Who Gives A Fish Forums

Hey guys,

I've got a bit of a problem with my Pseudotropheus Saulosi Mbunu's. I bought them 2-3 months ago, and the guy said I was getting 2 males and 5 females, but it turned out to be 4 males and 3 females - those males were hiding their blue colour. I had to separate them and get rid of most of the males.

I did have some success early on - I had a holding female with 11 eggs about a week after introducing them to my tank. I stripped her and put the eggs in a tumbler, but disaster struck and the tumbler came loose overnight, so all the eggs were eaten by morning. A few weeks later, another female was holding, this time with 10 eggs, and thankfully all of them made it and are doing great in their own tank.

But here's the thing - since then, no matter what I try, I just can't get them to breed again. My tank's running at around 25-26 degrees Celsius, pH is always between 7.5 and 8, I've got an Aquaone hang-on filter and a Geneflake 150W heater, and they're in an 80 litre tank.

Can someone please help me figure out what's going on? I've tried everything I can think of to encourage them, but nothing seems to be working.

I've found that upping the food variety really makes a difference, try adding some frozen, dry or even live foods to their diet. It worked wonders for my yellow labs, they were always super happy and healthy when I mixed things up a bit.

It's been a while since I've kept Mbuna, but assuming the females are ready, I think introducing another male might just do the trick - the rivalry could be just what they need to get things going again. Adding some competition often seems to bring out the best in them.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll definitely give them a go, especially with the food and maybe adding another male to see if that sparks something.