A: The ph should be between 7.8 and 8.6
A: They like the water fairly hard with lots of mineral content.
A: The temperature should be between 76-86 f (25-28 degrees celsius.
A: A good rule is every of fish should have one gallon of water or every cm of fish should have 1 - 2 Littres of water also keep in mind that the more rocks and substrate there is the less water there is in the tank.
A: Mbuna means rock dweller. So if you are planning on having mbani in your tank you need lots of rocks to form caves they can be very territorial and aggressive especially when breeding thats why it is good to have mouthbrooders since there not as territorial when breeding since there not stuck to one cave to defend there eggs since they keep there eggs in their mouth and can go any where and still keep them safe. If you are not going to have mouthbrooding mbuna its best to keep them in over crouded groups where agression is spread out.
A: It is best to feed your fish about 6 times a day since your fish don't go hungrey and aggression is reduced. But you can feed you fish 1 or 2 times a day although they will be a bit more aggressive, if they are still young feeding them more often will help them grow quicker.
A: You should keep of fish pellets, with a treat 1-2 times a week. Romaine lettuce leaves are a good treat for them. Make sure that when you feed them vegetables they are thoroughly washed to get all chemicles of them. Dont just throw the leaf in, weight it down with a rock or you can get a clip that goes on the glass from your local aquarium shop. You can feed your fish live food such as blood worms, tubiflex worms and brine shrimp although i wouldn't recomend it since it can make your fish more aggressive and your fish could catch a parasite from them. Instead you should use freeze dried foods since they are just as good and nutritious, dont make your fish aggressive and there is less risk of parasites.
A: There is no real way to tell the difference between male and female until they adults or spawn. Eggspots are a good indicater of which sex it is, males usually have more eggspots than females. The males should also be bigger than the females especially when they ar young since the grow quicker.
A: Yes and no, african cichlids are very aggressive and any community fish wont survive living with them. You can sometimes keep a catfish and a pleco or two as they a bottom feeders and wont compete for food. Avoid mixing africans with south americans and others. It can be successfully done, but is not recomended unless you are very experienced, or think you can make it work, best of luck to you, i advise you don't, it just simplifies the care of the tank.
