Help with tankmates

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doberman15

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Mar 1, 2011
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45
Location
Vermont
I have a bit of a problem in my tank. I had a happy thriving tank that was well populated. I had a couple of different Cichlids and Pleco. Everyone was happy, there was a lot of energy and color. I was thrilled.

I had this pretty little blue cichlid that I bought from a mixed breed tank. I bought it because I liked the color, only to learn that it was a Kenyi and they had quite the temperament. Needless to say in the past six months he's killed every single other Cichlid, bigger or smaller than he. He has his own cave that he rarely leaves except for feeding time, or to bully a new tank addition. I've tried different kinds of fish. Smaller quicker ones are too fragile, and other Cichlids just get maul. At this point I only have a Chinese Algae Eater in the tank with the Kenyi and it seems to be going well. I'd like at least one more fish in my tank. I feel like stocking-wise I could probably fit two more... but I'd rather give them more space if possible.

My latest attempt was a Green Terror Cichlid. I figured with the name like Terror... it might be able to stand up to the Kenyi and hold it's own.

I turned the lights out in the tank and left it dark. I checked the next day and the terror had half it's tail pulled off and its left fin pulled off. The Kenyi seemed to be leaving it alone, so I assumed maybe it found a safe hiding spot. Later that night I came back and the entire tail was missing, so you could see the white flesh, and half of the fins were missing while it was laying on the sand still alive struggling for dear life.

Now heres the question. 29 Gallon tank with a Kenyi and Chinese Algae Eater. The Algae eater minds his own and sticks to the corners of the glass. What can I add to the tank to give my tank more life without over populating and without it being wrecked by the Kenyi. Any tips are appreciate.:thanks:
 
Re-home it. Some "kids" are beyond rehabilitation. And I the to say it, but a 29 is really to small for cichlids unless you went with some of the dwarf species.
 
Could someone help me identify my assorted African cichlids?

The first three (yellow, light blue, and dark/light blue stripped) get along fine.

The orange one I just added and he had been bullied into shock! Had to isolate him because he was floating upside down in a corner he was so stressed.

The one vertical stays like that most the time. He is dark blue with orange fins. I don't think he likes the other three, but he does ok.
 

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Could someone help me identify my assorted African cichlids?

The first three (yellow, light blue, and dark/light blue stripped) get along fine.

The orange one I just added and he had been bullied into shock! Had to isolate him because he was floating upside down in a corner he was so stressed.

The one vertical stays like that most the time. He is dark blue with orange fins. I don't think he likes the other three, but he does ok.

Make a thread of your own, dont hijack other peoples threads.
 
I have a bit of a problem in my tank. I had a happy thriving tank that was well populated. I had a couple of different Cichlids and Pleco. Everyone was happy, there was a lot of energy and color. I was thrilled.

I had this pretty little blue cichlid that I bought from a mixed breed tank. I bought it because I liked the color, only to learn that it was a Kenyi and they had quite the temperament. Needless to say in the past six months he's killed every single other Cichlid, bigger or smaller than he. He has his own cave that he rarely leaves except for feeding time, or to bully a new tank addition. I've tried different kinds of fish. Smaller quicker ones are too fragile, and other Cichlids just get maul. At this point I only have a Chinese Algae Eater in the tank with the Kenyi and it seems to be going well. I'd like at least one more fish in my tank. I feel like stocking-wise I could probably fit two more... but I'd rather give them more space if possible.

My latest attempt was a Green Terror Cichlid. I figured with the name like Terror... it might be able to stand up to the Kenyi and hold it's own.

I turned the lights out in the tank and left it dark. I checked the next day and the terror had half it's tail pulled off and its left fin pulled off. The Kenyi seemed to be leaving it alone, so I assumed maybe it found a safe hiding spot. Later that night I came back and the entire tail was missing, so you could see the white flesh, and half of the fins were missing while it was laying on the sand still alive struggling for dear life.

Now heres the question. 29 Gallon tank with a Kenyi and Chinese Algae Eater. The Algae eater minds his own and sticks to the corners of the glass. What can I add to the tank to give my tank more life without over populating and without it being wrecked by the Kenyi. Any tips are appreciate.:thanks:

Green Terrors are very passive when young. I have one with my Jack Dempsey and the JD chases him a lot. The GT did lip lock with him once and came off worst but shows no aggression at all now. I am expected this to change once the GT matures.
 
Green Terrors are very passive when young. I have one with my Jack Dempsey and the JD chases him a lot. The GT did lip lock with him once and came off worst but shows no aggression at all now. I am expected this to change once the GT matures.

So if I bought an older Green Terror, you think I may have less trouble holding his own with the Kenyi? I dont typically buy adult fish because I want to get all of the life out of them. Seems like you pay more for an older one and you lost a year or two of their age already!
 
So if I bought an older Green Terror, you think I may have less trouble holding his own with the Kenyi? I dont typically buy adult fish because I want to get all of the life out of them. Seems like you pay more for an older one and you lost a year or two of their age already!

You have a 29 gallon tank. You shouldn't be keeping any of the fish you're talking about in a tank that small.
 
You have a 29 gallon tank. You shouldn't be keeping any of the fish you're talking about in a tank that small.

Well when I bought them they were teeny, and everyone was happy. They were in an assorted Dwarf tank. This one Kenyi blew up bigger than all of the others. I dont live in a large fishtank community. The last time I tried to give away a Rainbow Shark for free it took two months of Craigslist posting to even get my first response. My options are to take the fish out and step on it... or make lemonade out of lemons.

No reason to kill it, but considering I've got a few hundred dollars into the tank and stand, I'd like for it to be the focal point in my living room like it was a year ago.
 
Your tank is way to small! The tank is too small for a Chinese Algae Eater and to small for cichlids. If you look up the Kenyi they recommend a minimum of 50 gallons because they are such a territorial fish. The bigger the tank is, the more space there is for other fish to have their own territory. Also if you are going to try to add fish to the tank you should add fish from the Maylandia genus or at the least Lake Malawi cichlids and not south american. I would look at upgrading the tank size though before I added anything else to it. Just so you know the chinese algae eater could get up to a foot long!
 
I'd suggest some dwarf species(south american) for your size of tank..agree that if your set on keeping African Cichlids you'll be needing a min of a 55g tank,either provide tons of caves or none at all with a stocking list approaching 12-13 tot.. try to stay with aspecies which reach their adult size of 4" or smaller...for example:bumble bees get upwards of 6"+ so not a good pic..
 
Also aggresion most oftenly comes into play over territorial disputes...so providing tons of caves or none at all tends to curb aggression...aggression can also be determined by the individual fish themselves...we've all got a start somewhere in the hobby,main thing to keep in mind is research tons,ask for advice from knowledgable folks&understand that the inevitable mistake can/will happen...for example: while at petsmart yesterday I decided to test the knowledge of the person in fish...noticed mts(malaysian trumpet snails) scattered throughout numerous tank asking the salesperson what they were&got a response of nuisance snails...&that they should be taken out of any aquarium...so couldn't resist explaining that in fact they are beneficial to aquariums as they clean up uneaten food as well as deteriorating plant matter(in planted tanks of course)...in point do your own research before entering such places armed with your own knowledge of what your looking for...this isn't always the case with sales reps but if you're not careful you can be mislead very easily..
 
One other thing to note,mts also aerate the substrate helping to reduce anaerobic pockets in the substrate as well as helping to oxyginate roots for plants in planted tanks...
 
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