[rpshilling]

Hey all,

I just wanted to say i ordered 8 rusties and 8 elongatis from a LFS and he gave me a deal on it. I love the new additions to my 55 gal. I already had 2 maingano in the tanks, 1 peacock, 2 cobalts. Hopefully my new additions will be ok. For the most part my maingano are pretty passive. O and they are all about mid-adult/adult.

On another note. I released the fish in my tank about 3 hours ago. Is it normal to have them hide behind filters and in plants because they are small and juvies?

 

[Nina_b]

Is it normal to have them hide behind filters and in plants

yes, very normal.

Give them some time to settle

 

[rpshilling]

Ok cool.

About how long should they be before I can start to figure out which ones are male and female?

 

[Kanorin]

Ok cool.

About how long should they be before I can start to figure out which ones are male and female?

If you know how to vent and if they are all "subadult/adult" then you can do it right now.

Otherwise, you'll probably be able to tell the dominant male from each group within a few weeks or months, but differentiating subdominant males from females is often really tough to do until you can confirm a female holding a mouthful of eggs.

As a cautionary note: keep an eye on your peacocks to make sure they aren't getting beat up by your mbuna. Often, aggression will heat up when your fish start breeding - so keep an eye on them and ideally have a separate tank ready for the peacocks just in case.

What are the dimensions of your tank?

 

[rpshilling]

My tank is a 55 gallon 48x13x20. The peackock has size its big size on the juvies right now. We will see what happens. haha