Otopharynx lithobates Zimbabwe Rocks and Mbuna?

[janiel]

Hi Pam!

Someone fairly local to me has Otopharynx lithobates Zimbabwe Rocks fry available. I was wondering if this hap is at all compatible with mbuna?

I am growing out 8 small yellow labs in a fry tank. Would I be able to grow these out together until they are big enough to go into the main tank? The labs are probably a bit bigger than the oto fry.

Copadichromis borleyi Kadango/Redfin, is beautiful, though I think I would have to mail order those. How do they compare as haps for a mostly mbuna tank? it seems like the redfin has more attractive females-- they seem to be a dark purplish with colorful fins(?) whereas the Zimbabwe Rocks seem like they have silvery females with some black spots?

Thanks so much for your help!

[Pam Chin]

Hi Janeil,

Absolutely you can keep haps with mbuna, of course there are some mixes that don't work as well as others. The key is which mbuna you are planning on keeping. Yellow labs are a good one, they go with just about everything, so yes you can raise up your fry with the O. lithobates. However, borleyi are going to get a little bit larger, they probably don't get much longer, but they have a tall body.

Unfortunately all of the hap females are battleship grey, and while borleyi may have yellow fins, its really a grey fish as well. You might want to consider males only, which is a way to get all color.

For other hap possibilities check out these genus', most will work; Protomelas, Copadichromis, Placidichromis. One of the keys is staying away from some of the larger mbuna that have a tendency to hog all the food, and get pushy, we call them Malawi Cows! lol And stay away from predator haps who will eat all your mbuna!

Cichlid Power!
Pam