Soulfish, I need your help!

[shimpboat]

Soulfish,
I have been told that you are the resident cichlid expert. I have read many of your posts and feel you can help me. I have a 29 gallon long tank. I have 2 pseudotropheus lombardai and 2 electric yellow with 3 zebra danios in the tank. Do you think I will be overstocked when they grow? I know that the danios will probably end up as cichlid chow, but I'm prepared for that. I had the danios as my cycle fish. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks,
Michelle

 

[bobrob]

Well I'm not soulfish but soulfish told me in a different post that african chiclids need a minimum of 55 gallons.

 

[shimpboat]

When I picked out the fish, I actually checked adult size. Neither one should get any longer than 5 inches. I know you have to take body shape into account, but I was hoping I would be safe. My husband will die if I told him that I needed a larger tank. I've been hinting around that I wanted a 55 gallon, but I don't have the room to put it in my house. Hopefully all will be well. Thanks,
Michelle

 

[SoulFish]

29 is really too small, they may be large enough to fit from size but due to agression levels they need a larger tank with lots of rockwork, after sufficient rockwork in a tank that small there would be very little swimming space left, a 55gal would be much better

 

[shimpboat]

Unfuortunately, a 55 gallon tank is out of the question due to house size and money. I can try to place rocks in strategic places to avoid unwanted aggression. Hopefully this will work. Any other suggestions?
Thanks,
Michelle

 

[orangecrushv]

im pretty new to cichlids too, could she keep 2 of the 4 in that tank or to house cichlids in general do you need 55 gallons?

-rich

 

[SoulFish]

for general mbunas a 55 should be bare minimum, some of the more agressive species require more, due to their agression they should not be kept in small numbers and in small tanks because a few will be beaten up and be misserable, i would ditch the lombardai and keep just the yellow labs, they are less agressive then other mbunas, but the best option would be to sell them until you can get a suitable tank for africans, you could try other species of african cichlids such as shelldwellers, in a 29 you could have a very nice colony of shellies, also a julidochromis pair would work great, if you are interested in either of these i can elaborate on them

 

[shimpboat]

Ok, I wonder if PetSmart will but back the lombardais. I noticed them chasing the yellow labs yesterday (of course after you told me of their aggression). Please elaborate on the other fish. Could I keep them in the 29 with the 2 yellow labs? Thanks for the info...
Michelle

 

[SoulFish]

you really should not keep the yellow labs in the tank at all, it would be best to sell them, and it would not be a good idea to keep them with the other fish i mentioned

you can find information on shelldwellers here http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/shelldweller_corner.php

if you want to go with them youd need to switch the substrate to sand and get alot of shells

as for the julie pair, youd neeed to get like 5-6 juvs and when 2 pair up remove the rest and sell them, they like a rocky enviroment and do not require sand so it would probably be closer to what you currently have setup,

i would look in the phonebook and try to find some real fish stores, you take a big risk buying fish from petsmart because they are generally badly maintained, diseased, and the staff usually does not know what its doing and will give bad advice

 

[shimpboat]

The shellies sound really neat. Could I put the sand on top of the gravel already in the tank? How many shellies could I put in a 29? I have to say, other than the cichlid thing, the people at PetSmart have really been helpful. There is one girl who obviously keeps fish. I guess I will have to search the phonebook and find a good lfs. There is a lfs close to my house, but I'm not real crazy about his tanks. In fact, I bought 6 harlequin rasboras and 4 died. This was before I decided to go with cichlids. I will call around and try to find good homes for the fish I currently have, keep the danios, and take a look at the lfs in the area before I buy anything. I will also get your opinion before getting any more fish. Ok, so I did my first dumb thing in fish keeping. At least I learn from my mistakes (for the most part). Thanks for all the help, I will keep in touch.
Michelle