Breeding in 29 Gallon

[ryansmith83]

I have a pair of severums in a 6' 150 right now and the male has tried to kill two different females. It's best not to underestimate the damage a cichlid can do when it doesn't get its way. A divider is the safest option. Dither fish sometimes help, but there wouldn't be much room for them in a 29 and it isn't guaranteed to prevent a massacre anyway.

 

[MonsterFishCreeper]

if your dead set on it plan to house the bigger fish in a tank appropriate for their size. Move them to a 29 until you have fertilized eggs then move them back or at least move the male. This leaves the fry to grow out in the 29.

 

[Frank Castle]

man, you guys have some bad luck with cichlid-aggression......I must be doing something different.....some type of unknown variable no one is seeing.....

 

[Unratedaccount]

The only real concern I'd have with a 29 gallon tank is that in close quarters, a lot of New World cichlids have a tendency to turn on one another if something goes wrong. I've had several species, from severums to Laetacara to angelfish, have disagreements about raising fry and then one of the fish (usually the male) tries to murder the other one. A tank that size, with two 4 - 6" fish, doesn't give them much room to escape one another. You'd want to really keep an eye on them.

If you could find a 40 breeder that's probably a better foot print and you could leave the fry with the parents a bit longer which would likely curb their desire to spawn again.

IMO you need a larger tank than 10 or 20 gallons to grow out fry to salable size. Most LFS won't take them until they're 1.5 - 2" at least, and when dealing with 100 or so fry (usually it's more than that but let's just make it a nice even number) that's never going to work in a tank that size. Even 50 fry at 1" is too much for a 10 gallon. When I raise out fry, I tend to grow them out in 55 gallon tanks with large daily water changes. Plan ahead before you start breeding because you'll be growing these fish out for several weeks and if the tank is too small/conditions are poor due to dirty water, you run the risk of bad fin development and poor growth. You won't want to put in all that work for nothing.

I appreciate everything you said. I am glad everyone here helped and made sure I didn't go and buy a pair of cichlids I am not prepared for. This is why I came to MFK forums because of the community and people like you. But one last question, could I house 1 male t-bar cichlid in the 29 gallon? Or what about 2 female t-bar cichlids? I think they are really cool cichlids.

 

[Frank Castle]

I appreciate everything you said. I am glad everyone here helped and made sure I didn't go and buy a pair of cichlids I am not prepared for. This is why I came to MFK forums because of the community and people like you. But one last question, could I house 1 male t-bar cichlid in the 29 gallon? Or what about 2 female t-bar cichlids? I think they are really cool cichlids.

sorry bro, never owned a T-bar

 

[duanes]

I have had C sajica, if that's what you mean be T-Bar. Males easily get larger than 6 " and are hefty, so to me a 29 gal is a mere puddle, not an amount of water to hold a healthy fish that size. I grew out a quartet in a 45 gal, and even in that tank, almost double a 29, the pair (after it formed), killed the others, and the male became increasingly irritated with the female as time went on.
In the pics below, the male was larger than my hand.