thanks guys i havent put them in the 120 tall yet because i have my non aggressive in there now i have a marbled angel fish that is dear to me for some reason lol its growing large ive had him way before the cichlids i also have it stocked with some rainbows and groumies also have a few peacock eals i have a brown knife also growing large theres no doubt that i want the cichlids in the big tank im just still stuck on my "non aggressive's" at the moment i would like to sand the bottom of the 120 also it seems the fish like it alot more and i think it re leaves stress giving a more natural look and feel to the fish. i also love watching them dig nest's i should post a pic from the last 2 days on how much sand they've moved lol
my 40 gal cichlid tank comment please thanks
- Thread starter mikeurbeck06
- Start date
well im not trying to make anyone mad on here i didn't know that you couldn't mix them until i posted it.. im newer to the whole fish thing ive owned fish for about a year now and haven't had anyone around who knows what there talking about.. any help from anyone would be much needed and appreciated.
You have some of the most aggressive species of mbuna in your tank - will tear your americans cichlids apart. Which is probably why they're sticking to the corners and not coming out while your kenyi, red zebra and melanochromis patrol the tank.
You need to decide if you want africans or americans in your 40g. If you choose africans you will need to redo your stock as you have some of the most highly aggressive mbuna and will need to replace those for something a bit more docile. If you want americans you need to stick with smaller fish like rams, JD's will get too big for the tank.
mikeurbeck06;5064463; said:
You need to decide if you want africans or americans in your 40g. If you choose africans you will need to redo your stock as you have some of the most highly aggressive mbuna and will need to replace those for something a bit more docile. If you want americans you need to stick with smaller fish like rams, JD's will get too big for the tank.
hhmm well i guess im going to split them up today i guess see this makes me really mad because i was told from a few pet shops that they would be good together.. gosh this frustrates me
mikeurbeck06;5064484; said:
Been there done that
When I first started I had a 37g tank and they told me I could have all sorts of africans and upon joining up on a cichlid forum I found how mislead I have been.
So yeah, figure out if you want africans or americans and we can help you smooth out your stock list.
mikeurbeck06;5064463; said:
the only thing that would make people mad is if you got a bunch of good advice and didn't take any of it. at least you're here trying to learn, that's half the battle. GL and have fun with it, try not to get frustrated which is easy to do in the beginning.
SkidMark;5064587; said:
I echo SkidMark on his statement.
One thing I would say is the for the most part you can keep a larger number of Mbuna in a smaller tank than most CA/SA cichlids. When you have a Mbuna like Kenyi it would be wise to keep one male and three or four females to dilute the aggression. It is easy to tell males from females. I one time kept about 30 Mbuna in a 56g tank for a good while and they were fine, however none were over 3". I also had about 20 full grown in a 125g and they would fight a lot... I did not know about male to female ratios and and just wanted different colors. FYI, Kenyi & Auratus are two very aggressive types of Mbuna... I found that out after owning them. The Auratus is the one you have with the black belly and yellow on top. Mbuna have very strong jaws and sharp teeth to scrap algee off of rocks in the rift lakes in Africa... they really don't need any wood in their tanks, just lots of rocks.
