Cichlid in 6 gallon tank

I had to put my 4 inch yellow lab in a 6 gallon tank, by itself, to keep peace in its original tank.

How long will it be ok in the 6 gallon?...Could it last there long term?..it seems to be doing fine for a week now. I am having some difficulties finding another home for it.

Thanks.

[spence0416]

The tank is kind of small for him, but he should be fine as long as you don't add any more fish. My guess is that he won't get any bigger than 5 inches so he could stay in that tank.

[QTOFFER]

Is the yellow lab the aggressor? If so, try rearranging the rocks and ornaments in the main tank, wait a few days, and reintroduce the lab. [acronym:23644cb0fb="In my opinion"]IMO[/acronym:23644cb0fb], a six [acronym:23644cb0fb="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:23644cb0fb] is too small for any cichlid long term, but a few days in time-out won't do any permanent harm - just be sure to do very frequent water changes.

The time-out can really work? Yes, he was the aggressor. I guess I could put him back in the original tank and see what happens. I had tried rearranging the rocks, etc., in the original tank with him in it, but it didn't change his aggressiveness. Even the original is on the small side, I suppose, for cichlids.

[severum mama]

What size is the original and what other fish are in there? Like QTOFFER said, that tank will be too small for a long term home. If reintroducing the lab doesn't work, maybe your [acronym:0132556eb4="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:0132556eb4] will take it off your hands. I've had to do that before, when I knew the situation wasn't going to improve with time.

[greenmaji]

how compatable are the other fish? any guppies...lol just kidding but you didnt say what the other fish were they might not be able to get along period.. if there not compatable..

[TankGirl]

I too would like to know more about this setup and what the tankmates are - if you have more yellow labs, what are their gender, etc. This will shed some light on why this normally mildly agressive (for Africans, anyway) cichlid would be such a bully.

I agree the 6 [acronym:136617486e="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:136617486e] is only good for a very temporary home - a 10gal would be better for temporary digs, and it would be a good low-cost investment as a quarrantine/hospital tank for your Africans.

[afilter]

I have successfully kept a Red Zebra in a 5.5g and now a 10g for over 3 years. Waer quality would be key. If you can reintroduce of find a larger home it would probably be beter. My 10g is an office aquarium and my Zebra started out as fry from my home aquarium and was never moved home because I switched to [acronym:f7db883f86="Saltwater"]SW[/acronym:f7db883f86].

Good luck,

The original tank is 30 gallon, with a red jewel and a pleco. Over the years, there were others, but it seemed that the lab and/or the jewel attacked them. Then eventually the lab became aggressive to the jewel and anything else other than the pleco. I had tried a couple of others but they didn't last...a venustus, a juli, a blue peacock.

[TankGirl]

If you have any idea about the gender of the lab, I'd try for a trio, or one male to 4 females even. Even if you get 3 labs of uncertain gender I think it will go a long way to create a peaceful situation in that tank.