good male/female ratio is at least 3-4 females for each male. They will probably outgrow the tank in less than 2 months.

[jessie]

Another species of mbuna would be anything that starts with "Melanachromis", but don't recommend these. Watch out, those guys get nasty! If you are considering labs, avoid anything in this species, as this would be mixing the least aggressive mbuna with the most. I have also seen other colorations of labs outside of yellow. The pearlmutt lab is a really neat color, but to find anythign other than yellow you would have to look at a specialty aquarium store.

I also think the snow white socolofis are really good looking fish.

[sergo]

thanks for the help, that helped ease some of the confusion. i'm just going to have to do a lot of research before i go on any farther so i can better understand these rowdy little guys. they are quite interesting in their behavior and i think they are starting to warm up to me some. thanks for the info once again.

[sergo]

ok here's some pix of my new rowdy friends after they rearrangered their tank to to make it more homely feeling...
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t45/sergoneck/111_0082.jpg
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t45/sergoneck/111_0061.jpg
you can see my male and 1 of my females. the other is a little smaller and has yellowish finnage instead of the orange as seen in the pix