No a 29G tank is too small for most Mbuna cichlids.
Smallest mbuna cichlids?
- Thread starter Christophercanary
- Start date
Thanks, I'm beginning to realize that these little guys are quite the territorial type. Are any of these aggressive mbuna known to be kept as single specimans in smaller tanks? I guess its safe to say that the aggressive mbuna types aren't safe to keep in groups in anything smaller than a 55?
I'm sure some people keep a single Mbuna in smaller tanks though I don't find that normal.
A standard 48" long 55G tank is usually the minimum recommendation for keeping smaller species Mbuna and you need to carefully consider which species are kept together to avoid interbreeding and to maintain aggression.
A standard 48" long 55G tank is usually the minimum recommendation for keeping smaller species Mbuna and you need to carefully consider which species are kept together to avoid interbreeding and to maintain aggression.
I kept my colony as a single species tank, so no experience with other types in the tank, or in that size tank.
My 55 started with about 4 or 5 juvie demasoni, and ended up with 3 or 4 generations in the tank, as many as 15 to 20 different ages and size ranges at any one time.
When you keep only two African cichlids in a tank as tiny as a 29 gal, (or any cichlid for that matter no matter what size the fish) territoriality can be lethal.
My 55 started with about 4 or 5 juvie demasoni, and ended up with 3 or 4 generations in the tank, as many as 15 to 20 different ages and size ranges at any one time.
When you keep only two African cichlids in a tank as tiny as a 29 gal, (or any cichlid for that matter no matter what size the fish) territoriality can be lethal.
A 55 is the minimum for most mbuna, some need larger like kenyi, auratus, and crabro, very few can work in a 36" 40 gallon, saulosi is one of the few.
Thanks, I didn't realize that the mbuna need that much space. I thought they would be comparable to keeping dwarf ca/sa cichlids, now I know! I'm gonna throw these guys in my 75 gallon after quarantined for 3 weeks, will have to do some adjusting in the future but for now it buys me time and in the mean time I put up a somewhat effective divider and threw an Australian rainbow fish in there as a dither and actually threw an oto in there that my baby dovii was trying to hunt. the rainbow dither seemed to bring my yellow mbuna's spirits up as he didn't feel so abused after having another fish to interact with. also my oto is bigger than my mbunas!
Thanks for the comments,
C.
You would not want these fish in a 29G. I would not mix demasoni and kenyi even in a larger tank because they are both blue barred fish.
