55 gallon mbuna

[signde]

decided to set up my 55 as all mbuna



1 blue red top zebra (i think? supposedly the petsmart variety)
3 red zebras
3 white lab
3 yellow lab
1 aceii
2 white top afras

i'm loving it. mbuna are so active and so colorful. i've stayed away from them because of the aggression in the past but decided to give it another run. hopefully the number of fish in the tank will disperse the aggression.

my oldest fish, a male yellow lab is the current dictator. he seems to be a good boss. i'm surprised he is the king, he is smaller than the the zebras and the new male white lab. i'm interested to see how it plays out over the next few days.

have about 40 pounds of lace rock. 50 pounds of playground sand. 2 emperor 280 hob filters, 1 magnum 250 hot. all the current filters are loaded with seachem matrix (i'm a big fan of this bio media). i'll be adding some canisters eventually to replace the hob.

i like this tank more than my other one. it dawned on me the other day i've had this tank for almost 20 years. that makes me feel old lol.

thanks to jon for a majority of the fish here.

[jon carman]

That looks cool, great filtration

[signde]

here are some better pics









i've got a new obsession with mbuna. wish this tank was bigger. i want more!

i was really skeptical about the white labs, i had always liked yellow more, but after a few days with them, they really sparkle.

[bunnie1978]

This tank looks great! I'm always a big fan of tanks that have a clear simple decor theme. Instead of a hundred different types of decor that detract from the beauty of the fish.

[oneyoda]

Does look really good. Don't see a lot of 55's with a canopy

[signde]

thanks.

i'm not a big fan or more is better. Keep It Simple, Stupid (KISS) is an engineering principle that that i subscribe to but it also applies to many other areas such as design and aesthetics. i feel it works well as a principle in aquariums as well.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KISS_principle

i've had a lot of tanks in my days but i feel like this is the best i've done.

i moved my eheim 2213 over to this tank and removed the unsightly filterpads laying around i used to help seed the tank. i've got a lot of flitration now so i'm going to add another couple of fish but after that i'll call it done.

[vladsbtch]

I really like the look. Pretty fish too. Good job!

[signde]

a new pic and some video



3 yellow labs
3 white labs
4 red zebra
3 white top afras
1 ice blue red top zebra

[signde]

Cynotilapia afra "Dogtooth Cichlid"

[rick]

looks really nice!

[fishme]

Great job. Love the rock.