Lake
Malawi
Mbuna Cichlids
Click
here
for more about buying
Mbuna Cichlids from us.
This
page contains
information about the
famous
group
of
Cichlid
fishes
called Mbunas
that
live
among
the
rocks
along
the
shores
of
Lake
Malawi
in
East
Africa.
Click on the images above.
Big
Blue
Bob,
a
Maylandia
greshakei,
shown
above,
swimming
in a
large
aquarium
with
a
black
background,
is
one
of
Tom's
very
favorite
Mbuna
Cichlids.
This
video shows a
young male Kenyi,
which is a member
of the group of
Cichlids called
Mbunas that
naturally occur in
Lake Malawi in
East Africa.
This
video shows a
mature male
Melanochromis
auratus swimming
near a pile of
rocks in an
aquarium.
Here
is another
Mbuna species from
Lake Malawi. This
fish is often
called the Red Top
Cobalt Zebra, but
it may be
Maylandia
greshakei. Click here
for more about
this fish.
This
video shows a
male mottled
Labeotrophus
fuelleborni,
that's about
5" long. In
this video you can
see this fish's
unusual mouth,
which is highly
modified to chew
algae off rocks.
Here
is a female
Mbuna with a
mouthful of eggs.
Females like this
one often hide in
dark places among
the rocks, where
they mouth brood
their eggs.
The
Mbunas are
a large group of
Cichlids that
live among and near the
piles of rocks along the
shores of Lake Malawi in
East Africa. Many Mbunas
are very colorful with
bright patterns of
horizontal stripes or
vertical bars.
Shown above,
a young male
Lemon Yellow
Labidochromis
caeruleus, which
is a very
popular Mbunas
Species from
Lake Malawi.
This
picture shows
two Mbuna Males
disputing the
property line
between their
territories. The
fish on the left
is a Kenyi and
the fish on the
right is a
Tropheops. I
watched them
quarrel, back
and forth, for over
an hour.
Mbunas
are aggressive fish.
In fact Mbunas are so
aggressive that few
other fish can live with
them. We recommend you
keep a group of Mbunas
with a few Synodontis
Catfish and no other
types of fish. Mbunas
will always make
Peacocks and Haps
miserable, unless they
are much bigger than the
Mbunas. Click here
for more about Peacocks
and Haps.
Click
here to listen to a Special Show titled "Mbuna Cichlids",
an MP3-PodCast, hosted by The Bailey Brothers on Pet Fish
Talk.
Click
here to listen to a Special Show titled "Mbunas
Spawning",
an MP3-PodCast, hosted by The Bailey Brothers on Pet Fish
Talk.
Click
here to listen to a Special Show titled "Malawi
Bloat",
an MP3-PodCast, hosted by The Bailey Brothers on Pet Fish
Talk.
It's a
very common mistake
to try to keep a
small group with just a few
Mbunas. The secret to
minimizing their
aggressiveness is to
keep a group with at
least 15 Mbunas. You
could keep 15 of one
species, which
is less fun than
keeping a mixture of
different species of
Mbunas, as discussed in
the story at a link
near the bottom of
this page.
When these Mbuna Fish are young and smaller than 2" long, a 30 gallon aquarium is big enough to keep 15 of them. But soon they will need a bigger aquarium with at 75-gallons. Even
bigger aquariums
are better for a
bigger group of
Mbunas that will
be socially
stable.
Picture
Gallery
of
Mbuna
Cichlids
Above,
a famous
Labeotropheus
trewavasae,
named
Tré.
Above,
a
young
male
Pseudotropheus
demasoni.
Above,
a
mature
male
OB
Labeotropheus
fuelleborni,
which
is
often
called
a
"Marmalade
Cat".
Above,
a
young
male
of
an
unidentified
Mbuna
species.
Above,
a
mature
male
Melanochromis
auratus.
Above,
a
mature
male
OB
Pseudotropheus
zebra.
Above,
a
mature
female
Pseudotropheus
socolofi.
Above,
a
young
male
Snow
White
Zebra
swimming
in
one
of
our
aquariums.
Above, a beautiful young female Auratus.
Appropriate
Aquarium for Mbunas
When they've grown to be
4" long, they'll
need at least a
60-gallon aquarium. You
should keep this in mind
when deciding to get
them. Soon they will
need a 60-gallon
aquarium. We recommend
an aquarium with at
least 75-gallons of
water. Mbunas are warm
water fish, so their
aquarium should have the
proper size aquarium
heater that's adjusted to 78 to 80-degrees F. Click here
for more about aquarium
heaters.
Mbunas
should not be kept in an
aquarium with a thick
layer of gravel. It is
very difficult to keep
Mbunas healthy in an
aquarium with an undergravel filter. It helps
to regularly clean the
gravel with a gravel
washer. It may
also help to have
reverse flow power
heads. But by far the
best answer is to have
no gravel or a layer of
gravel that is no more
than 1/4" thick.
Click here
for more about aquarium
gravel.
The Best Aquarium Filters
For most fish, including
Mbunas, are the Penguin
and the Emperor. Both of
these filters are made
by Marineland, and each
of these filters
contains at least one
BIO-Wheel. A very
good combination for
Mbunas is a 75 gallon
aquarium with two
Penguin or two Emperor
Filters. Click here
for more about aquarium
filters.
Mbunas
naturally live among and
near large piles of
rocks, and their
aquarium should have
several big piles of
rocks. Mbunas will
destroy living plants,
but it looks nice to
have a few tall natural
looking plastic plants.
Click here
for more about aquarium
ornaments.
Summary
an aquarium for Mbunas
should contain at least
60 gallons of water with
two Penguin or Emperor
filters, and have the
correct size aquarium
heater, 1/4" or
less of gravel, and
several big piles of
rocks that are intended
for use in aquariums.
The
Mbuna Group
includes the
Auratus,
Pindani, Lemon
Yellow,
Tropheops,
Cobalt Blue, Red
Zebra, and many
other Mbunas
such as the
4" Mature
Male Kenyi shown
to the left.
The advertisement, shown below, links to
this advertiser's web site.
What
to Feed Mbunas
When
Mbunas are small, say
less than 2.5 inches
long from head to tail,
feed them floating
tropical fish flake food that is
sold in most stores
that sell pet fish. If you
read the ingredients,
you'll see this food has
a nice combination of
plant and animal foods
such shrimp meal, etc.
This is very close to
the Mbunas' natural
diet.
Feed
them at least twice a
day. Give them several
small amounts of the
flake until they are
satisfied, but be sure
there is no uneaten food
left in the aquarium.
After 10 minutes, remove
any uneaten food with a
net.
When
your Mbunas grow larger,
feed them floating
pellet food. Hikari makes
floating pellet food for
cichlids. These pellets
are available in a
variety of sizes and
sold in most stores that
sell pet fish.
Do not
feed your Mbunas worms
or prepared beef heart.
Click here
for more about feeding
fish.
Do
not Feed Worms of
any kind to your Mbunas.
This includes live worms
such as Brown Tubifex
Worms or Black Worms.
Click here
for more about Live
Black Worms.
The advertisement, shown below, links to
this advertiser's web site.
Aquarium
Maintenance Click
here
for an aquarium
maintenance schedule
with the daily, weekly,
and monthly tasks that
must be done to keep
your aquarium clean and
to minimize the stress
and disease to the fish
living in your aquarium.
Growth,
Maximum Size, and Life
Span
Mbunas
grow to a length of
1.5" to 2" in
a few months, and this
is the size we usually
sell them. They will
sometimes begin to breed
a few months later, when
they've grown to about
2" to 2.5",
but usually start
breeding when they're
about a year old and
have grown to about
3". Mbunas can live
for many years up to a
maximum of about 10
years.
The
smaller Mbuna species
will grow to a maximum
of about 3", and
the largest species will
grow to about 8".
Most Mbunas grow to be
between 4" and
5" long.
Click
here
to go to another page in
this web site with a
short story about a
beautiful aquarium with
Mbunas that was in a
restaurant named
Giselle's many years
ago.
Click
here
to go to another page in
this web site, where
this discussion about
Mbuna Cichlids
continues.
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this advertiser's web site.
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and we've sold items to thousands of satisfied customers.
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About our Fish Photographs ...
Almost all the photographs and videos, shown on this web site, were taken
by us in our aquariums of our fish. Compare the healthy,
beautiful, energetic fish in our beautiful aquariums to the
fish in our competitors pictures. Their fish often look thin
with clamped fins and poor color.
We buy the highest quality fish, produced by the best fish
farms or caught by the best collectors of wild fish, then we take incredibly good care of our fish in our beautiful aquariums. If you compare the pictures on this site to our competitors pictures, you can instantly see, our fish and aquariums are better!
;^ }
Will the fish you get from us look like the fish in our pictures? No! This is similar to buying kittens and puppies, that will change as they grow to become cats and dogs. We stock and ship fish that are the ideal size to sell. Not so small that they will not do well when shipped. Yet not so big that they have become much more expensive. The fish in almost all of our pictures were young fish like the ones we have for sale that we raised up, and you can too!
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