several part syno question

[jeremy1]

i have decided i would like to add some syno petricola to my mbuna tank.its a 55g lots of rock work currently 15 mbuna going to add 8-10 more.now the question part...

1)how many should i add to a tank this size?

2)i have read they interrupt breeding which is fine,if they sneak some eggs into my mbuna is there any harm?will i have to strip the cichlid female?

3)if said syno fry hatch will the adult synos eat these as well as cichlid fry?kinda like population control?

4)are there any issues with introducing them into the tank after mbuna are there?or should i add all at same time? more chaos=less agression?

5) finally i cant find any locally does anyone know where i can aquire some?will need supplier to ship unless they are close, im in georgia.


thanks for your time and any answers to my questions:ty:

[toddnbecka]

First, I wouldn't recommend adding them to a 55 with the number of cichlids you plan to stock. Unless you're planning on doing partial water changes every few days those fish alone will badly overload the tank as they grow.

They're a social fish, but tend to be shy/nocturnal, so the more of them you have the more often you'll see at least a few occaisonally IME.

They aren't likely to sneak eggs into your mbuna like the multipunctatus do, and if any eggs do hatch the fry are tiny. Unlikely many will survive on their own in a community tank, but a few have turned up that way on occaision.

Check aquabid, they're listed on there pretty often.

[jeremy1]

Thanks for your answers. Do you think some lucipinnis would work?

[Lamprichthys]

I have 14 or so S. lucipinnis in my 120 Tanganyika community tank, and they rarely show themselves. They stay in the rocks during the day, and come out when the lights go off or I'm feeding them. Over the 4 years I've had them, I've gotten about 15 offspring survive to adulthood, so I've been forced to sell or trade quite a few.

I keep S. njassae in my Malawi tank (100 gallon), and they get quite a bit larger than the S. lucipinnis. Mine are in the 7" range, and they are quite attractive. I wouldn't put them in your mbuna tank, given the total number of fish you have in there now, let alone the ones you intend to add. But if you can find one or two, and you can verify that they are actually S. njassae, I'd get them and forgo a few of the mbuna. There are a lot of hybrids around that are marketed as S. njassae, so be careful what you buy!!