GRK-351 Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Hey guys, just curious as to the benefits of having a breeding colony vs a breeding pair of malawi african cichlids in general? Im not looking at commercially breeding fish, but just to have some breeding cichlids in my tank. The tank is a dual tank setup with a 6x1.5x2 up top and a 4x1x1.5 underneath so there is plenty of space. At the moment I have a few venustus, red zebra, electric yellows, mainganos, pseudotropheus elongatus and common bn. In the future I'm looking to add some cynotilapia afra cobue, red empress, electric blues, red fin kadango, crimson tide, demasoni, regani and I was wondering if I should look for colonies or pairs? Thanks, Mat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foti Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Hey Mat most people from here will advise you that if you decide to start breeding fish you should keep them separted or atleast with a species that wont cross which gets hard as iv heard stories of fish crossing that i would of never guessed! but all n all the reson why most people keep colonies is because a 1 m 1 f ratio the male will harase the female even to death so most males a best kept with 3 female take the strain off the females! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcloughlin2 Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Foti pretty much summed it up. In a mixed tank like yours there is a very high likelyhood of fish cross breeding which results in fish that need to be culled. People usually maintain colonies for breeding for two reasons; - A male will harrass a female constantly with most species. - A pair will not yield enough offspring for a viable breeding operation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiclidgrl90 Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Hey guys, just curious as to the benefits of having a breeding colony vs a breeding pair of malawi african cichlids in general? Im not looking at commercially breeding fish, but just to have some breeding cichlids in my tank. The tank is a dual tank setup with a 6x1.5x2 up top and a 4x1x1.5 underneath so there is plenty of space. At the moment I have a few venustus, red zebra, electric yellows, mainganos, pseudotropheus elongatus and common bn. In the future I'm looking to add some cynotilapia afra cobue, red empress, electric blues, red fin kadango, crimson tide, demasoni, regani and I was wondering if I should look for colonies or pairs? Thanks, Mat With that set up you will probably find under the right conditions the electric yellows will breed, however the rest you will need to have a way bigger tank, or to seperate them into smaller tanks, Venutus like a big tank to breed in,thy will breed in a 4 foot, but a 6 foot will allow them space to grow and you could have a bigger colony and therefore have more fish, you will need a colony something like 2 males 4 females. I have breed venustus before, they breed fairly easy when undisturbed, They will breed with non agressive smaller fish in the tank like your bristel Noses , I would then set up your 4 foot as your display tank, I think a breeding tank of venustus looks pretty cool, Especially when the dominate males colours come out. Or vica versa having the 6 foot as the display tank, allowing more display fish, Have you seen the rare chichlids available now, Some really cool ones Having a 6 foot setup with a couple of these in there would be unreal, Then Looking at the 4 foot tank full of breeding venustus.!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcloughlin2 Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 I think you will find what you say almost reversed chiclidgrl90. In a 6ft tank with the current fish species I think you will find this; - Electric yellows won't breed, or very irregularly. - Red zebras will breed irregularly - Elongatus will breed fairly regularly - Maingano will breed regularly and be the dominant fish until the male venustus get bigger. - Venustus will become dominant fish and providing correct ratios will breed regularly. This is assuming you have adequete numbers of each fish species. I didn't add anymore information last night but I don't think you should add any more species. You don't have the room to raise the babies. Keep the current fish in the 6 fter and raise any babies in the bottom 4 fter. If you don't have numbers of each fish add enough to maintain a 1 Male : 2/3 Female Ratio. Ensure you have plenty of caves that are seperated from each other. Don't have just a single rock wall - have 6 seperate rock piles etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 I think you will find what you say almost reversed chiclidgrl90. I agree with you mcloughlin but would like to say I doubt any will breed sucessfully with that many species in that sized tank. With the addition of the other species that are mentioned breeding would be nearly impossible! Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRK-351 Posted February 22, 2011 Author Share Posted February 22, 2011 thanks for the great info guys. as i said im not really interested in breeding but if some of the fish end up breeding then its a bonus. i have quite a few smaller 1.5foot tanks that i have some fry in at the moment. i just need to start designing my aquascaping for the 6footer and finish of the dual stand so i can start getting some more fish as i only have the 4 footer running at the moment. thanks again for the info and ill keep you guys updated how it goes and get some pics up when i get both tanks running Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenzy Posted February 22, 2011 Share Posted February 22, 2011 thanks for the great info guys. as i said im not really interested in breeding but if some of the fish end up breeding then its a bonus. i have quite a few smaller 1.5foot tanks that i have some fry in at the moment. i just need to start designing my aquascaping for the 6footer and finish of the dual stand so i can start getting some more fish as i only have the 4 footer running at the moment. thanks again for the info and ill keep you guys updated how it goes and get some pics up when i get both tanks running Cool. What sort of fry are you growing out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRK-351 Posted February 22, 2011 Author Share Posted February 22, 2011 Got about 15 red zebras and a stack of convicts and guppies that inwant to ge rid of when the nicer cichlids start breeding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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