60 gal build

[New]

okay, yes ive seen those, and they are compatible?

 

[Cecil2010]

Yes they are compatible with the labs and the acei. The black ones are male just so you know

 

[New]

oh wow, its that easy to tell? what are the odds of them breeding?

 

[Cecil2010]

Well with the auratus it all depends if you get a pair that decide to match up (which is another reason to stick with the 1 male to 3-4 female ratio). But labs are harder because there is no visual differences between male and females really just luck until they get big enough to vent.

 

[New]

can silver dollars coexist with electric labs, acei, and auratus cichlids?

 

[Pton46]

Yes they are compatible with the labs and the acei. The black ones are male just so you know

Ah I would not mix them with Labs and Acei's

They are very aggressive to non members of the species Labs and Acei are too mellow.....I had to rehome mine...

"Auratus is one of the more popular Africans, which is not necessarily a good thing since department stores routinely stock this pretty little devil along side community tank fish like Angels and Gouramis. Considering that Auratus might pound for pound be the toughest African on the block, un-knowing beginners will suddenly find their community tank decimated by their new aquarium member that is often not much larger than a jumbo neon when purchased. I've found Auratus easy to keep, but not an enjoyable fish. They tend to be either racing up and down the side of the tank oblivious to their surroundings, or terrorizing other fish. The males become much more aggresive when their color begins to change from the beautiful yellow and often spend quite a bit of time at a drab brown rather than blue. A friend of mine kept a 10 cm female in a small, 20 liter tank after she did considerable damage to a 200 liter tank full of much larger American Cichlids. The guy was a little wierd because he'd show off the ferocious behaviour of his 10 cm Auratus by feeding her 13 cm Goldfish and an occasional piranha. This fish requires a BIG tank, with lots of swimming room and the typical assortment of dense rocks, so they can launch guerilla attacks on other African Cichlids. "


Swap the auratus for a Red Zebra....and go with something like Tiger Barbs you can have a shoal like 6+ they are semi agressive and can handle Labs, Acei's and Zebra's.

Silver Dollars probably not a great choice...kind of Skittish..

 

[Pton46]

Petsmart depending on where you live has improved there stock, mine has Bolivians, GBR's, Red Zebra's..IMO get to know the mgr of the Fish dept there and find out what they are planning...apparently they are getting more selections in there stores

 

[Cecil2010]

Ah I would not mix them with Labs and Acei's

They are very aggressive to non members of the species Labs and Acei are too mellow.....I had to rehome mine...

"Auratus is one of the more popular Africans, which is not necessarily a good thing since department stores routinely stock this pretty little devil along side community tank fish like Angels and Gouramis. Considering that Auratus might pound for pound be the toughest African on the block, un-knowing beginners will suddenly find their community tank decimated by their new aquarium member that is often not much larger than a jumbo neon when purchased. I've found Auratus easy to keep, but not an enjoyable fish. They tend to be either racing up and down the side of the tank oblivious to their surroundings, or terrorizing other fish. The males become much more aggresive when their color begins to change from the beautiful yellow and often spend quite a bit of time at a drab brown rather than blue. A friend of mine kept a 10 cm female in a small, 20 liter tank after she did considerable damage to a 200 liter tank full of much larger American Cichlids. The guy was a little wierd because he'd show off the ferocious behaviour of his 10 cm Auratus by feeding her 13 cm Goldfish and an occasional piranha. This fish requires a BIG tank, with lots of swimming room and the typical assortment of dense rocks, so they can launch guerilla attacks on other African Cichlids. "

Swap the auratus for a Red Zebra....and go with something like Tiger Barbs you can have a shoal like 6+ they are semi agressive and can handle Labs, Acei's and Zebra's

Wow I can honestly say that I've never heard this. Great info and I will keep this in mind. I would have never imagined though. I have two of them in my community tank and they don't mess with anyone.

 

[New]

so would red hook silver dollars be okay?

 

[New]

60 gallons, 4ft long X 1ft front to back X 2ft tall

 

[Cecil2010]

so would red hook silver dollars be okay?

I would not recommend it, silver dollars are very calm community fish.

 

[New]

true, but arent they faster than the cichlids?

 

[Pton46]

Wow I can honestly say that I've never heard this. Great info and I will keep this in mind. I would have never imagined though. I have two of them in my community tank and they don't mess with anyone.

You are lucky...are they Juveniles? if so get another Tank ready.....

One Day out of the blue ,Mine shredded a Chinese Algae Eater, and attacked my Labs squared off on a Dragon Blood Peacock 3x its size and it was with Africans!

I put it in my South American Cichlid Tanks until I figured it out....went after the Convict and a Oscar which if it really wanted to could have swallowed it.

It got to the point I "hated" that fish....I know it is just doing its thing but I was like man time to go. I took It and its partner in crime a Jewel and got credit for a Frontosa.

 

[New]

will yellow labs, acei, kenyi and possibly blue hap cichlids work? (so auratus and bumblebee cichlids are out?)

 

[Cecil2010]

You are lucky...are they Juveniles? if so get another Tank ready.....

One Day out of the blue ,Mine shredded a Chinese Algae Eater, and attacked my Labs squared off on a Dragon Blood Peacock 3x its size and it was with Africans!

I put it in my South American Cichlid Tanks until I figured it out....went after the Convict and a Oscar which if it really wanted to could have swallowed it.

It got to the point I "hated" that fish....I know it is just doing its thing but I was like man time to go. I took It and its partner in crime a Jewel and got credit for a Frontosa.

one of mine is a fully mature female and the other is a maturing male and they are just a little more aggressive than my labs which are half of their size at the moment and don't go near the alpha of the tank which is a bumble bee.

but thats crazy what happened with yours! I would have never imagined.

true, but arent they faster than the cichlids?

They might be faster but you would not believe the stamina that cichlids have, they are very hyper fish

will yellow labs, acei, kenyi and possibly blue hap cichlids work? (so auratus and bumblebee cichlids are out?)

i would go with red zebras, socolofi, maybe a cobolt zebra, or something along that line.

and i have a 4" bumblebee with 4 2" labs and he don't mess with one of them. as long as you have a good number of hiding places then you don't really need to worry about a slightly more aggressively labeled fish.

 

[New]

yeah, i made a lot of little hiding places and caves. The 2 kinds i know for sure are the Yellow labs and acei. The question is bumblebees, auratus, blue haps, and/or kenyi

 

[Cecil2010]

yeah, i made a lot of little hiding places and caves. The 2 kinds i know for sure are the Yellow labs and acei. The question is bumblebees, auratus, blue haps, and/or kenyi

the kenyi is more aggressive than the other two so i would leave them out for now. but with the auratus and bumblebees its really trial and error, get a few of both and if you start to see aggression issues than see about taking them back. im not sure how petsmart feels about returning aggressive fish but my lfs takes them without question and gives me store credit.

is your tank up and running yet?

EDIT: the blue haps would also work with hiding spaces, IMO they fall in the same aggression as bumblebees.

 

[Pton46]

i would go with red zebras, socolofi, maybe a cobolt zebra, or something along that line.

and i have a 4" bumblebee with 4 2" labs and he don't mess with one of them. as long as you have a good number of hiding places then you don't really need to worry about a slightly more aggressively labeled fish.

+1

All good Advice...

 

[New]

its up, just needs fish (still trying to figure that out)

 

[Cecil2010]

its up, just needs fish (still trying to figure that out)

has your tank properly cycled?

do you have all for your rockwork done?

What kind of substrate did you go with?

Any pictures?