The Green Texas are gone!

[rjcatlin]

A couple of weeks ago I took back the Green Texas where I got them. We had went in to get some tank mates for them, but they all looked pretty much like the Green Texas, too plain. They told us we could bring them back, so we did. We have now moved up to African Cichlids, they are much more friendly with each other not to mention they won't get near as big. So we can put more of them in the tank. They told us we could put 20 or 25 of them in our 60 g tank.

 

[gil]

Lot of African cichlids are "not" friendly to each other, it all depends on which African cichlids you get. One reason people over stock their tanks is to spread the aggression. Im not sure if you are new to African cichlids but if you are, there is lots of good reading on the net and Im sure many on this forum will help you out with specific questions.
Any idea which African cichlids you are interested in?

 

[rjcatlin]

Right now we have 2 blue Johanni and 3 of what the aquarium store called small Africans. 2 of them are orange and the other is albino. The are only an inch or two long.

 

[gil]

20 to 25 fish might be ok when they are small, I dont know, that sounds a bit too crowded for a 60 gallon, one problem I see is the 2 Johanni, I as well started with two of those along with 5 yellow labs, an albino, a couple of peaceful Acei, an orange one as well....anyway at the moment I have 12 carefully selected mbuna in a 55 gallon, they are all around 3 inches now but I had to remove a few that were just way too aggressive, one Johanni and a couple of Kenyi were removed within a day as they were on a mission to destroy my tank. As they sexually mature they will become more aggressive, I can see now I might have to remove one male yellow lab and keep 3 females as the males go head to head sometimes.
I say...experiment, read lots of articles on the net and see how it goes, worst case you might have to remove a fish or two to keep the peace inside the tank, it takes time for these fish to grow so its all a slow process.

 

[mattrox]

An African tank will have a tank boss. If you keep taking out the tanks boss, you will upset the pecking order and potentially get more aggression.

I'd say stock your tank with groups of about 6 of each species. This gives you about 4 to 5 species to choose from. Let it settle in, make sure you have plenty of rock work.

I recently had a conversation to a person who has been diving in Lake Malawi. His observation is that mbuna live in very crowded conditions and need the crowding to feel safe. I have around 15 fish in my 60 gal and his immediate comment was that it was "half-stocked"

 

[rjcatlin]

That is pretty much what the owner (David) of the aquarium store told me. He said they love to be crowded together. I was just going to get a few to start because I couldn't afford all I wanted at once.

We also want to get a couple of parrots to put in there also. David said that it shouldn't be a problem because the parrots can adapt to pretty much any condition. We had a couple before, but sadly they died.

 

[gil]

Wow! 15 fish is half stocked!? I do agree there is a "tank boss" mine is a Johanni, chases a few of the guys once in a while and loves center stage, but not overly aggressive yet.

 

[mattrox]

It depends on the school of thought you belong to..... Lots will advise less than 30 in a 55 gal..... But I do know (especially practised in the UK) that high stocking levels work too..... they do their maintenence and have good filtration, but happy, healthy and active fish.

 

[rjcatlin]

I think I should be ok to have a lot of them because I do my maintenance, again. I had let the tank go and did nothing to it for a while, but recently I thought it would be good for me to get back into it again. I also have a good filter, Fluval 304.

 

[bolivianbaby]

I have two Malawi tanks myself, one is a 90g, the other is a 75g. The 75g has around 20 fish in it and the 90 has around 30 fish.

The biggest problem I've found (besides high nitrates) is making sure everyone gets food. I hate skinny fish, so I overfeed the tanks to make sure everyone gets a bite. These are also the only tanks I feed twice a day.

IME-good tankmates are red zebras, yellow labs, OB zebras, greshaki (surprisingly), socolofi, johanni (tank boss every time), and yellow-tailed acei.

If you're wanting to sell any fry, don't keep two of the same genus together since they can interbreed.

I hope this helps.

 

[gil]

What are the dimensions for a 60 gallon?

My 55 g is 4 ft wide x 1 ft deep

 

[mattrox]

I have 48"x16"WX20" deep

 

[sliderfish]

They don't have to be of the same genus to interbreed. A yellow lab can breed with an Orange zebra, for example. If you work to get a good male to female ratio (1m to 3 or 4f) you can probably have 3 or 4 different species in the tank. I have yellow labs, rustys and mainganos in my 55. I have a dominant male of each species but the dominant maingano is the tank boss, although the male rusty has made some strides to challenge him. There is aggression, but most is among the mainganos who are very difficult to sex and get a correct mix.

I would suggest getting fish that are different colors and body shapes to avoid interspecies aggression and hybrids. Lots of rock work which should be changed up frequently, especially when adding new fish. Overstocking is OK but know that it won't eliminate aggression and can be a problem (feeding correctly and eliminating waste for example). Don't be worried if you see the fish sparring, that is normal, but if you see constant aggression remove the lesser fish (usually an extra male) and replace him. Good luck...

 

[rjcatlin]

A 60 gallon tank is the same length and width as a 55 gallon. But it is 4 inches taller.

We probably are going to go with several different species, so we can have a good color mix. I'm not sure what species yet, but we are going fish shopping Friday.

 

[gil]

Thanks for the info on the tanks. Let us know what fish you get.

gil

 

[rjcatlin]

On our shopping trip we got two Kenyi (1 yellow, 1 blue), two yellow labs, two acei, and two parrots. And so far so good, the other fish were a little curious at first, but they seem to be getting along well.