This Cobalt Blue Zebra is sporting a recent battle scar!

 

                                                                   

 

 

As already mentioned, Malawi Mbuna can be an aggressive fish. They are not compatible with a normal tropical community setup. Mbuna can be classified as mildly aggressive(such as the Maylandia Callianos), aggressive(such as the Labeotropheus trevawasae), and extremely aggressive. The extremely aggressive species such as the Melanochromis, are really only suitable for the experienced aquarist.

 

 

 

The species I keep are all either mildly aggressive or aggressive, but in general my tank is a relatively peaceful tank and it is very rare to find any deaths as a result of aggression. I believe this is due to careful selection of species. This came about by taking a copy of the 'Back To Nature Guide To malawi Cichlids' by Ad Konings with me whenever I went to purchase stock. Mixing suitable tank mates is a fairly complicated subject and one too complex to cover here, but generally speaking Mbuna of the same genus(i.e Labeotropheus)  will be more likely to attack tank mates with similar colouring and marking, and males will attack other males of the same species if competing for a female. It is for this reason that it is often suggested stocking 1 male for 3-4 females.

 

For further help and advice with stocking I suggest the website www.malawikeepers.com   as a great resource.

 

Despite keeping a mix of the more peaceful mbuna species, aggression is still an every day occurance in the tank and a part of keeping these interesting fish. You can see them dig out a territory in the sand, guard caves they consider their own, and hover in mid water in an area they believe is theirs. This continual round of activity is what makes the Mbuna so fascinating. Every so often a challenge will occur between a couple of fish, this often results in injury such as a torn fin, a scuffed nose, or a dishevelled scale. These injuries often look fairly sore but heal well just as a finger nail grows back.

 

Here are some photo's showing typical 'rucks'. You will notice the fin damage in the photo of 'Nobby' the Ice White Maylandia Callianos. It completely recovered with a few days.

 

                 

 

 

    

 

 

Winner of Cichlid-Forum Photography Competition August 2006

    

    

 

   

 

There were no serious injuries resulting from these fights.

Here's another shot of one of my Ps Ice White's displaying typical Mbuna behaviour guarding his territory.

 

Pseudotropheus Crabro is known to be one of the more aggressive Mbuna, however the two I have are not aggressive. Here is 'Snapper'(so called because he used to like to snap at me). The first shot is a baby shot, the second is his big beast shot. He is now the largest fish in the tank. Luckily for me he is a rather mellow fellow!

 

Snapper is the hardest fish to photograph as he is almost black now he has his breeding colours on display. This picture has been drastically enhanced! Below is a picture of Snapper's 'Mrs'. He makes the odd advance towards her when he has the energy but she remains generally uninterested. I have heard that tpo see Ps Crabro spawning in an aquarium is quite unusual.