[cerirust]

Hi,

I have a decent sized keyhole cichlid in my community set up, not sure on the sex? perhaps you can help with the attached photo? ()sorry for poor quality will try again when the helialux is out of the dimming phase.

My querstion is this keyhole is now about 2 - 2.3inches and alone as its mate died shortly after buying at juvinile size. Should I be looking at getting it a partner or two? It seems happy enough but feel it would be ince for it to not be alone. Onlyh issue is in store they are typically bought much smaller 1inch roughly. And hard to sex at that size. I know they are hard to sex when small? Should I get one more and risk potential bullying? or is another two smaller ones better and hope for the best? and will the size difference matter?

The tank is a heavily planted 125 litre (30 gal) Juwel Rio 125

 

[Auballagh]

That's a nice looking aquarium.
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This whole thing kind of depends on what you are going for. I'm guessing that this is the only Cichlid in this little tank? If not, what are the other Cichlids you have in there?
So, if you don't have any other Cichlids in the aquarium and just want some friends for your Keyhole, you could add in a 1M-4F harem group of Apistos to the tank. Or possibly a trio of Laetacara. Or, if you just really like the look of the one you have in there now, just add a couple more of those little Keyholes to the aquarium and see what happens.

 

[cerirust]

That's a nice looking aquarium.
-
This whole thing kind of depends on what you are going for. I'm guessing that this is the only Cichlid in this little tank? If not, what are the other Cichlids you have in there?
So, if you don't have any other Cichlids in the aquarium and just want some friends for your Keyhole, you could add in a 1M-4F harem group of Apistos to the tank. Or possibly a trio of Laetacara. Or, if you just really like the look of the one you have in there now, just add a couple more of those little Keyholes to the aquarium and see what happens.

Thanks for the reply, yes the only cichlid. With 8 Cory's, 10 cardinals and 10 harlequins. Maybe I get 2 more keyholes?

 

[cerirust]

 

[Auballagh]

Yes, if the Keyhole thing is doing it for you? Then I would definitely get a couple more of those little Keyholes and see how they work out. Here are a couple things to consider first,

• QUARANTINE. And yes, your supplier, dealer, LFS or whatever might be the most reputable source of fish you could imagine. Trust me, none of that matters when the Ich Fairy 'poofs' your tank or something worse comes to visit. Do you have a small quarantine/hospital tank you can place your new additions in for a minimum of FOUR WEEKS before introducing them to this nice community tank? It is MUCH easier to treat a couple sick fish in quarantine, than an entire community tank.
• With the addition of the two Keyholes, this little community tank will be full. I would NOT add any more fish to it. When those Keyholes go in and grow out, you will probably have to up your water change frequency and percentages conducted a bit to keep those Nitrates down to a low level.

 

[yohaness fledderfild]

what a nice aquarium u have !

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