29g starter tank?

[CLDarnell]

From my experience there's less aggression if you stock heavy. It doesn't mean your wrong, but it's not the only way. Mbuna come from waters with a lot of fish per square foot. It's not being cruel to the fish, it's what they're used to. So long as you keep the water clean.

For the most part, I agree with this post. But one issue we have in the hobby is over crowding of tanks, mostly by people just starting out. If someone would state something like "I have had my 4 mbunas for a year now in my 55. My water levels are all fine and I do 25% water changes every week-end. I am thinking of introducing a couple more into the tank, what do you all think?". You can tell the person has some experience at least and that they work to keep the tank stable.

No offense to the OP (you have 130+ posts, so I assume you know what you're doing!)...but if someone asks "How many African Cichlids can I keep in a 55?"...you don't tell them 10-12!

By the time you add enough rock, structures, plants, etc to establish territories, your fish will be stuck staring at each other. At best, you would be doing massive water changes frequently. It would take a ton of work to keep a tank like that in check...which would only add more stress to fish already stressed out.

I don't know obviously just how crowded fish are in the wild, but from what I have read, Lake Malawi Cichlids can get as dense as 20 fish per square meter. This is approximately 2 fish per square foot...or in this case, 8 in a 55 gallon. But, in the wild, these fish have 11,430 square miles to spread out, not to mention, lots of space overhead and below In a 55 obviously, they are pretty much stuck.

Not saying it hasn't been done before, I have seen it. But I still think its best to be very conservative when passing out stocking advice.

Take care...

 

[Blue2Fyre]

10-12 is fine in a 55 gallon. Most mbuna stay around 5" as mentioned before these guys live in highly dense populations in the wild. Understocking a mbuna tank can be detrimental as well. With fewer targets fish tend to be singled out more and possibly killed. By over stocking the aggression is spread out and no one fish gets singled out. The trick to keeping an overstocked mbuna tank is to stock fewer species. For example a 55 gallon with 3 species with 5 individuals per species tends to work out really well. It's even more likely to be successful if you avoid the overly aggressive species.

I'll come out and say in my 80 gallon I have 20 some fish not even including the petricola cats. Most of them are near adult size and the tank has been set up for close to a year. I have VERY few aggression problems, my nitrates rarely get close to 20. As far as "massive frequent water changes" I change 40%-50% of the water once a week and I run 2 canister filters on the tank. Sometimes I even miss a week without any problems. My fish are healthy, active and breeding. Yes it's overstocked, but it's a controlled overstocking. I have carefully picked the species I have and for the most part there is a good female ratio. My only exception being the mainganos because I can't tell the stupid things apart.

I started my first tank with a 55 gallon mbuna tank with about 10-12 fish in the tank and a HOB filter. Most of my issues were not water quality but were in fact aggression issues due to poor choices in stock.




Now back to the OP. I think a nice group of saulosi would do fine in a 29. It's a little smaller of a tank than I like but saulosi are pretty small themselves. Just keep 1 male and 3-4 females and it will end up being a very nice looking tank. Just keep an eye on aggression, saulosi can be nasty little guys.

 

[AmmoJoe]

I used to keep africans in a 55 gallon. I had 16 fish, 1 male and 3 females of 4 species. The tank was overfiltered for water quality and overstocked for aggression. I NEVER had any trouble whatsoever. My fish bred and existed quite peacefully. The tank was constantly alive with movement and NO fish were harmed. I think a 29 gallon would be a great starter tank for african cichlids, then move them to the 55 later. Don't be afraid of overstocking (within reason of course) as long as you keep an eye on the fish and water quality. there is no right answer, it takes experience and the individual "personalities" of the fish. Good luck

 

[rudywieck52]

CLDarnell: No offense taken...I have kept CA cichlids for 2-3 years now and I feel very comfortable with my knowledge of them. I started this thread because the big male convict I had died and now I just have the female left. I have decided that when I get my 55g set up I would try aftricans but you're right, I know very little about them. With so many types and sizes, doing preliminary research has been very difficult. So I came here for help and I appretiate the help that I have gotten.

My biggest problem is that I would like Africans in my 55 so I don't want something that I am just going to get rid of in July. Maybe I will look into breeding some kind of feeders so I can have both tanks running in July with a healthy treat for my Africans in the 55. Maybe I will go out on a limb and try the saulosi that some have recommended. Either way, thanks to everybody for their input!

 

[rudywieck52]

Could I do the same thing that people said to do with the Saulosi except with Pseudotropheus Demasoni? I don't know much about them, but it says on most sites that they are actually smaller than Saulosi. The only reason I would prefer them is that my LFS has a TON of 1 inch one Demasoni for sale.

 

[Blue2Fyre]

I wouldn't put demasoni in anything smaller than a 3 foot tank. Even then it's likely to be a blood bath. They are smaller but are highly aggressive, especially to one another. You usually need to stock them in large numbers to keep them from killing each other off. 12 seems to be the magic number but most start with 15 or more. Some still get picked off but you are less likely to end up with only 1.

 

[Younglin]

I only read half the posts but here is my .02 cents. Overstocking a tank can be good or very very bad for your fish. Overstocking will reduce aggression BUT ONLY if they have places to hide and such AND YOU TAKE CARE OF THE TANK! I cannot stress that enough. I have my Africans overstocked but I do water changes every 3 days or more. There are tons of hiding spots and all the fish live together with no serious aggression. ( this is a 55) For a 55 I don't recommend more than 6 fish. Less or more depending on size. Electric yellows were suggested and I agree. They grow relatively slowly and don't get very aggressive. 4 would be great for a 29 gallon assuming they are switched to the 55 once necessary. And it may be before July rolls around.

 

[crabbejoe]

I love african cichlids, and I'm sure you will too. Yellow labs are good, they're not as aggressive

 

[crabbejoe]

Blue Cobalt don't get as big as some, and are beautiful

 

[crabbejoe]

Not to be confused with socolofi, which are a little more aggressive. Socolofi have faint stripes when little and their fins are black lined