How my mbuna tank is doing these days

[Swordtail8]

I haven't been here in awhile so I decided to leave a post. I'm not into fish as much as I once was.

I only have two tanks nowadays. My 10 gallon now gets little attention these days and now I only have neons, rasboras, SAE, CAE, and black tetras.

But my 29 gallon is still impressive. I have ten cichlids (9 mbuna, 1 frontosa), and a pleco as well as some left over black ruby barbs from way back when. Some of my fish I have had for two years now. Some of the cichlids have been around for a year now.

I have talked about how my tank has two alpha males and how a new one emerged in the last thread I posted several months ago. But after having this tank so long, I have noticed something. The fish don't fight each other anymore. They barely even chase each other. They just chill hardcore. It's as if they have known each other so long that they have made friends. Or they realized that territory is unnessary to get food or impossible to defend ever since I added a housing complex of rocks.

And here is a word of advice. I sometimes feed my cichlids bugs I find in the house. Don't feed them spiders though. My alpha male fainted from eating one (probably because all spiders have venom) and I thought he was a goner. But he recovered the next day to my surprise. I left him in a breeding net during that time frame.

 

[cinlnk]

I haven't been here in awhile so I decided to leave a post. I'm not into fish as much as I once was.

But my 29 gallon is still impressive. I have ten cichlids (9 mbuna, 1 frontosa), and a pleco as well as some left over black ruby barbs from way back when. Some of my fish I have had for two years now. Some of the cichlids have been around for a year now.
But after having this tank so long, I have noticed something. The fish don't fight each other anymore. They barely even chase each other. They just chill hardcore. It's as if they have known each other so long that they have made friends. Or they realized that territory is unnessary to get food or impossible to defend ever since I added a housing complex of rocks.
.

9 Mbunas and 1 Front in a 29 gallon tank?
My goodness.... That is WAY OVERSTOCKED!!!!! The reason your fish just chill is because there is no room for them to swim. You should SERIOUSLY consider removing at least 7 of those Mbunas and the Frontosa out of the tank. Please consider this as friendly advice...Your fish will appreciate it.

 

[Milo]

yikes i agree, ship them over to me... i'll take em

 

[JustOneMore20]

The 10g is quite overstocked too! I think you need some bigger tanks, or less fish!

 

[cinlnk]

The 10g is quite overstocked too! I think you need some bigger tanks, or less fish!

yes I agree.... I just read his signature....

 

[Milo]

YIKES!..........

 

[Mom2Angel]

I am deathly afraid of spiders...so I could never get one to the tank lol...but thanks for the warning! Sounds like another tank may be in order??

 

[yav1n]

I dont want to "cast the first stone" When I first started keeping fish I learned the hard way. Many fish died because of my ignorance. No offense If looking at the pictures of your tanks is any indication as to the quaility of the upkeep I would definitly remove some fish or they will remove themselves by way of death. Also I am sure they are just bad pictures not an indication of a lack of water changes

 

[tessalion]

im just going to echo the previous comments...definitely overstocked.

 

[Swordtail8]

First of all, my signature is way outta date. Second of all, when I finally do move out of my parents house, I will get them a 55 or larger. My gallon is basically retired. It just has a few neons, rasboras, SAE, CAE, and black tetra. I knew the clown loaches wouldn't last forever so I gave them to my brother. I just didnt know that I'd have such a hard time finding a job with my degree and moving out.

Third, I was always told on this forum that with mbunas you need to put alot of them in the tank to spread aggression. Fourth, my fish have plenty of room to swim. Mbunas live in rock reefs. They guard a cave in the rocks all day, that is what they do.

I didn't ask for advice on stocking, I came to share the experience of my tank. And now I remember the reason I never come here is because this forum is full of critical fish hugging carebear hippies. The same kinda people who tree hug, destroy genetically modified cornfields, and don't eat meat. This is going to sound blunt to some of you all but my fish are about the equivalent of lab rats. They sit in my tank and look pretty, that is their purpose. If a cichlid survives introduction to the tank, they stay around for a long time. I haven't lost a long term cichlid yet. I am a biologist and understand that death is part of the life cycle. Survival of the fittest and food chains exist in wild for these fish.

Did you know that mbunas don't get that big and frontosas take like 4 or 5 years to get to its full size? Mbunas are not oscars here. Mbunas might get six inches at the largest. So far, none of them have topped three inches yet. So someone is going to say it stunts their growth. While their seems to be little growth going on now, I don't see any problems going on.

Someone suggested the reason they are not fighting is because they are overcrowded. If it was overcrowded, I would think that they would kill each other to compensate. I was pointing out that territories seem to be non-existant now and was crediting it to the fish adapting to each others presence and the constant availability of food. Do you know that my tank has alot of rocks in it? There are so many caves that the fish can all feel secure and thus is the reason they stay relaxed. I don't have any fish sulking in the corner. They are all active.

My pictures of my tanks are way outdated. The original 29 gallon had a sudden wave of deaths after I neglected to water change during a busy college semester (the ram, angel, rainbow shark, gourami, died off). That I when made my change to mbunas.

Anyhow, don't give me advice unless I ask for it. Because advice on this forum is littered with bias about a certain kind of fish keeping styles. I am a casual fish keeper. I'm not going to change the water every week. The tanks are in the basement and the sinks are upstairs so water changes are only done once a month. You might call me a fish user or a fish having but not a fish keeper or whatever nonsense name you can give me. I don't like having the fish LOVER perspectives being thrown at me. I have kept fish for quite awhile now and have found that many of the opinions in the area of tank stocking limit and such were untrue, thus, I ignore the advice of most people on here. I have tested the stock limit over and over. I keep adding fish until I get a feel on where the limit lays at.

You gotta realize that I haven't done anything aside from water changes and feeding to the tanks since I think last winter. But yet, they have been able to maintain the status quo throughout 2006. Fish are an expensive hobby that I dont get into because my subconsious says I am wasting my money on disposable goods for the most part. I need to invest into non-disposable things.

Anyhow, I dont think I will be coming back to this forum (except maybe this thread) since, clearly, I cannot post the results of tank community after a year and a half of starting it without people telling me I am overstocked and blah blah blah. They'll get a bigger tank someday with sand in it. But until I can save up a few thousand dollars and move, there ain't nuttin going to be happening to the tank. Too many people here are too pushy on giving their fish advice out and cannot comprehend that some people have little money at times and live in rural areas where pet stores are non-existant except for barebone mom and pop stores.

 

[THUNDER]

Wooohooooo!!! WTG Swordtail, awesome comeback!!! *thumbsups

Keep up the good work!

Thunder

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Third, I was always told on this forum that with mbunas you need to put alot of them in the tank to spread aggression. Fourth, my fish have plenty of room to swim. Mbunas live in rock reefs. They guard a cave in the rocks all day, that is what they do.

Yep.

I didn't ask for advice on stocking, I came to share the experience of my tank. And now I remember the reason I never come here is because this forum is full of critical fish hugging carebear hippies. The same kinda people who tree hug, destroy genetically modified cornfields, and don't eat meat.

LOL, i found it funny...and in part true.

This is going to sound blunt to some of you all but my fish are about the equivalent of lab rats. They sit in my tank and look pretty, that is their purpose. If a cichlid survives introduction to the tank, they stay around for a long time. I haven't lost a long term cichlid yet. I am a biologist and understand that death is part of the life cycle. Survival of the fittest and food chains exist in wild for these fish.

Interesting, and fairly true...i've done the same thing myself a few times.

Too many people here are too pushy on giving their fish advice out

Mmmhmm.

I'd personally be interested to hear more about this tank, i've been know to push the limits somtimes, especially in smaller tanks like 10s or 20s. I've personally kept, and seen Mbuna to this extint in a 29 before. Probably even more then this. Plus there are many types of "Dwarf" mbuna so it really isn't as bad as it sounds.

 

[JustOneMore20]

The same kinda people who tree hug, destroy genetically modified cornfields, and don't eat meat.

I don't hug trees, destroy genetically modified cornfields, and I eat lots of meat....chicken, beef, pork...

Too many people here are too pushy on giving their fish advice out and cannot comprehend that some people have little money at times and live in rural areas where pet stores are non-existant except for barebone mom and pop stores.

If you don't have the money to set up a tank big enough for all the fish you want...don't set up a tank. This is concerning the 10g. Thats reality. Fish are animals....just like dogs and cats. If someone wanted a dog or cat and couldn't buy them food, they shouldn't get a dog/cat. Saving up until you can buy a big enough tank is best. There are many many fish havers out there that setup a small tank and pile fish in them...they aren't fish keepers.

Sorry we all jumped on ya, but you are/were overstocked based on your sig. You said its not updated, but we were just going buy what it says.

Please be a fish keeper and buy fish to keep them as pets...not to just "have something to look at".

Good luck in the hobby!

 

[Swordtail8]

Wow, I was expecting to get alot more angry responses back. Fish are different from dogs and cats though in many ways. Dogs and cats are alot easier to keep alive for one thing, although they are more expensive to maintain.

My fish are just part of an underwater ecosystem I have in my house. They are different kind of pets than cats and dogs. Fish are not companions like cats and dogs are. They are there for looks and biological study. While I don't like it when fish die, they sometimes do. Currently, out of my fish, I have 4 species of mbuna with males and females among them. Hopefully someday, they will reproduce when they finally get a new tank.

I believe what has happened in my tank is that the fish have learned to live with other fish and major territories expired. It used to be that the two alpha males owned the tank. One had the left and one had the right. But now, they dont seem to claim ownership anymore. It probably isnt worth the injures gained when they engage in epic battles (which they used to do once the new alpha decided to take territory while all the other fish watched the battle). Since food isnt scarce, they dont really care.

I also find that same species hang out together and dont chase each other too much.