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I have 5 Mbuna, a tropheus moorii, and a synodontis angelicus. PH-8.0, kh-18, 78F. I currently have an L191 Royal, L239 Blue Panaque, and a clown L104. I'm moving to a much larger tank soon (90 gal) and want to add one or two (max) more L's. Would love to hear suggestions on what might be ok with my water values and current tankmates. I've been looking at a queen arabesque, an L200 lemon spotted green, and a red cactus. Thanks...

im not looking to get any more Mbuna. (currently have a Ps Demasoni, redtop ndumbi, "Deep", Lab. Fuell) i'm looking to add one more cat to the mix of the above fish when i move into bigger tank. any of the one's i mentioned going to be okay in my water? and by the way, my Tropheus Moorii is the most mellow (and beautiful) of all the fish. There are no aggression probelms in the least. Albeit, they are all not adult size yet. The Labeotrop. and the redtop are closing in on max size but the rest are still maturing. My royal, blue panaque and clown seem to dig the mix as well. anyway..... just want one more. love'em so much.

patrick, I have a 105 gallon Mbuna tank with a Royal, Queen, Gold Nugget, Clown, and Zebra. They all do fine together and are never harassed by the Africans.

Looking for new plecs is fun!Good luck!

I'm a little confused but that normal. My mbuna love the african root wood. i got it for them! I thought it leached tanins or something in the water that the fish love. Secondly, i hear you on the Tropheus issue but my friend has a similar set-up in which his tropheus has lived for years and years with no problems. I might not be a professional aquarium master, but i do think people WAY over exaggerate the conditions a fish need to "thrive". they are in a tank after all, how fun is that? Either they are wild and miss their normal water and food, or are tank raised and clueless as to their "natural" environment.
on the food side, i feed my mbuna and cats a diet of about 50% mysis, 50% spirulina flake/wafers. is this not enough protein for my royal etc? or too much for the cich lids?
I dont want a bushy ancistrus so will probably take no one's advice and go ahead and get the queen arabesque.
and if i told you how big my tank was, you would tell me that all my fish must be dead.

sorry i touched a nerve (it seems). I decided on an L081 gold nugget with pale seams and very small yellow spots. A LFS of mine had a 3"er and gave him to me for $15...So i had to take him. Also I decided to further mix up the mix and remove a few fish and add a Tropheus Duboisi Maswa. He and my Moorii are instant buddies! Who'd-a-thunk-it?

And not being pejorative in any way, i want to say i do hear "i'm doing everything right" from many people. As well as hearing the contrary. EVERY lfs, aquarium "expert", and users of this site (moderators included) state conflicting opinions constantly. I simply like to take in all the information and try to come up with a consensus or common theme. I've heard from different reputable sources that you can only keep Moorii with others in a big group (15+), some say you can keep one or two with other Lake T fish, some say you can mix with certain Mbuna, some say you cant. Some say you cant keep a Royal P L E C O in a 30 gal, some people in Brazil have 4 in a ten gallon! Some say to feed them cucumbers and lettuce, others say they need meat! What to do with all of this????
well.... given 2 assumptions, 1) we keep fish in aquariums for our pleasure, not theirs. (im sure they'd rather live in some kind of "wild" nature. and 2) 95% of the time these fish are raised in captivity that is less than "ideal" or contrary to their "natural" environment. I conclude the following action that Barbie would probably not endorse.... Try everything to see what works best. Put old rules, wives' tales, and normal convention to the test. If you can successfully introduce a Zebra to your Mbuna tank more power to you! If you want to put a synodontis angelicus into a 20 gallon tank until it gets too big, GO for it!
rules are meant to be broken... That doesn't mean i dont want advice from the experts, i certainly do. perhaps i need to revise my questions to prevent offense. I should have simply asked what L#'s do well in african chichlid water, rather than asking what would "do well" in my tank with x properties. This would govern whether the answer comes from personal opinion (which is invaluable) or empirical evidence (the foundation). Depending on the question, either approach might be appropriate. I am learning. thanks for all of thoughts.....

sorry i touched a nerve (it seems).

In a very anoying way YES.

Try everything to see what works best

Try it on yourself and dont worsen the situtaion the fishes are in.

That doesn't mean i dont want advice from the experts, i certainly do.

This is a joke?

I should have simply asked what L#'s do well in african chichlid water

It wouldve made the answer simple - NONE

OMG ....we should report you to the trophous police for being cruel. If you want to waste money when they die then feel free to do so, i know my wallet cannot stretch that far. You might just end up with a tank that has just catfish in it, then you can become an expert in catfish

You have to bear in mind that the people in here have been raising all kinds of aquactic live stuff for many many years. Pay attention and you might learn something, like i have. They aren't all experts, far from it, just a few fanatical hobbyists with nothing else better to do

OH and please DO NOT confuse exagerration with experiance.


Ron