[bekowalski]

55g tank

2 blood parrots
2 plecos
2 yellow labs
2 auratus
2 venustus
2 bumblebee
2 electric blue
2 blue kenyi
2 jewel
2 unknown...they started burnt orange and now look like the electric blues but much darker. Almost black. There is no aggression as of yet. Will that be an issue. I read that overstocking a bit will lower aggression. Running 2 30-60 whisper filters. All has been great for 6 months so far. Any and all comments would be appreciated.

 

[shellies215]

55g is too small for venustus

 

[CichlidStore]

Blood parrots with Africans ? is ok but I had some that were aggressive. Venutus get pretty big for a 55G. Make sure to add lot of hiding areas..... :thumb:

 

[bekowalski]

I had the 2 BP first then added the pairs of cichlids gradually. The venustus and Jewel love the bushes. The BP and one of the Jewels sometimes scrap but a quick tap on the glass stops it.

 

[AZcichlidfreak]

The Blood Parrots, Venustus and Bumblebees will all get to big for a 55 IMHO. Also the auratus, bumblebee and kenyi are 3 of the most aggressive africans and can go hyper aggressive and kill off your entire tank once they begin to mature. I've heard also that BP's can get very aggressive aswell. Ideally if you want africans you will want 3 species with a ratio of 1M-4F or more depending on which species.

 

[bekowalski]

I just obtained a 125 which I have not set up yet.Maybe I can separate some of them so I don't have any of these problems once they all start maturing.

 

[DJRansome]

In a 125 you want five species if you choose medium aggression and three species if you choose aggressive fish like auratus and bumblebee.

Malawi are not pairing fish, instead they are harem breeders. A single female with a male is often killed. This will not happen until they are mature which for me happened at 8 months.

So first...do you want mixed genders? If yes, you will want to choose only certain species to stock along the guidelines above.

If you want all male you may want to try your mix in the 125G after removing all females.

For a 55G and from your list for a mixed gender tank I would keep the labs 1m:4f and add two other species that are medium to low aggression and mature at 6" or less.

 

[bekowalski]

I guess thats what I get for listening to the LFS owner before doing my own research also. I wanted frontosa in the 125 until I read up on them on this site. It's not a 6 footer. It's 60"x26"x18". Guess I'll have to take some from my 55 and put them in the 125 and be more species specific. Thanks for all the input. By the way other than the different colors how do I determine the sex of the fish? Is venting as self explanatory as it looks?