General African Cichlid Discussion

by **rdetar** » Fri Feb 24, 2012 11:40 pm

Hey guys,
Just set up my 55 after about 2 months of research and seasoning with feeders.
Wondering how many I can actually keep in there till I upgrade this summer?
I have a pleco as the clean up crew and took most of the feeders out and left 4 in as a snack till they get comfortable. I have 15 fish in there now all about two inches. Going to get a 75 this summer so till then I hope that they are not overcrowded. Tell me what you think.
I have mbuna and peacocks in there now that I had learned from this site mix well together.

by **brinkles** » Sat Feb 25, 2012 12:01 am

Do you know the species and quantities of each? 15 fish in a 55 is probably fine, depending on what they are.

by **rdetar** » Sat Feb 25, 2012 12:14 am

I have 3 yellow labs, 2 sunburst peacocks, 2 snow whites, 2 blue zebras, 1 electric blue johanni, 1 multicolored peacock, 2 kenyi, and 2 giraffe cichlids. I know the giraffe get big so that is why I am getting the 75 this summer just for them and whoever they get along with.

by **brinkles** » Sat Feb 25, 2012 12:44 am

If this were my tank, I'd trade some fish for a total of 6-8 each of the yellow labs and M. callainos (cobalt zebras). I don't keep peacocks, so I'm not sure if the "sunburst" is tough enough to keep with the mbuna. Either way, there's room in a 55 for about 3 males of fish that don't get larger than 4-5", and 3-4 females for each of them.

I have several venustus in my 4' 150 gal, and I'm planning on trading them off when they get too aggressive (or eat somebody). I don't think my tank is large enough for them when they're full grown, and a 75 is out of the question.

The johanni and kenyi are very aggressive fish! People seem to recommend 8 females per male. I really like the looks of johanni and their cousin, m. auratus, but I'm not interested in trying to deal with their behavior.

Which are your favorites?

by **rdetar** » Sat Feb 25, 2012 12:51 am

Well I got them over the last two days. But so far the venustus and the yellow labs are probably my favorite. I also enjoy the three peacocks. They all are bigger than the more aggressive fish. I made sure of that. The johanni is most likely the smallest right now. So far they all are getting along fine and really enjoy the air stones.
I am not sure I want to really get rid of any yet, but I am well aware that by July I may need to pawn off a few for store credit.

I just hope that with all the attention I am giving them I will catch any aggression before it becomes a problem and get another tank before all that happens. I have a hospital tank at home set up too. Just in case I see some pretty beat up fins.

by **rdetar** » Sat Feb 25, 2012 1:32 am

So I am not sure that one of the ones the store told me was a kenyi. It is brown with a hint of gold with darker stripes, has a yellow hint along the dorsal fin and has a blue fleck behind his gill. I would love to post a picture but the help was not very informative and I don't have a public server to post it to.

by **rdetar** » Sat Feb 25, 2012 1:37 am

It might be a Dinghani or Pseudotropheus flavus. I am almost a 100% positive that it is some type of Pseudotropheus.

by **brinkles** » Sat Feb 25, 2012 2:54 am

You can post them on a site like photobucket for free.
Yellow labs are great, they look good and tend to play well with others! Some people report success keeping a group of them, and a variety of single male haps and peacocks.

by **rdetar** » Sat Feb 25, 2012 4:00 am

Here is a picture of my tank

and here is the guy that I don't know what he is

by **DJRansome** » Sat Feb 25, 2012 9:04 am

rdetar wrote:I have 3 yellow labs, 2 sunburst peacocks, 2 snow whites, 2 blue zebras, 1 electric blue johanni, 1 multicolored peacock, 2 kenyi, and 2 giraffe cichlids. I know the giraffe get big so that is why I am getting the 75 this summer just for them and whoever they get along with.

I would not add fish until you get a bigger tank. Here are some thoughts to help you have a healthy tank.

Even in the bigger tank, I would not mix these fish...I do not agree that they mix well together.

First, Malawi are harem breeders so you pretty much never want 2 individuals. One or five, depending on the aggression of the species.

Second, with many peacocks, you want to mix only the more peaceful mbuna like yellow labs. Snow whites, blue zebras and johannii are among the more aggressive mbuna.

Last, the giraffe (venustus) is a 10.5" fish and you want a 72" tank for him.

Are you going all-male or mixed gender in the 75G? Haps and peacocks or mbuna?

by **DJRansome** » Sat Feb 25, 2012 9:10 am

This topic has been discussed here:
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... highlight=

by **rdetar** » Sat Feb 25, 2012 12:14 pm

Thank you, that is really helpful. I will do some restructuring over this weekend. I will go trade in the snow whites, the johanni, the kenyi, and the blue zebras for some more labs and peacocks.
The giraffes I will keep in there (both male) till June and I will get a 125 gallon for them. I will lower the number of labs to 6 (1male 5 females). All the peacocks I will make all male. Does that work?
So there will be 10 - 12 altogether in there (6 labs and the rest peacocks and the giraffes till I get them out of there)

by **DJRansome** » Sat Feb 25, 2012 2:08 pm

I count 11 fish, which is a little high for an all-male tank. Are they 3" or under? If yes they should be fine until June. IDK about the two male venustus...I'd think they will fight. But maybe not until they are older.

General African Cichlid Discussion • 55 gallon setup

55 gallon setup

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