Identification Help

[Pruzbarsky]

Hi everyone,

Im new here and was wondering if anyone could tell me what type of cichlids these are? there is one other that Im not sure about, but he is being shy and i cant get a good pic.
Thanks for your help!

Paul

 

[HUKIT]

Red zebra on the right and Auratus on the left.

What size tank? Other fish the tank? Most Auratus are terrors.

 

[Pruzbarsky]

It's a 45 gal tank. I have 5 fish in there right now. All assorted Africans. 1 cobalt blue, one electric yellow, the two above and the last one I'm not sure of. He has grey stripes on his body and some yellow color to his top fin. He is the one that I can't get a pic of. He is too fast and likes to hide inside the rocks.
How many fish do you think I can safely put in this size tank?

Thanks,
Paul

 

[HUKIT]

With the aggression levels of these fish a 48" tank is best housing 2-3 spieces with a male to female radio of 1-5. In my opinion that tank is to small to kee mbuna but there are some shellies or dwarf cichlids that may work. These fish require a certain amount of territory to help spread the aggresion out that a smaller tank won't provide.

It also states the tank is not cycled yet so I hope your performing daily water changes to help reduce the impact on those five fish. What are your current water parameters? There are some great articles in the "getting started" section to hep you throught the nitrogen cycle.

 

[Pruzbarsky]

Unfortunately I read the cycling info after I had the fish in there. I have been doing daily water changes and testing twice a day. so far there isn't much movement on the cycling of the tank, but it's only been up about a week. The ammonia is still very low between 0 and .25 ppm. Nitrite/nitrate are still both at 0. I'm staying on top of it and the fish are doing great at this time.

Thanks for the info and I welcome any other advice out there.

Thanks,

Paul

 

[HUKIT]

I'm glad your aware of the nitrogen cycle and sounds like your on top of it. Just be prepared and have a back up plan in case that auratus goes crazy! Good luck my africans are my favorites.

 

[mfdrookie516]

As stated, keep on top of your water parameters, doing PWC's as necessary. While a lot of people will say that auratus are a very aggressive fish, the two I have are definitely not. Some people suggest that raising fish together from juvies will lower their aggression as adults. I believe this to be true, as it seems to be the case in my tank. I have two adult male auratus that are far from being aggressive. My male kenyi rules the tank, and the auratus mind their own business. I guess they're one of those "YMMV" fish.