African question

[Pckerfreak44]

I'm curious. How come you can keep so many Africans in a 55 gal but you can't keep like any in a 30 gal? Even by themselves.

 

[Mrc8858]

Because with out the swimming room they become stressed and aggressive. Would you rather sit in the closet or the living room? Lol

 

[Pckerfreak44]

I'd rather sit in a closet by myself then in a living room with 20 other overly aggressive people haha

 

[Mrc8858]

Well they're all aggressive lol when you have so many though one fish (usually) won't keep getting picked on the nipping will be spread out among everybody

 

[Pckerfreak44]

I see. So I have a 30 gal long tank with SA cichlids. If I got rid of all my fish except cories Pleco and ghost shrimp. I wouldn't be able to get 1 descent sized African. Like maybe a lab or a convict? And just have that one fish in there

 

[isiah1820]

I'm curious. How come you can keep so many Africans in a 55 gal but you can't keep like any in a 30 gal? Even by themselves.

Good question because I have a 30g with about 10 Africans mix for about 2 months and I do see signs of aggression but it never last I also think they all kno who's who and who's boss and I am def upgrading to a 55 soon because I kno they'll grow out if my 30

 

[Mrc8858]

If you do a species only tank of labs you could get away with it. I have a group in a 46 but you won't be able to do any of the more aggressive malawis. The shrimp won't last either and depending on the pleco you may need to rehome due to adult size.

 

[Mrc8858]

The cories I am not sure about either. I wouldn't think they would work but I don't know much about them first hand

 

[Pckerfreak44]

I'm not planning on changing to Africans I was just curious. And how many labs do you think could fit? Or wait, what about 1 big fish? Like a parrot?

 

[Mrc8858]

No I woupdnt go with any large cichlids in a 30.. a 40b is a possibility but 75s are usually your best choice when dealing with large cichlids. The labs I would say are ok with a 3' footprint (species only though with correct ratio m/f) this is against common Malawi keeping rules but is doable. If you want the full effect and appeal to a Malawi tank a 75 is a minimum imo

 

[Pckerfreak44]

Hmm I see. Alright thanks for the help.

 

[Mrc8858]

No problem

 

[Andrew McFadden]

By the way cories won't work Ben there done that lol. Plus if one trys to swallow one whole it can get stuck in its mouth because of those barbs or whatever they are called. But great advice above