Who Gives A Fish Forums

Here goes, my third attempt at creating a thriving mbuna community. I'm drawn to them despite past disappointments - I love the concept of slightly overstocking to minimize aggression, their vibrant colors, and energetic nature. However, as soon as the tank turns into a battleground, I lose enthusiasm. My first experience was surprisingly successful; I kept 15 mbuna in a 55-gallon tank for years without a single loss, until I eventually had to disassemble the tank and rehome the fish. My second attempt didn't go as smoothly - I started with a similar number of fish, but the pecking order became so intense that I lost most of them due to aggression.

I'm curious to know how you maintain harmony in your mbuna tank. Do you remove the most aggressive fish, and does that actually help? I'm aware that removing the bully might just create an opportunity for another to take its place. How do you keep the peace in a mbuna tank when you're doing everything "right"?

Honestly, I've never been a fan of keeping mbunas due to their inherent aggression. In my experience, removing the dominant male doesn't solve the problem - it just creates a power vacuum. Another male inevitably steps up to take its place. Before you know it, you're left with a single dominant male and a harem of females, which isn't exactly the community you set out to create.

coltin wrote: ↑Fri Apr 25, 2025 1:37 am Honestly, I've never been a fan of keeping mbunas due to their inherent aggression. In my experience, removing the dominant male doesn't solve the problem - it just creates a power vacuum. Another male inevitably steps up to take its place. Before you know it, you're left with a single dominant male and a harem of females, which isn't exactly the community you set out to create.

I've been down that road too, and it's not just the cost that's a bummer, it's the emotional investment that goes down the drain. I'm a sucker for cichlids, though, and I'm convinced that there's a sweet spot where harmony and chaos meet. I've done some research, and I'm curious to know if others have had success with supposedly less aggressive breeds like yellow labs, Acei, or rusty cichlids - anyone have experience with these?

I had a great experience with yellow labs and rustys, they coexisted peacefully for years with only occasional chasing. In my opinion, they're the only mbuna species worth keeping, the rest just can't compare. I've tried many others, but they all seemed to be in a constant state of aggression, like they were fighting to get out of a bad situation 24/7.

I've been keeping mbuna for a bit over a year, and I have to admit, all the reading I did beforehand almost scared me off due to their notorious aggression. I decided to take the plunge, though, and started with all juveniles. Luckily, I haven't experienced any prolonged aggression - in fact, it's been pretty peaceful. I've got multiple species in the tank, and they all seem to get along. I think the ample rockwork I've got in there helps a lot, as it breaks up the line of sight quickly, giving them plenty of places to hide and reducing tension.

graye wrote: ↑Fri Apr 25, 2025 2:27 am I had a great experience with yellow labs and rustys, they coexisted peacefully for years with only occasional chasing. In my opinion, they're the only mbuna species worth keeping, the rest just can't compare. I've tried many others, but they all seemed to be in a constant state of aggression, like they were fighting to get out of a bad situation 24/7.

graye said:

I had yellow labs and rustys together for years, with only a little chasing. I never found another mbuna species that I enjoyed watching - just those two. All the (many) other species I kept behaved like they were leaving a really bad bar at closing time, 24/7.

graye's comment about the bar is quite amusing. I suppose you eventually had to part ways with the ones that seemed to be causing all the chaos.

snakey wrote: ↑Fri Apr 25, 2025 4:23 am I've been keeping mbuna for a bit over a year, and I have to admit, all the reading I did beforehand almost scared me off due to their notorious aggression. I decided to take the plunge, though, and started with all juveniles. Luckily, I haven't experienced any prolonged aggression - in fact, it's been pretty peaceful. I've got multiple species in the tank, and they all seem to get along. I think the ample rockwork I've got in there helps a lot, as it breaks up the line of sight quickly, giving them plenty of places to hide and reducing tension.

I'm still on the fence about this, even with my experience. I've always been told that overcrowding is the way to go to keep aggression down, but I'm not convinced it's the healthiest approach for them. I'm used to frequent water changes and heavy filtration from my other tanks, so that's not a concern for me. What's your stock level like - how many fish do you have in what size tank?

No Mbuna experience here, but I do have some insight with my African cichlids - Peacocks and Haps. I've tried isolating the Alpha male a few times, but the next in line just takes the reins. I ended up putting everyone back together and now they seem to be taking turns being the dominant one. Chasing still happens on a daily basis, but so far, no losses and no overly stressed fish - fingers crossed it stays that way.

I've had my fair share of mbuna tanks and I've come to accept that losses are just part of the game. You can try to minimize them, but they're gonna happen. Overcrowding definitely helps to some extent, and I've also found that having a higher female-to-male ratio can make a difference. In my tank, I've got a lot of rocks with little caves, and I like to mix things up by rescaping every 2-3 weeks. I just take all the rocks out and put them back in a different configuration, which seems to help prevent territorial behavior. To be honest, even with all these measures in place, I still end up losing a fish every other month or so due to pure aggression. But for me, the unique characteristics of mbuna make it all worth it.

florant wrote: ↑Fri Apr 25, 2025 6:32 am I've had my fair share of mbuna tanks and I've come to accept that losses are just part of the game. You can try to minimize them, but they're gonna happen. Overcrowding definitely helps to some extent, and I've also found that having a higher female-to-male ratio can make a difference. In my tank, I've got a lot of rocks with little caves, and I like to mix things up by rescaping every 2-3 weeks. I just take all the rocks out and put them back in a different configuration, which seems to help prevent territorial behavior. To be honest, even with all these measures in place, I still end up losing a fish every other month or so due to pure aggression. But for me, the unique characteristics of mbuna make it all worth it.

I'm on the same page as you, past experiences with mbuna have shown me that as the numbers dwindle, aggression tends to rise. I'd love to know more about your setup - what's the tank size and how many fish are you keeping?