I had a customer wanting to put some baby Cichlids in his 56 gal tank. What rules should i follow for selling these? I have been told that Africans you can 'cramp' into a smaller tank unlike south Americans. Is this straight bull**** or is there some truth?
Baby African Cichlids
- Thread starter Enemyarms
- Start date
I'm not sure how you'd own a store without knowing this. But yes... in many cases with Africans, overcrowding is not just OK, but recommended.
With overcrowding should come overfiltration and extra care, of course. Make sure they know that. That could be an opportunity to make more money too
With overcrowding should come overfiltration and extra care, of course. Make sure they know that. That could be an opportunity to make more money too
DaveB;4450277; said:I'm not sure how you'd own a store without knowing this. But yes... in many cases with Africans, overcrowding is not just OK, but recommended.
With overcrowding should come overfiltration and extra care, of course. Make sure they know that. That could be an opportunity to make more money too
I dont own a store, just a petsmart pet care person. I understand most of the stuff more than the other employees but Cichlids are new to me. So it is a must to cramp them in. How much extra filtration should they have? 10x 20x 30x? I try to make sure the majority of my customers over filter there tanks, as you can tell with my tank listed below.
Yes, as it will divert any sustained aggression towards any one fish. Works very well. As Dave said...keyword=overfiltration.
Ill def keep that in mind when my customer comes in to get some fish. Ill let him know he should prob build some caves with limestone and get perhaps 20ish total? ill say aquaclear 70x2 for extra clear water.
This is a question with so many variables. Petsmarts usually carry kenyi, orange zebra, ugly yellow labs, auratus, and hybrids. I would not recommend kenyi, orange zebra or auratus for a 56g tank. I would not recommend hybrid mbuna for any tank.
The biggest thing for these fish is the footprint of the tank. Mbuna males will claim territory (but not open water territory). 56g of tall tank won't work, but a 55g 4' tank would work for the right fish. A 30 long might work too.
Mbuna do need overstocked in their groups, but the tank itself does not necessarily need to be overstocked. You could keep 8 yellow labs in a 4' tank.
It would be beneficial for you to read up on cichlids in general and then get more specific - SA, CA, African, etc.
Check out www.cichlid-forum.com for some info - they have a good library section, and a great profiles section also.
The biggest thing for these fish is the footprint of the tank. Mbuna males will claim territory (but not open water territory). 56g of tall tank won't work, but a 55g 4' tank would work for the right fish. A 30 long might work too.
Mbuna do need overstocked in their groups, but the tank itself does not necessarily need to be overstocked. You could keep 8 yellow labs in a 4' tank.
It would be beneficial for you to read up on cichlids in general and then get more specific - SA, CA, African, etc.
Check out www.cichlid-forum.com for some info - they have a good library section, and a great profiles section also.