30 gallon cichlid stocking

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reyrey

Aquarium Advice Newbie
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Jan 13, 2014
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I have ten 1 1/2 inch cichlids in a 30 gallon high. 3 Africans 2 green terrors 1 severum 1 torquoise jeweled 2 convicts and oh. 1 gourami. They all seem happy nobody is sick and the agrees soon is cray fun to watch now that I added a blue lobster...only thing is I want to see a fry created...it's like a show watching all these fish from diff places aggress against one another. Like survival of the fittest.
 
I have ten 1 1/2 inch cichlids in a 30 gallon high. 3 Africans 2 green terrors 1 severum 1 torquoise jeweled 2 convicts and oh. 1 gourami. They all seem happy nobody is sick and the agrees soon is cray fun to watch now that I added a blue lobster...only thing is I want to see a fry created...it's like a show watching all these fish from diff places aggress against one another. Like survival of the fittest.



Yikes. That's a lot of fish that should not be together in a big tank let alone a small one. Theyre gonna beat the snot outta each other.
 
I agree, Africans need different water parameters than South & Central American's. They need to be separated like yesterday.
 
Yeah I wish I can separate them...probably get bring the severum and green Terrors back
 

Sorry but i have to say without trying to be rude to you directly reyrey, But this is sad. Those fish dont belong in that tank, cant be longer than 2ft. 30g high :(
I felt bad keeping my juvi dwarfs in a 3ft 29g for afew weeks while my 52 came.

Theyre at the surface and the corners which to me is a bad sign. Your water quality looks dirty and unchanged. I can honestly say the water in any of my tanks has never, ever looked murky like this. Do them and me a favor and change half of their water.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Aquarium Advice mobile app
 
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Sorry but i have to say without trying to be rude to you directly reyrey, But this is sad. Those fish dont belong in that tank, cant be longer than 2ft. 30g high :(
I felt bad keeping my juvi dwarfs in a 3ft 29g for afew weeks while my 52 came.

Theyre at the surface and the corners which to me is a bad sign. Your water quality looks dirty and unchanged. I can honestly say the water in any of my tanks has never, ever looked murky like this. Do them and me a favor and change half of their water.

Sent from my GT-N7000 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

I agree with you... not trying to be rude either but your tank does not have a good stock at all. I have less cichlids in my 55 then you do in that tank. Gouramis don't go with cichlids either. You need to do research and re home a lot of those fish. The aggression gets worse as they get older and if you can't keep up on water changes now, it only gets worse. Personally, another under 55 gallons is to small for cichlids
 
I have ten 1 1/2 inch cichlids in a 30 gallon high. 3 Africans 2 green terrors 1 severum 1 torquoise jeweled 2 convicts and oh. 1 gourami. They all seem happy nobody is sick and the agrees soon is cray fun to watch now that I added a blue lobster...only thing is I want to see a fry created...it's like a show watching all these fish from diff places aggress against one another. Like survival of the fittest.

The reason that this is working out for now is that your fish are all juveniles. I know it is exciting to watch a tank full of fish when they are young and may coexist, but once they start to mature I'm afraid it will not last long.

The African cichlids appear to be Mbuna, which would likely kill each other eventually even if they were the only fish in the tank. Most Mbuna really need to be stocked in larger numbers to spread out the aggression, but in order to do that you would need a much larger tank. These prefer much harder water than the rest of your fish, are very different in terms of behavior/temperament, and need more veggies in their diet than the rest of your fish.

The turquoise jewel is a West African riverine cichlid that is often able to coexist with South and Central American cichlids, as it is similar in terms of behavior/temperament, dietary needs, and preferred water parameters.

The severum will eventually grow too large for this tank. Same for the green terrors. I would strongly suggest rehoming these fish.

The gourami needs to go IMO. It is likely to succumb to injury or stress before too long.

The blue "lobster" is actually a crayfish. It is a nocturnal predator and will eat whatever fish it can catch. When it molts, it is susceptible to attack from the cichlids. Crayfish and fish usually are not a very good combination.

The convicts, if they are a pair, would be suitable for this tank with no other cichlids. They stay small enough to live in the tank throughout their lifespans. However, if you keep a pair of convicts, you will inevitably have to figure out what to do with all their fry. If you are not interested in breeding, something like one convict and the turquoise jewel with a group of tough dither/target fish like black skirt tetras, tiger barbs, etc. should work even when your fish mature.

I agree, Africans need different water parameters than South & Central American's. They need to be separated like yesterday.

There are plenty of West African riverine cichlids available in the hobby that are just fine to keep with South and Central American fish. African Rift Lake cichlids are generally not compatible with South and Central American fish.
 
Reyrey, as a semi-newbie myself I know the excitement of a pretty, new tank, you should really take the advice from these people, they have been at this a long time and it if were not for them I would not be doing all that well myself. Just imagine flicking on the lights in the morning to find a massacred tank. No fun:/
 
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