why do they need such big tanks?

[Renteria]

Dovis are awesome fish and desserve big tanks, at the right size.

i am not asking why a dovii needs a big tank

 

[sicxspeed]

I can't say why Umbee's need such big tanks, but I have heard that they are a lot more active then Dovii's. So that, along with the water quality issues are the only two reasons I can think of.

 

[---XR---]

I can't say why Umbee's need such big tanks, but I have heard that they are a lot more active then Dovii's. So that, along with the water quality issues are the only two reasons I can think of.

MORE active than dovii, it doesn't get much more active than some dovii i have seen, umbees would have to be able to fly around a room, to be more active than some psychotic dovii's i've seen.

i'm gonna go and find the vid's of some of them.

 

[cookiemonster]

I think as long as you can keep up with water changes an umbee would be fine in the same size tank as you would keep a dovii. Good luck finding any umbees though...

 

[greenterra]

Umbees are the most sensitive to water quality and require very clean waters. They also seem to be more sensitive to nitrates than many other cichlids. Alot of umbee owners do not realize this and probably why we do not see many full grown umbees. One more reason why they are prone to health problems may be due to the bloodline being siblings created from siblings for decades now.

Bigger tank, bigger buffer, bigger water changes, longer life. And as mentioned previously, they are open water predators.

I agree here.The main reason in my research about this wonderful fish is water quality.I know you can do more water changes in a smaller tank but the chemistry will be more up and down.In a 300 gal the parameters will be more stable and is what the Umbee needs.Pristine,stable water.