A few quick questions about a Cichlid tank.

[FUBAR]

Sorry about starting another Cichlid topic, but the search turned up about a million different threads. (might be a slight exageration)

I have six cichlids. Three Electric Yellows, and three Cobalt Blues. They all appear to be male.

So here's my questions.

1) They're growing faster than I thought, and getting more aggressive. So I thought about adding females. How many would I need to keep them happy and not compete with eachother?

2) About how big of a tank would I need? I'm sure the one I have in mind is large enough, but I'd like your opinions.

3) What sort of bottom feeders could I mix with them?

Thanks for your time!

[Menagerie]

The general rule is 2-3 females per male. However, that will probably not stop the aggression, as there will be a reason to show off. Right now, the aggression is over territory and it sounds like there is not enough of it. You can stick with all males and upgrade the tank, provide lots [acronym:97a33baba6="Fish only"]fo[/acronym:97a33baba6] caves and hope for the best. I have never kept Cobalts, so I'm not sure how much more aggressive they are when compared to the Yellows. You can add Synodontis Petricola or Synodontis Multipunctatus as bottom feeders. However, do your homework, as they are parasitic (sp) breeders and if they breed, any female yellows will not be able to hold the young.
It all comes down to doing some research and getting the largest tank possible (and even then you'll want to upgrade in a few years). You can see my Mbuna set up in my gallery.

[Fishyfanatic]

I have Cobalts and Labs together and they are both not very aggressive towards each other. Although, the Cobalts will become aggressive during breeding. Are you sure that all of your fish are males? Yellow Labs are hard to sex and Cobalts have slight variances between male and female.

In general, African Cichlids need at least a 55 [acronym:34460c2018="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:34460c2018] tank. Cobalts dart around more than the labs, and could benefit from a 75 [acronym:34460c2018="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:34460c2018] tank, but can be housed in a 55. Labs can be housed in a 30 [acronym:34460c2018="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:34460c2018] as juvi's, but really need a 55 [acronym:34460c2018="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:34460c2018] to thrive.

I agree with Menagerie, they will definately benefit from more hiding places. Add caves and a few bunches of plants. My labs like to hang in my greenery if it is densly placed.

What size of a tank are they in now?

[FUBAR]

For the time being, they are in a 35. They're fine for now, but I know I need something bigger. The sooner the better.

The reason I said they were males is because a friend of mine (who lives for cichlids) said they were. I asked if he was sure and he claimed he was a 100% on it.

I would be bugging him about it, but he's out of town. So here I am.




Now, I do want females because I want them to breed. So considering my six are all males... according to the rule, I should be getting a minimum of twelve females. Is 75gal going to be enough? Seem's like a lot.

[Fishyfanatic]

If you are going to want to breed, you'll definately need a larger tank. I'd say a 75 [acronym:9d26ebd340="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:9d26ebd340] minimum. And even then, I would trade some of your currect stock in and replace with females. For example, I would trade in one or two of the male Cobalts and get 4 Female cobalts. Then trade in one of the labs and get 4 females. That will put you at about 12 fish. Provide plenty of rockwork and the Cobalts will breed like crazy.

African Cichlids need rockwork to breed. So provide a large area of stacked pieces of rockword and in no time you will have fry. I did that in our 150 [acronym:9d26ebd340="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:9d26ebd340] tank. One day we added a large structure of rockwork and 3 weeks later we had 29 Cobalt fry. Of course you'll have to increase the temp of the tank to between 79 and 81 and have water conditions in favorible conditions.

Yellow Labs are very difficult to sex, even for the most experienced. So when you go to purchase females, be sure to purchase them in the adult stage. Juvi's are impossible to sex because they have not grown the distinguishing characteristics yet.

[acronym:9d26ebd340="Hope this helps (or) Happy to help"]HTH[/acronym:9d26ebd340].

[fantasticaqua]

Start with adjusting your aquariums setup, add caves and other structure for the cichlids to hide out in. Try to have a way in and a way out of each spot so they can chase each other through but not get trapped. If that doesnt work consider a dither fish or two such as the infamous danio.

Cichlids are going to be a bit aggressive no matter what so are they just chasing or are fish getting hurt?

[FUBAR]

I feel silly now about the "all males" thing. Found out tonight that at least two are female, and are having babies/fry/spawn....

And none have been hurt so far. Mostly just chasing, but one of my Cobalts has been fighting one of the Yellows. Not much, but it's increasing in frequency. I will add more rock though, see if that makes a difference.

Fishyfanatic- How do you go about sexing them? Both the Yellow Labs and the Cobalts.

[Fishyfanatic]

There is a debate about sexing Cobalts. I have heard conflicting information. I read that male Cobalts will have beetween 5 and 10 egg spots whereas the female will have between 1 and 4. This is true in my Cobalts. But it depends if you have the Cobalt Zebra or the Maylandia Callainos. I have the latter.

Yellow Labs are impossible to sex as juvi's and still difficult as adults. Males will have darker bottom fins (not sure of the exact name of them) and a darker black strip on the top.

Aggression really shows during breeding. Cobalts will become very territorial. You can always tell if they are about to breed if aggression increases and the female does the shimmy over rocks. Being a mouth broader, she will hold the eggs in her mouth until they hatch. Then she will hold the fry in her mouth until she feels safe to release them into the tank. She should be removed as soon as she has the bulge in her mouth and put in a seperate tank by herself to release the fry. You may have a situation like mine. I noticed the female was holding so I setup the [acronym:a356ef30c3="quarantine or quart depending on context"]QT[/acronym:a356ef30c3]. I put her in the [acronym:a356ef30c3="quarantine or quart depending on context"]QT[/acronym:a356ef30c3] in the evening and the next morning there were 29 fry swimming in the tank. I had another that released the fry in the transfer bag before she was even acclimated.

[FUBAR]

Sorry, haven't been on for awhile.

It looks like I have two male yellows, and two male cobalts. One female for each. The female cobalt is the dominant fish.

I'm only guessing they are males. The females I know for sure because they've both released fry.

Do male cobalts have darker stripes than the females? The female's stripes seem faded compaired to the other two.

One other question, if I were to setup java moss in the new tank... would they have their fry there? So that I could avoid setting up another tank just for fry? Or would that not provide enough cover?

[Fishyfanatic]

Which cobalt do you have? There are two different Cobalts. To distinguish, click on the links I provided in my previous post.

Cobalts are diggers, they may tare apart the plants, but they may not. Travis Simmonson(sp) has had great luck with plants and Africans. But they definately need a place to dig.

They may release their fry in the main tank. In all probability they will get eaten by the other fish.