# New Tank had a few Questions.



## Rebelution (Jun 24, 2013)

Hello all,
so i just bought a 36 gal bow front tank. its in the cycling process now. just wondering if the gravel i chose was a good idea. i bought a bag of argonite sand and a bag of argonite crushed shell. was this bad mixing the two? also was wondering what other kinds of chiclids i could put in the tank once it is cycled i currently have a red zebra a blue zebra and a auratus. not sure of the sexes of any of them i think the auratus is a female from looking at pictures.


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## kay-bee (Dec 6, 2006)

red zebras, (cobalt) blue zebras and auratus are lake malawi mbuna species.

When considering the aggressive and territorial nature of many mbuna's when full grown, the 36gal bow front tank may not offer enough volume to 'keep the peace'. 

With mbuna's (again when considering the temperament of a fully matured specimen) small tank volume and small group population both act as aggression enhancers. 

Generally as a minimum mbuna's do best in tank that a 48" in length and at least 55gal in volume. Zebra's (which are members of the metriaclima (alt. maylandia) genus are typically dominant in nature, and auratus (which are members of the melanochromis genus) are hyperdominant in nature (and are a top contender as far as being one of the most aggressive mbuna species in the hobby). As mentioned a small tank may increase these aggression levels. These will fare better in a 75-90gal set up.

Group size should be 8-15 mbuna's as a minimum (the larger the group size the greater the likelihood that aggression will be spread out among the population thus lowering the amount of aggression each fish may be subject to). Smaller group size will enable the dominant mbuna(s) to single out their targets.

A 36gal will work for 'some time' when stocked with juvenile and sub-adult mbuna's, it may be awhile before their aggressive nature manifests but ultimately a larger tank is required when keeping these types of cichlids. The tank 'may' work for the least aggressive mbuna species (rusties, yellow labs, etc as long as only one male exists in the tank).

Regarding the gender of your auratus, if it is a juvenile, you may not be able to determine gender by external appearance alone. Both genders of auratus start out as horizontally yellow/white/black striped fish. But because auratus are a dimorphic species, the females retain this pattern throughout their lives but males undergo a color transformation and become dark brownish fish with a light colored horizontal stripe.

The zebra's are monomorphic species with both genders superficially appearing near identical (assuming you have red zebra's/ m. estherae and cobalt blue zebras/m. callainos). The gender differences are subtle and become apparent with maturity. If your "blue zebra" is a a blue morph m. estherae then it is a male. With 'wild type' m. estherae males are blue and females are orange from birth. They are a dimorphic variant but do not under go a color transformation as the male auratus do.

If you're able to get a larger tank, then mbuna's are pretty compatible with other mbuna species. Aggressive species can be kept with other aggressive species are with lesser aggressive species that out number them.

When stocking mbuna's it is advised to add the most aggressive species last.


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