Cichlid dilemma

I

itirnitii

New Fish
#1
Aug 3, 2006
4
0
0
#1
I have a 20G tank, and i am a total fish tank newbie. I unknowingly picked my first fish it is a yellow african cichlid. After I fell in love with it, I realized that it was too aggressive to put any other types of fish in with it. At the fish store we bought a loach and a proclosomus (sp?) and the latter one died after a week. The loach has been fine for a month now.

My question being...

I want some other kinds of fish, not more cichlids, that could be ok inside the tank. The store guy told us other semi-aggressive fish might be ok, but it would be risky. I considered an angelfish or a tiger barb. I dunno.

The loach has been doing just fine so there just HAS to be some other fish I can put in there too! Someone help and please tell me what other kinds of fish I can put in my tank please.

Thanks,
David
 

Last edited:
Milo

Milo

Large Fish
#2
Jun 29, 2006
389
2
0
42
Brampton, Ontario
#2
Hi David,

What type of african Cichlid is it? I am assuming that it is a Yellow Lab because they are probably the most common. unfortunatly with cichlids (and mostly all other fish) is that they don't stay the same size from when they are at the LFS (local fish store) They will grow. With the Yellow Lab you will atleast need a 30 gallon tank. I am sure for the size that he is now he will be fine in the 20 gallon but you will probably have to upgrade to a large size.

Next, Cichlids like alot of rock work in their tank so they can "claim their territory". Cichlids are really agressive, mind you that the yellow lab is pretty docile compared to other cichlids, but they are agressive and very teritorial, which means you probably won't be able to get any other fish in the tank. If you upgrade to a large tank, Maybe a 40 or 50 gal you could probably put in a red tail shark. (I am probably going to get alot of greif from other people here for that) But I have a red tail shark in with my guys and he's doing great. Actually everyone I know with a cichlid tank has a red tail and they are fine. Other than the red tail I would probably only recommed other cichlids from the same region.
 

Likes: Pure
Orion

Orion

Ultimate Fish
Moderator
#4
Feb 10, 2003
5,803
3
38
Kentucky
www.thefishcave.net
#4
The best tankmates for mbuna (this sounds like the type of cichlid that you have) is other mbuna. This however requires a tank much larger than 20 gallons.

I would think of returning that fish, and getting some that are better suited to a 20 gallon.
 

FroggyFox

FroggyFox

Forum Manager
Moderator
#6
May 16, 2003
8,589
10
38
42
Colorado
#6
I agree also. Try approaching your tank in a way that you design the tank around the fish instead of the other way around...if you REALLY like this little yellow fish, learn about it, learn whats best for it and do that. If you can't, then taking it back to the store would be the best option. Designing a 20G tank would be fun...or designing a tank for yellow labs would be fun...but I dont think the two go together.
 

FreddyJ

FreddyJ

Large Fish
#7
May 5, 2006
187
0
0
#7
Lots of good replies on this thread to your question, itirnitti. I made the same noob mistake and ended up upgrading my tank and now I am going to be upgrading to an even larger next month. So if you decide to keep your yellow lab, please consider upgrading. They will be much happier for it and you will get a great amount of fascinating cichlid behaviors. In a larger tank you could consider adding a smaller, schooling fish. The school will make these fairly shy cichlids more comfortable.

And yes, only mbuna with mbuna. Angels are from an entirely seperate ecosystem. If you mix among the lakes, the cichlids won't be able to communicate with each other and that almost always ends badly. With electric yellows you gotta be careful, because they are a fairly "docile aggressive" fish. A lot of other mbuna are too dang nasty to share the tank with them.
 

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