J1mmy Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 Hi all,I am relatively new to Cichlids having only had one previous tank set up. I made the mistake of getting all the most colourful ones from the shop and wondered why they fought all the time... Yeah i bought all males...I am starting fresh after giving a friend what was left in my tank and i love the look of these two species. my main question is can they go together? or will they fight too much?http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/p_kingsizei.phphttp://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=758I have a 3x2x2 tank. Lots of rock crevices and hidy holes now. I was looking at putting 1-2 males of each type and 4-5 females of each type.any advice that you can give me will be greatly appreciated.ThanksJ1mmy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowie Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 how are you mate first off if you want a display tank all males is the way to go but the trick is to over stock it so that no one fish can be dominant or have a territorythe 2 species you like will be fine together but the more girls you add the more the aggression will be spread out and the less deaths you will incure pleanty of hiding places are a must for cichlids especially the girls as males can get a little bit frisky at timesme i'd go 2 males of each and 8 girlscheers rowie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yanke Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 hii have them together but it is in a 6ftu are better off have only 1 male of each and 3 female eaand lots of hidey holeand get them all at the same sizestart with 12 of ea that way u can pick out all the males and save the bestand u get at 2-4 females alsoand they all grow up togetherthats how i do it get the best looking male and keep all the femalesyanke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi sand diver Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 If I were to keep 2 in a 3x2x2, I would aim to get 2 species which appeared the most different to each other. e.g. the dominant male interruptus and the dominant male pulpican will fight and one will be coloured all the time and the other not. e.g. you may have a scenario with 5 grey coloured pulpicans and all the interruptus showing colour if the interruptus male is dominant. Whereas if you went with 5 interruptus and 5 electric yellow, you would have 5 yellow fish, 4 orange fish and 1 dark blue fish (dominant interruptus male). Like the others say, rockwork will be important and it is good to stack it up quite high at the back of the tank to maximise the territories they can claim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowie Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 i don't think 1 male and 3 girls is enough personallyi keep 47 red cap lethrinops in a 4x2x2which used to house 22 electric yellows 3 m 19 f18 afra cobue 4m 14fand 16 maingano 2m 14fand i had no troubles with aggression as i stated in my first post the more fish you have in the tank the more the aggression will be spread out and if you have only few girls they get hassled more by the males and can end up dying of stress for this reason i make sure i have atleast 8 girls in all my colonies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankenstrat Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 i agree with the overstocking idea..i have a 4x2x2 with about 45 males in it of all different species....there is a little bit of fin nipping but no fish is dominant..you need good flitration if you are going to heavily stock a tank though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J1mmy Posted September 27, 2012 Author Share Posted September 27, 2012 Thanks everyone so what i have gathered if my mind is made up on these two species that i need lots of hiding places and a lot more females then males.If i were to buy 10 of each as juveniles and then keep the best 2 males of each type and sell the others. do you think that 4 males will be too much? if everything went perfectly i would have 2 males to 8 females.I had not even thought about the possibility of a full male tank.My filter is strong enough for an extra 60L of water should be ok to overstock?I am off to search for rocks.By the way what temp do you guys run your tanks at? i know it says 24-28 but is there a best temp? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankenstrat Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 mine are all at 24-25C Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielsplakat Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 agree with rowie and frankenstrat, overstock it! if your filter isnt strong enough you might have to do a 20-30% water change a week. but then again that also depends on how much you feed the little dudes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J1mmy Posted September 27, 2012 Author Share Posted September 27, 2012 i think i will definitely overstock it. my filter should be fine but i will monitor the ph and the cleanliness and if need be a water change a week isnt bad.One more question can i have too many rocks? is there a ratio to follow rocks and holes to open water?Also what is the best way to try and get the fish used to people, so that they arent skittish when you go near the tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damoq Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 Don't forget the more rocks you have the less water volume you will have in the tank so therefore the more fish you add the easier its going to be for changes to your water conditions (high nitrates/ammonia etc).Just something to keep in mind!Cheers,Damo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowie Posted September 27, 2012 Share Posted September 27, 2012 depends on why they are skittish i had alot of trouble with a tank in 1 of my spare rooms due to people coming in and out but the problem was they could see you coming through the side once the back and sides were painted they calmed down alot and didn't bolt to the far end of the tank every time i walked in due to only being visible from front on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J1mmy Posted October 2, 2012 Author Share Posted October 2, 2012 I picked up my new fish yesterday They are all doing well. They are pretty small and looking to grow them up a bit quickly.Can anyone recommend a good growth food? or even a treat for them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J1mmy Posted October 2, 2012 Author Share Posted October 2, 2012 forgot to ask how many times a day i can feed them?thanks for the help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Link2Hell Posted October 3, 2012 Share Posted October 3, 2012 Hi J1mmywhat are they and what sizefeeding is usually dictated by when you are there to feed themand type plus size of fishmost will feed twice or three times a dayyou could feed more but only enough for them to eat over about 5 minutesincreased feeding requies extra water changes and good filtration but youwill get better growth rateswhat to feed ........... don't get out of control with brand loyalty people NLS, Hikari, Sera, New Era, HBH are some of the better commercial foodsthere are alsopar boiled/microwaved vegieslive foods like brine shrimp, daphnia, blackworms, grindal wormsand home made food mixes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J1mmy Posted October 3, 2012 Author Share Posted October 3, 2012 They are kingsizei pulpican and interruptus. I linked the full names at the start of the thread.They range in size from 2-3 cms. Colour starting to show on the males of both species. I think that my filter is up to the task. Though I'm not certain on how often or how much water to change?Feeding a high protein hikari food at the moment 46%. And I have shrimp though not sure how often to feed them this? How often would you suggest? I feed them small amounts about three times a day currently. Eg enough to be eaten within 30 secs. Is this enough or too much? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowie Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 aslong as they are eating it all it's fine you just don't want food sitting in your tank rottingi feed my fish shrimp 1 or 2 times a week depending on if i can be bothered catching themas for water changes around 20-30% every week or 2 will be finehope you enjoy your fishcheers rowie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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