Looking for info. & differences between types of Cichlid

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jasno999

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Mar 4, 2004
Messages
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Location
King of Prussia, PA
I have 3 small Kenyi Cichlid (Pseudotropheus lombardoi). Two female and two male. I wanted to know soem mroe information on them. How aggressive are they torwards other fish, what do they like to eat and what is good for them? What is not good to feed to them? What makes their colors the most bright? How big do they get?

And also what is the difference between the Kenyi Cichlid (Pseudotropheus lombardoi) and the Pseudotropheus demasoni type?
 
Hi try the cichlid-forum site it is dedicated to cichlids. :) They have a fairly good gallery & database on many cichlids.

Direct link to Maylandia Lombardoi (It's name has changed again)

I have an adult male/female p.kenyi pair and they barely tolerate each other in a 5 foot 120 gallon tank. The Female is ok with my other cichlids and the male has "discussions" with them but most are larger than him.

One question if they are small how can you tell you have male/female?
The males don't turn yellow till they start to grow into adults, unless they have been forced by being treated with hormones. That usually only happens at places like petsmart & wallyworld, and is not so good for them.
 
Well he is nto a baby but he is only about 2.5 inches or so. Very yellow in color.

So far they all get along pretty well. I see them chase each other a little but for the most part they are cool. THey seem liek they play a little and that is all.
 
I love to buy juvie cichlids and then deal with the mess later :twisted: . Google the cichlids and read everything you can! I was just reading that males will start to change colours at 1½ to 2" and they also have an egg spot. They are from Lake Malawi and I believe they are Mbuna--rock dwellers. According to this site http://badmanstropicalfish.com/stats/stats_afcichlids1j.html , they can get up to 5". My guess is the males may get bigger, but you need to look around and find out! They are omnivorous--so they will need a variety of foods. Mine are fed cichlid sinking pellets and zucchini. Plus, they fight over the algae wafers I feed to the pleco!
I have a tank of various Pseudotropheus sp. The males can become quite aggressive. It is best to have a ton of caves and over stock the tank (do lots of research first). They will fight for territories and dominant males will and have fought to the death.
How large is the tank?
 
LOL, wafers don't make it to the bottom of my tank, I have a HAP.ahli that grabs them and carries them around until they are gone. I have to wait till the lights go out to drop in wafers.
 
My tank is only 29gal and that is my biggest problem right now.

That's not a problem--that's what my cichlids were in before the 80 gal (two plus years!). It will take your fish another year to reach full size. Continue researching your fish. You should look into buying a cichlid book that specializes in fish from the same area as your fish. You will want to decorate the tank to give lots of hiding places and territories. In the future, the aggressive nature of the Kenyi's will come out--then you will have problems :wink:
 
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