40b stock, overstocked?

[Mrscbennett]

I have 3 yellow labs, 2 mbamba, 1 acei, a white calvus, 1 albino bn pleco, a red empress and 2 other similar sized cichlids in a 40 breeder. They are all about 2 inches now. Am I maxed out?

 

[Andrew McFadden]

I have 3 yellow labs, 2 mbamba, 1 acei, a white calvus, 1 albino bn pleco, a red empress and 2 other similar sized cichlids in a 40 breeder. They are all about 2 inches now. Am I maxed out?

Imo you need to re home the red empress, calvus and the acei and add more of the yellow labs and mbamba. You can probably get away with another mild to peacefully cichlid that only gets about 3-4.5"

 

[Mrscbennett]

Are they all from the same lake? I'm thinking about rehoming the red empress because it still isn't showing any color. As for the calvus, why would you rehome him? He's my favorite!

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Are they all from the same lake? I'm thinking about rehoming the red empress because it still isn't showing any color. As for the calvus, why would you rehome him? He's my favorite!

The calvus isn't a Malawi cichlid. The red empress if its a female it won't color up. If its a male it won't color up till it gets 3.5-5 inches. The acei love to swim and many of us here will say they need to be in bigger tanks

 

[Mrscbennett]

Thank you!

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Thank you!

Anytime

 

[Mrscbennett]

I have a couple of 10 gal setups and another 40b setup. Some day I hope to have a tank dedicated to a breeding pair of calvus. How big of a tank do you think I need?

 

[Dean jones]

Why would you want to dedicate you life too JUST ONE MBUNA ???

 

[Andrew McFadden]

I have a couple of 10 gal setups and another 40b setup. Some day I hope to have a tank dedicated to a breeding pair of calvus. How big of a tank do you think I need?

If you can get a breeding pair the 40 breeder may work but I'm not sure as I've never kept those. As for the ten gallons none of them can go in it. Now you could use like one for a fry tank and as they grow move them to another as they are waiting to be sold. Here is a breeding link I found that may or may not help you out.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/altolamprologus.php

 

[Jess1ca]

Are they all from the same lake? I'm thinking about rehoming the red empress because it still isn't showing any color. As for the calvus, why would you rehome him? He's my favorite!

Calvus is Tanganyikan. Grow to 6 inches, require a carnivorous diet that your Mbuna can't handle and usually Tangs in a Mbuna setting get the short end of the stick. You will never have fry in your tank as long as you have something like a Calvus/Compressiceps as they are ambush predators and are known for snatching young fish out of small spaces. You can however own a Dimidiochromis Compressiceps, they are Malawi and grow to look very similar to Calvus, here is a pic of my female, males have some beautiful colors and you can even find albino ones.

EDIT: You can't keep any Comoressiceps in that size tank... Just noticed the size... But would be a cool addition if you ever decided to upgrade

 

[severum mama]

Hi Mrscbennett, and welcome to AA!
I will qualify my post by saying that the only direct experience I have with Calvus is from working at the lfs for a couple of years. That said, if you are wanting to keep a species tank, I don't see why a 30 gallon long, or possibly even a 29 gallon, wouldn't work for a pair. If I am wrong about this, please someone with experience correct me!

In the meantime, you might find these articles interesting.
Altolamprologus calvus (Calvus) — Seriously Fish
Keeping and Breeding Altolamprologus

Why would you want to dedicate you life too JUST ONE MBUNA ???

Just to clarify, Calvus are not Mbuna, but are Tanganyikans.

Tanganyikans are fascinating in terms of behavior- often not so much in terms of color, but they are just so interesting to keep! Also, many species can be a bit more challenging to keep and breed than Mbuna, so for the aquarist that likes a challenge, they can be a great choice.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Looks good to me on the 30 but I think the op was trying to separate them into tanks she already has. That's the only reason I said the 40 just to make the op aware, at less I read that wrong witch could have been.