[syed]

Hello People ,
As I am new here in this forum and I would like to get advice from all of you.I have a new tank set up of 29 gallons, I recently added 4 African cichlid in my tank , in which there are a male kenyi and two female and also a yellowfin boryeli, The male one is always too aggressive and fear away all the other tank mates. Is it a common behaviour, I could also see that the female kenyi go hide in the plants. and they never come out fearing that the male would chase it.

My second question is it okay to add Kenyi with Yellowfin cichlid. I see that the male and female Kenyi keep chasing the poor Yellow Fin which is solo in the tank

All these are very small and young ones, i have attached the picture . Please help me with you feedback and suggestions

 

[ken31cay]

Kenyi are one of the most aggressive african cichlids and need to be kept as mixed gender 1 male with 7 (or more) females or else the male will chase the females eventually to death. Also the tank is too small and should be at least 48" long for Kenyi unless you have just the male in there alone. The Borleyi is more timid than Kenyi and I would not expect him to do well there for too much longer.

EDIT: the Kenyi aggression will only get worse as they get bigger.

 

[syed]

thanks for the response ken31cay so as per your suggestion is it advisable to keep 55 gallons tank or more is it ?

 

[syed]

and also I would like to know what would be best food I feed them northfin 1mm gold pillets they eat it and spit it out,They are not interested in the frozen krill to , Please let me know your suggestions

 

[syed]

Kenyi are one of the most aggressive african cichlids and need to be kept as mixed gender 1 male with 7 (or more) females or else the male will chase the females eventually to death. Also the tank is too small and should be at least 48" long for Kenyi unless you have just the male in there alone. The Borleyi is more timid than Kenyi and I would not expect him to do well there for too much longer.

EDIT: the Kenyi aggression will only get worse as they get bigger.

thanks for the response ken31cay so as per your suggestion is it advisable to keep 55 gallons tank or more is it ? and also I would like to know what would be best food I feed them northfin 1mm gold pillets they eat it and spit it out,They are not interested in the frozen krill to , Please let me know your suggestions

 

[DJRansome]

I would suggest a tank that is 48" x 18" or larger for kenyi and keep them with one male and seven or more females/tank. They will eventually eat the northfin unless they are sick, do not offer them other foods. Wait 3 days and try again.

What food did the vendor feed them? They may just need to get used to the new food. Malawi are OK for a month without eating...think about when females hold fry in their mouths for an average of 28 days.

 

[ken31cay]

Also, Kenyi are herbivores and may eventually become sick if fed food that is too high in protein. If you are feeding Northfin Krill Gold be aware it has a higher protein content with krill as the main ingredient - I feed that to my Frontosa who are meat eaters. For my Kenyi I feed Northfin Veggie pellets and spirulina (comes in frozen and dry varieties).

 

[syed]

Also, Kenyi are herbivores and may eventually become sick if fed food that is too high in protein. If you are feeding Northfin Krill Gold be aware it has a higher protein content with krill as the main ingredient - I feed that to my Frontosa who are meat eaters. For my Kenyi I feed Northfin Veggie pellets and spirulina (comes in frozen and dry varieties).

Thanks for the info Ken31cay .The sad news is that the boreyi did not survive .and now i am feeding them cichlid formula (https://www.amazon.ca/Northfin-88114-Ci ... 0200&psc=1) . The store guy told he uses this to feed those fish .Now after the death of the boreyi ,seems like the male kenyi is preying on the two females and also its not letting the females to have its diff territory .

 

[syed]

Also i was thinking to do a complete water change like fully drain water and set it back ,is it a better option to do to be careful with water paramaters

 

[DJRansome]

I am not surprised a hap like borleyi died in a tank with kenyi.

How did you cycle your tank? What are your test results for pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate?

Why would you do a 100% water change?

 

[syed]

the test was conducted in pet smart the results where good ,But now i feel the tank water is too much cloudy.I also do 2-week ones 25%WATER change but seems like its cloudy more now .

 

[DJRansome]

How did you cycle your tank? You will want to have your own test kit because a pet store may not test all the parameters or be able to give you the answers outside of store hours.

Your water should never get cloudy, but that isn't always remedied by a water change.

For African cichlids we most often suggest 50% weekly. Don't forget dechlorinator.

Changing 100% of the water can kill your fish depending on what the test results are before the change.

 

[ken31cay]

It is better to do 50% weekly water changes but you need to make sure your water pH in the tank remains constant. You can buy a pH strip test, or an electronic water pH tester for this. Of course you also need to add a water conditioner to remove chlorine/chloramines as needed - when you follow the products directions make sure and always dose the amount for the full tank water volume even if you're changing just a portion. Make sure the new water temperature is also fairly close.