Any kenyi keepers?

[Brockway]

I have a fairly new tank, I was wondering if any people can give me tips on keeping kenyis. Like any specific things they like that isn't listed under there general profiles. My 3 kenyis are looking pretty good, the girls are all sparkly blue, and the boy is all mean and chasey, as expected. His stripes are alot lighter than when I first got him. They were really black, now they are a really lightish gray. He's about 2 inches long. One more thing, it looks like he has a white scale on his tail. I'm not sure what it is. Thanks for any help!

 

[420Loach]

ive got some kenyis there a pretty cool fish as long as theres no fish they like to nibble on in the tank,cause they can be mean suckers! i probably couldnt tell you much more then the profiles, im pretty new to kenyis too. i know ive got all females cause theyre all about 2 inches long and all still a very nice blue. i have 7 so id like to take in one or two and get a male, but i havent seen anything else but babys around and i wouldnt put a baby in with two inchers(just a bad feeling, the biggest female tore up a 4 inch cane spider that fell into the pond, so a baby kenyi would be easy pickings)

they are a great fish to have, fun to watch them flex on each other when one approaches anothers cave or territory. mine like to eat baby freeze dried shrimps, and tubifex worms as treats, but they wont turn down brine or ghost shrimp either

idk what the white scale is but my green spotted puffer has something on his tail that sounds similar to that, and it hasnt seem to have bothered him but if it gets bigger or more appear on him then let us know good luck with the kenyis*thumbsups

 

[SoulFish]

well kenyi should definately not be in that tank, they will rip the gouramis apart, kenyi are very agressive and need a larger tank (55gal+), 420Loach, i wouldnt say that all yours are females sometimes it takes kenyi up to 3"+ to get the yellow coloration, as they are mbunas i would feed a diet based on spurlina with a treat of a live food like brine shrimp once a week, also depending on tank size kenyi will not eat their babies in a large tank (150gal+)

 

[420Loach]

ok, thanks for the good word soulfish guess ill wait a while then.

 

[Brockway]

My big blue gourami I'm not worried about. He's about 4" and mean. He actually ate one of my danios, and likes to pick fights with the kenyis. He actually holds his own pretty good, and would probably be on even ground if he didn't keep going up to breath in the middle of a fight. I'll eventually move him somewhere else, but for now he's good till the kenyis start growing. The girl blue I moved in temporarily for bugging my betta too much.

 

[Brockway]

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[SoulFish]

well when the kenyi grow up it doesnt matter how mean the gourami is itll be toast, so just plan on moving them out

 

[Managuense]

absolutely 100% ditto on soulfish's advice.

mature male kenyi will eliminate other african cichlids in many tanks.... your gourami will pose no problem in short time.
M

 

[Brockway]

I know that, I just meant hes fine for now till the kenyis start growing and I move him.

 

[Kate2]

Hi Brockway,
I'm new to your forum, but I've had several tanks, and different through the years, and I had a go at breeding Kenyi's a couple of years ago, until my heater malfunctioned, and I came home to cooked fish! Not the kind I like, anyway, I also had them in a 29 gallon tank, two females, and one male. My male got sooooo beautiful, and big, and he was a nasty bugger, but if you have a lot of rocks, and plastic plants, it helps the females to hide a bit. I had one of those small logs in there also, for the females to hide in, and when my female was holding eggs, she would hide in there quite a bit. It takes around 21 days for the eggs to hatch, and it was really neat, watching the females mouth get bigger, and bigger, with the young! I had quite a few successful spawns, before the accident with the heater! They are really a nice fish, if you don't mind having a species only tank! (Except for a large clown loach) it seemed to be ok in there too!

 

[Brockway]

I'll eventually just have the kenyis and loaches in there, although I'd like another big tank just for clown loaches! I've got a penguin 330 and an aquatech 20-40 converted to a penguin ~170, so I've got roughly 500g/hour filtering, plus I have an extra tetra 15 filter if I ever need it. The log I have in mine makes a sorta cave and its up by the front glass, so the male hardly ever goes in it. Thanks!