1male kenyi tank size needed with females?

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petspoiler

petspoiler

Piranha
MFK Member
Jan 7, 2011
3,352
33
81
rural Calif.
we have a male kenyi. didn't know what we were getting, so he is partitioned off alone. but he is very interactive with us & eats from our fingers. he attacks a hand IN his tank, but knows the diff between being fed and trespassers.
So our first really mean fish, we are very attached to. would like to provide him a harem all for himself. but am getting maxed out on tank space.
HOW big is needed and anyone know where could I get for-sure female kenyi's? cuz he attacks everything. I was thinking of getting about 5 fems so he can be like a King. the lfs would NOT take male kenyi ever again. they found out how mean they are, with the shipment mine came from. LOL.
If not a harem, he has to live forever partitioned off from one hybrid in same tank. sparring through the divider is their whole Purpose in Life. except they both eat from our fingers like big wet pets!
:-)
It's an ok existence. with a slight upgrade, it's the next best thing to a harem.
 
no input?
I searched the issue. everything says kenyi are so aggressive, a male with females needs at least 75G. I'm wondering if that's true, even with lots of extra females & sight breaks.
 
Kenyi are typically considered aggressive, but mine gets picked on by my red zebras. :(

You would probably be okay with a 55, but I wouldn't go less than a 4 ft tank. You'll want space for the chasee to get away.
 
Thanks. I don't think I want to try a mixed community.
I put the male in my 75G before I got Geos, and he took over the whole tank like a crazy torpedo. became way more aggressive toward my hands.
I was going to try him in my 60 long (maybe with females if I could get some), but husband doesn't trust it against leaking in house.
I would use any fry as feeders for oscar while they are real small. they'd probably be too fast if they grew much.
maybe his temperament is too risky for females. I don't know.
 
I'm real sure my male would need a harem to keep him distracted enough and wear him out. he's so fast, it'd be too rough on everything.
we call him Fin Laden :-o
Love him to death, but dang, a 4 ft tank is asking a lot for such a little fish.
 
I kept 2 kenyis (ended up being all males) in a 180 gallon community.. With a lot of rock work, each claimed maybe 1/3 of the tank? They would chase out other fish that drifted into their territory. The tank was heavily stocked, so it was a lot of effort for them to keep their area cleaned (as they were chasing one fish, another would come in).
I didn't have any females, so I don't know how they'd interact..
I'm not surprised that yours tried to claim the entire 75 gallon..
One of my males was more aggressive than the other.. I guess it depends on the fish's individual personality.

I am not 100% sure on this, but I read that many of the fish farms treat the Kenyi water with hormones so that all the fish become male? Not sure if that is an urban legend or not, but it sure seems like the pet stores only have males.
It might be challenging to find a female.
 
paulW said:
..........I am not 100% sure on this, but I read that many of the fish farms treat the Kenyi water with hormones so that all the fish become male? Not sure if that is an urban legend or not, but it sure seems like the pet stores only have males.
It might be challenging to find a female.
Click to expand...
if farms turn out all males, that's really psycho. their deep yellow sells them (ie; to my hubby), but most will get dumped.
there must be non-farm breeders...?
"a" female would not be safe, I'd try no less than 5 and sufficient tank.
 
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