im changing my 55 to a 135. buyin a house that can hold my dream tank. i have 2 dominant males in my 55 now. one is metraclima(maylandia or psedotropheus - depending on what site u ask) aurora and the other is metraclima greshakei. i also have some fuelleborni females and some other smaller juvies. my question is in a 135 what can i keep in there. ive heard these are all aggresive fish and ill have problems and then the crossbreeding thing. so where do i start bcuz my aurora is the most beautiful fish ive ever seen next to the peacock i have in there. any help would be appreciated

I am pretty new at this (as far as keeping mbunas) and I'm sure others will chime in and give you wonderful advice.

First I would like to say congrats on the upgrade, its always soooo exciting! With the 135g I would think you would be able to keep several different ones and be fine. Yes they are aggressive but in that tank with lots of rockwork, I bet you will be fine.

If it were me, I would start looking at differnent ones I liked and pick maybe six or seven different kinds I like. Then ask about them, others can help you weed out the ones that wouldn't work ending up with like 4-5 differents kinds. From there I would start looking into what would be the best m/fm ratio to keep, I believe most species are 1m/3fm. Keeping the male to female ratio in check will help with aggression. Unless of course you are thinking of a all male set up, then you would look at 1 male of several different species, but I would think that would make for a pretty aggressive tank.

Good luck with your new set up and have a blast setting it up!!!!

Well first off I agree with LG start doing some research on different profiles. www.cichlid-forum.com is a great place for accurate profiles. The species you mentioned are on the more aggressive side. In a 135g you do have many options and can stock a lot of Mbuna. I would stick to the more aggressive species for this setup. As far as crossbreeding goes if you stock 3f/1m you likely wont have a problem with cross breeding. With this ratio the fish will stick to their own species. Sounds like a nice upgrade and your fish will enjoy the extra room.

Have you looked into anything yet??

ah kinda been sick all day. my buddy said that got some new fish in up in the city but i need to make a list of stuff i need b4 i go up there. plus ill just want to buy em and than ill have more fish in a tank full of fish i need to sort out. also i guess i needed to ask how im gonna move these tanks. these peeps really help ya out on here huh? thanks

Auroras are great fish. Temperament wise I've always found them to be more agressive with aggressive mbuna species and more mellow with the less-aggressive species. A 135 gallon is large enough that you have plenty of options, but with the greshakei and the fuelleborni I'd be careful about adding more mellow mbuna such as rusties, aceis, Melanochromis joanjohnsonae and electric yellows. IME, both greshakei and fuellebornis are highly aggressive. Not sayin' ya shouldn't add the species I mentioned, but I am sayin' to reconsider it if ya start stocking with very aggressive species like zebras, demasoni, tropheops, Melanochromis auratus, M. chipokae, etc.

WYite

On a side note down the road if you need any more Metraclima greshakei I have about 25 some about 1/2 inch some 2-3 inches and a few 5 inches or more and likely more on the way....they are very prolific.

ya i think im gonna keep the greshakei just cuz hes such a badass. deinately neeed some women for him

How your going to move the tanks? Well, are you putting the new one in the same spot or a different one?

If it is going in the same spot then you'll need something to put the fish in while you drain the old tank. I used a rubbermaid tub for my fish when moving things around. Drain some of the old tank water into the tub, add the fish, hook up the filters on it. I put all the decor in the tub also. Finish draining the tank, move it.....put the new tank in the spot, put substrate in, decor, add water, filter(s) (with old media), heater(s), fish and VOLA you have your new tank set up

If it is going in a different spot, well then just set up the new one, add the fish and there ya go!

Is that what you meant by "how am I going to move these tanks"?