Unidentified Cichlids • Cichlid Tank 29 gal species identification

[johnabb92]

hello, I have a 29 gallon cichlid tank with 3 cichlids and 4 nerite snails one demasoni, one bumble bee, and one sold as a bumblebee. I am not too sure my largest is a bumble bee but as this is my first aquarium my limited knowledge and experience prevents me from being sure.

[johnabb92]

[johnabb92]

I'm guessing he is a hybrid of some sort..

[DJRansome]

It is hard to ID a fish that is not showing color, but a Member will come along and give you an educated guess. Meanwhile, fish such as the bumblebee are large aggressive fish and need a larger tank.

Are you thinking of changing your stocking or your tank size?

[noki]

Not a "Bumblebee" Crabro at all, if that is what you were told.

Might be a "Haplochromis" from outside Lake Malawi, like Victorian Basin Haps. Seems female, and these fish can be very hard to ID.

[johnabb92]

I will be getting a 70+ soon. I wanted to start small so I could get a feel on cycling ph testing and whatnot w/o too much $risk. I'm going to focus on demasoni cichlids.

[johnabb92]

That's what I get for listening to the guy at petsmart I figured It was too different looking. And very aggressive has two peach colored egg spots.

[DJRansome]

For the crabro get a tank that is 48 x 18 or larger (75G is the smallest 48x18 tank). The demasoni may not be happy in a tank with the crabro. Egg spots are not a reliable indicator of gender.

Demasoni are difficult to keep in case you want to consider an easier species while you learn how to test parameters and keep fish/Africans. Yellow labs are ideal, but don't keep them in a 29G.
Be sure to cycle the tank with ammonia before you add any fish (even the crabro and Victorian hap). Allow six weeks for the tank to cycle. See the article in the Cichlid-forum Library in the Water Chemistry section.

[johnabb92]

Thank you for the advice will keep all in mind!

[johnabb92]

I want to isolate all of the species, the 29 gal is just a medium for a short while probably going to help establish my other tanks and then convert to a snail/shrimp tank. Fascinating field/hobby!