Just got my cichlids

It seems she hasnt given you good advice, the males will chase the females relentlessly possibly to death. Really you should have 2 or 3 female to 1 male and venustus get big really big. My advice to start would be take the female venustus and acei back because they will cause aggression and swap them for 2 or 3 more male acei. If the yellow fish are yellow labs id do the same with them take the female back and get a couple more males. hope it works out.

quiksilver said:

It seems she hasnt given you good advice, the males will chase the females relentlessly possibly to death. Really you should have 2 or 3 female to 1 male and venustus get big really big. My advice to start would be take the female venustus and acei back because they will cause aggression and swap them for 2 or 3 more male acei. If the yellow fish are yellow labs id do the same with them take the female back and get a couple more males. hope it works out.

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Okay, thanks. Arrrrgh, I am so confused. I have heard and read (on the net and in books) so much conflicting info it's unreal involving cichlids. This LFS is where everyone said to trust the advice, so I spent quite a bit of time talking to the lady over the fish and this is what we worked out. I guess next week I will take them back. I looked at the pictures, and the yellows don't really look like labs, but I will check at the lfs next time I go.

ETA: So if I take the females back, an all male tank won't cause aggression issues?

I'm not sure what quicksilver was trying to say. Unless it was to go with an all male tank. If you just want one fish of alot of different kinds then that's the way to go but some people say all male tanks are boring.

I would take the 2 Venustus back unless you plan on getting a 6ft. long tank eventually because that's what is recommended for them because they get so big.

If you could post a pic of the yellow fish hopefully someone here could help identify it but it's hard to give advice on it when we don't know what it is.

As for the acei, they should be ok but I think they like to be in a group of about 5. I think I've heard that the male to female ratio isn't so important with them either. Most malawi do best in groups of one male to 3-4 females though. I like my acei so if I were you, I'd keep those and get maybe 3 more, if you already have 2.

With the acei you could probably have 3 more groups of fish as long as they were compatible. :thumb:

:idea: Oh, something quicksilver said that I don't agree with is....
"If the yellow fish are yellow labs id do the same with them take the female back and get a couple more males."

I don't agree with this at all. I have 3 yellow labs that I got as unsexed juvies. Once mature I now believe them all to be male and 2 of them started picking on the third one so bad that I had to remove him. I had the same thing happen with auratus (which I never should have had in a 55g. tank anyway ).

All male tanks can be ok but there really shouldn't be more than one male of each species. Maybe labs are an exception to this in an ALL male tank but I had problems with them in a mixed tank. Maybe that's what quicksilver was saying. It's late and I'm tired lol :roll: .

The first thing to note is that Malawi don't pair. Males need a harem if you are going to keep both sexes (all male has better odds of success in a 75G or larger tank). Since you can't sex the juveniles, people usually get about 6 of each and wait for maturity, then return extra males to the LFS.

And a 55G tank usually does well with three species. Choose the species based on your favorites and types that won't hybridize (one species per genus is usually safe, except avoid yellow labs and red zebras).

And Venustus are too big for a 55G tank.

Maybe post your goals for the tank and then everyone will offer suggestions. You're going to love this hobby!

JenTN said:

Hello, I got my first cichlids today! In the hubub I forgot to write down the names of what I got! I have a 55 gal and I got a male and female (babies) of N. Venustus...Yellow Tail Acei...and a pair of beautiful yellow fish that I cannot figure out what they are (I found the names of the others by looking at the species profiles). Anyway, that's what I'm starting with, I hope to find a pair w/ some red colors later on that will be compatable to add reds to my tank. I do have one question. The lady at the LFS explained that I need to overstock, etc. but she couldn't say how many I should have in my 55 gal? Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!

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As far as the LFS selling you venustus for a 55g .... (shaking my head) eventually you will have nothing but those two venustus left. I'd take them back.

Get more acei. Can you post a pic of the unidentified yellow fish?

Well, those are not yellow labs...not pure ones anyway. Yellow labs would have the black stripe on the top fin and probably some black on the lower fins as well. They could be yellow lab hybrids or possibly female p. saulosi. If you like them then that's not a problem.

Those definitely look like N. Venustus and you should return them. They won't work in this tank.

If you want red/orange and you're not worried about selling babies, you could get red zebras (m. estherea)). They will probably breed with your yellow labs, but they are a nice orange color (not really red).

So you could stock with 5 or 6 Acei, 5 or 6 Yellow labs and 4 Red Zebras. What filtration do you have? You have to make sure you have enough to handle the fish load. Good luck! :thumb:

Super Turtleman said:

Well, those are not yellow labs...not pure ones anyway. Yellow labs would have the black stripe on the top fin and probably some black on the lower fins as well. They could be yellow lab hybrids or possibly female p. saulosi. If you like them then that's not a problem.

Those definitely look like N. Venustus and you should return them. They won't work in this tank.

If you want red/orange and you're not worried about selling babies, you could get red zebras (m. estherea)). They will probably breed with your yellow labs, but they are a nice orange color (not really red).

So you could stock with 5 or 6 Acei, 5 or 6 Yellow labs and 4 Red Zebras. What filtration do you have? You have to make sure you have enough to handle the fish load. Good luck! :thumb:

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Thanks! I was thinking the yellow ones might be p. saulosi. I like the setup you mentioned, adn I don't plan on selling babies- if they have babies, I'll let nature take its course.

I *believe* my fileter is a Tetra Whisper 60, I can add another if I need to.

I'd say you're going to need to up the filtration. You could get a nice Aquaclear 110 to go along with the Whisper and that would be plenty. Or you could go with a canister filter. You should get the best you can afford.

If I plan on adding another tank (90-120 gal) in the next 6-12 months or so, can I keep the Venustus and add them to the new tank when they get big? I really like them and they are my daughter's favorite fish- she picked them out. I plan on getting another, larger tank later on anyway (and keeping the 55 gal).

How large are the yellow fish? Were they in a tank with anything else?

If not, I'd call the LFS and confirm what you bought, or stop back by.

There are several species these could be.

I wouldn't keep any fish planning on adding a larger tank. Things don't always work out the way you plan, and it will be less worry to wait and get the fish once you have the larger tank.

cichlidaholic said:

How large are the yellow fish? Were they in a tank with anything else?

If not, I'd call the LFS and confirm what you bought, or stop back by.

There are several species these could be.

I wouldn't keep any fish planning on adding a larger tank. Things don't always work out the way you plan, and it will be less worry to wait and get the fish once you have the larger tank.

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I am going to stop in next week regardless of what I do and check out the names. They are all about 2 inches long atm- and eating like crazy!

They were in a Malawian Cichlid tanks, kept with the other fish I got and a few other species.

your yellow fish look like male Kenyi...(do they have faint vertical bars, or hues of blue or purple in the fins???). If so, take em back.....I recently got rid of all of my Kenyi and Red Zebras as they were just way too aggressive (75 gallon). The Kenyi are the most aggressive fish I have kept yet

I don't see any bars or any colors other than yellow. I am going to the store next week so I will look then.

They look like saluosis.

That's what I thought they looked like.

Boy, those Venustus were hard to catch! I swapped them for another female acei and salousi (they yellow fish). I am going to add red zebras and a couple more of the aceis and salousis later on.

Thanks for the help!

They might be saulosi, but something about them is bugging me shape wise to make me think they're not. They actually look more like my msobo females than my saulosi females.