Phils Community Tank @ Work

[SillyCichlid]

G'day all,

I have setup a 70L tank at work as you can see in the picture attached to this message. So far I have;

- 1 Frontosa

- 2 Electric Yellows (hidden in the castle)

- 2 Electric Blues (one hidden)

I am having the problem that they basically jut hide the whole day and they are getting fairly territorial. They have only been in the tank about 4 days, so I am guessing that this is not going to get any better.

I am thinking that having more fish in there will be wiser as then there is less chance they will be so territorial.

I am after advice on what to add or even take out. I have pleanty of tanks at home where these guys can go back to, so if you think I should remove any, please say so.

At the end of the day I want to have as many fish as possible and have a good range of colours to look at. So I am after recommendations from people as what to add to the tank to achieve this?

Generally I dont like mixing fish and I tend to keep them separated from each other, but this is a display tank and I dont have too much experience with this. I had these guys in a 2 footer at home for about 4 weeks together and was changing them unitl I got the best mix of personalities and all considering I dont think they are all that bad together, but I think there could be a better mix. So either I add more or take some out and add different fish.

All comments and advice is welcomed.

Thanks in advance for reading this and taking the time to reply.

[Burek]

Maybe they just like hiding because you created homes for them so they will use it.

maybe they are shy little fish?

and for the territoral part I think a 70l tank is too small for them.

How big are they?

[Beardie]

I think all those fish are probably too big to have in a 70L, especially with the castle taking up a fair amount of room. You could probably keep a trio of electric blues or yellows in a two foot tank which i think is around 90l (i think).

While Frontosa arent the fastest growers they do get 25cm+. I would try and get a bigger tank (the biggest you can get) and then decide which fish are compatible with eachother and that wont grow too big. What are the size of the fish?

[SillyCichlid]

Hi there, thanks for the replies.

OK...

All the fish are currently Juvenile;

Frontosa - 8cm

Yellows - 6cm

Blues - 6-8cm

This is not going to be their permanent home, so for instance, when the Fronny gets bigger he will come home to the big tank.

I guess the whole idea is to have some nice Cichlids at work to add some colour to my surroundings.

What would be some recommendations you would make as an alternative?

Cheers,

Phil.

[jaz1986]

if you put more fish in to the tank until they get bigger... you can get them to be more active... i found that crimson spotted rainbowfish work well in my tanks... if they are still to small to eat mollies... you could put some of them in there to get them out in the open and provide babies as live food

Good Luck

Jared

[Sarah]

Hi Phil

what about some shell dwellers that tank would be ideal for them but i would take out the castle for a more natural look, and add some shells, just an idea , if you should go for the Neolamprologus ocelatus they have lots of personality and will keep you entertained at work

cheers

[Mbuna]

turn it into a nano reef they look so good in those bow front tanks. anyways back to cichlids im with sarah, go for some shellies or maybe turn it into a planted tank with some dwarf south american cichlids