How many medium sized (around 3 inches) african ciclids can i put in a 29 gallon tank??? would 7 and a pleco be ok?? Ive heard its better to overstock with ACs.
African ciclid help
- Thread starter mahemaheman85
- Start date
You need to do some more research into what fish you want to keep and what would fit in your tank before getting any fish.
i understand i should use a bigger tank, but its what i got for a short time, and i dont remember what exactly the 4 i have in there so far are called. But there nothing to extravagant, i got them for like 12.99 at petsmart, 2 are yellow with black stripes, 1 is bright orange, and the other is a lil harder to discribe, cause it doesnt really get its color tell its older. And i heard its better to slightly overstock with ACs, to better distribute aggression. If that is true i would like to get 3 more, 2 jewls, and one that was blue with a black stripe. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, this being my first african tank.
oh my. well you could put whatever you want in there, but as they grow they will start killing eachother off because there is not enough room for territory issues to be solved. im betting the red one is a red zebra-they get about 4 inches and are highly aggressive. As far the two with yellow and black stripes (if the stripes are horizontal they are mel. auratus-they are also bullies, if the stripes are up and down it could be bumblebees-mine is around 5 inches big and shes a fat thing lol) i dont know what to tell you without pics.
like everyone else said, that tank is waaaay too small but if you plan on upgrading in a month or so you might be ok... but only if you upgrade! lol
if i were you, i wouldnt buy anymore until you can get a bigger tank, then use that little 29 gallon as a grow out for the little ones before you put them with the ones who will be bigger.
the blue and black fish might be a demasoni-they dont do well alone and do better with a male and group of females (so he doesnt beat up the same female over and over-it allows him to spread his aggression). they are also more aggressive than most mbuna.
like everyone else said, that tank is waaaay too small but if you plan on upgrading in a month or so you might be ok... but only if you upgrade! lol
if i were you, i wouldnt buy anymore until you can get a bigger tank, then use that little 29 gallon as a grow out for the little ones before you put them with the ones who will be bigger.
the blue and black fish might be a demasoni-they dont do well alone and do better with a male and group of females (so he doesnt beat up the same female over and over-it allows him to spread his aggression). they are also more aggressive than most mbuna.
I checked and the 4 i have are / 1 red zebra/ 1 other kind of zebra, and 2 bumblebees,(all about 3 inches) and i would probably be able to put them in something more like a 50 in a couple of months
bubblebee's get big for mbuna A 50 maybe too small as well... They will dig up your plants do not waste the money on them... if those are the crabro in the picture I think you have the wrong ID, they look to be Kenyi with are super aggressive...
those are definately NOT bumblebees.. like mike said, im betting they are kenyis in the middle of their color change..if they turn from yellow to pale blue they are female (have you noticed that they have been changing colors?).. the one in front looks to be a female, and the larger, more yellow could be male.. it will get nasty between the two fast.
i had one and she beat up my 8 inch male Venustus (she was only 3 inches)--my female kenyi was the most brutal, meanest fish i have ever owned-she disappeared fast, because she was killing fish left and right.
you have a really bad mix in a very tiny tank-and those fish are going to grow FAST- once they start fighting i expect you to have a few deaths. you will probably end up with 2 fish left-one kenyi will kill the other, beat up the red zebra and then the kenyi will kill the acei. i suggest you get a large tank asap or get rid of them all and start over with a dwarf species of africans-or some that arent as mean.
i recommend that you create alot of hiding spots if you cant get rid of these fish (which is what i would do-get rid of the red zebra and 2 kenyis) because its going to be "beat down" time soon. even if you do get a bigger tank you will have problems-my kenyi was in a 180 gallon tank and smacking down everyone around her. i would then upgrade to a 75 or so, get another ps. acei or two, a small group of yellow labs and maybe 5 rusties and call it a day..
its tough picking the right africans-there are hundreds of them to choose from! and as juveniles you sometimes cant ID them correctly-i still cant lol. you'll learn as you go at this and we are always here to help you! thanks for posting that pic-it helped us Id what you do have!
i had one and she beat up my 8 inch male Venustus (she was only 3 inches)--my female kenyi was the most brutal, meanest fish i have ever owned-she disappeared fast, because she was killing fish left and right.
you have a really bad mix in a very tiny tank-and those fish are going to grow FAST- once they start fighting i expect you to have a few deaths. you will probably end up with 2 fish left-one kenyi will kill the other, beat up the red zebra and then the kenyi will kill the acei. i suggest you get a large tank asap or get rid of them all and start over with a dwarf species of africans-or some that arent as mean.
i recommend that you create alot of hiding spots if you cant get rid of these fish (which is what i would do-get rid of the red zebra and 2 kenyis) because its going to be "beat down" time soon. even if you do get a bigger tank you will have problems-my kenyi was in a 180 gallon tank and smacking down everyone around her. i would then upgrade to a 75 or so, get another ps. acei or two, a small group of yellow labs and maybe 5 rusties and call it a day..
its tough picking the right africans-there are hundreds of them to choose from! and as juveniles you sometimes cant ID them correctly-i still cant lol. you'll learn as you go at this and we are always here to help you! thanks for posting that pic-it helped us Id what you do have!