[mcease]

I just wanted some thoughts on my tank - it has been going for over a month and I currently have 6 yellow labs, 2 demasoni, and 3 Maingano. I had 3 labs - 1 male and 2 females, and 2 Demasoni - 1 male and one female at first and now added 3 more yellow labs and 3 maingano. The guy at the lfs says that he had a hard time telling the sexes on the mainganos and the 3 labs that i added becuase they were so small. All of the fish in the tank all just over an inch or so.

I would like to get a few more Demasoni 3-5 more and probably leave it at that. Do you see any problems with the tank? The 3 yellow labs and the 2 Demasoni got along well - with the 3 more yellows added and the 3 maingano that were added - they still get along although I can tell that one of the maingano is the leader of the pack.

 

[mattawan_cichlid]

More demasoni total of 12 minimun, 15-20 more likely :fish: :fish: :fish:

 

[dielikemoviestars]

Once they're grown, you'll want 1m:7f maingano. Also, like mattawan said, 12 demasoni minimum. 6 YL will be fine, but you'll probably want more to balance out those blues.

What are the dimensions of this tank?

 

[mcease]

The dimensions of the tank are:

48" long x 27" high and 17" wide (bow front)

Can I keep a small amount of mainganos or do they need to be in a larger group as well? You mention 1m 7f above - is this a minimum?

I didnt want to stock the tank that much is it absolutely necessary to have that many?

 

[mattawan_cichlid]

It's not absolute, nothing is really sometimes things work when they shouldn't.

But you need higher numbers of females to spread the aggression of the males

 

[DJRansome]

What are the dimensions on the side of the bow front? The bowed-out section does not add usable territory so it is ignored for stocking.

 

[mcease]

The tank is 13" wide and bows out to 18" or so. I was a little off on my first measurment.

The tank seems to be "working" now, but I assume things can change when the fish mature correct? Do their attitutes/aggression change as they mature?

 

[DJRansome]

At one inch everyone is just playing. It gets serious when the fish mature and want to spawn (thus each male wants to defend a one foot square territory) in eight months.

Members have been having trouble with 1m:4f Maingano in a 55G so the suggestion is becoming more common to keep them in a 75G rectangle as a minimum and stock 1m:7f. I'd probably trade them in for another species in a 55G footprint (48" x 13") like yours.

I'd do 12 Demasoni, 5 labs and maybe 5 Pseudotropheus socolofi (1m:4f).

 

[mcease]

Thanks for the replies. I will up the quantity of Demasoni eventually and I will see what happens. If the Maingano are an issue later I will trade them in for another species.

Are maingano tipically aggressive to thier own species or are they just generally aggressive? Would an option be keeping only a couple of them instead of a bigger group?

 

[beachtan]

Definitely up those demasoni - i was able to get thru a whole month + with only 8 but then one by one they ended up dead. Everyone I've ever heard who have kept demasoni have the same 8) problems. Get as many as you can! :

 

[mattawan_cichlid]

and before they reach maturity

 

[Kanorin]

Are maingano tipically aggressive to thier own species or are they just generally aggressive? Would an option be keeping only a couple of them instead of a bigger group?

They are generally aggressive and highly aggressive to their own species in my experience. I agree with the 1m 7f for a good chance of success. You might get lucky with fewer, but maybe not. I'd suggest trading them in for another species or more Demasoni, since the Demasoni are already a handful.