kingkinn

I have 2 convict and 2 african cichlids in a 55 gal tank, they are doing extremely well together, although it'll be a month or 2 before i add any fish to the tank i was wondering if i could get suggestions on other fish i could consider when i do add......are there any inverts that cichlids won't eat?

Shawnie

are your cons a m/f pair? that makes all the difference in any more stocking or what you can stock

Amanda

Cichlids do best with other cichlids, especially when it comes to africans. There are some catfish that do okay, but as Shawnie mentioned - of it's a m/f pair of convicts - they'll need a tank to themselves.

kingkinn

how do i tell if they are m/f?

Amanda

Females have a red tint to their bellies.

Markm0723

Hi Meatloaf,
What kind of Africans do you have? That could make a BIG difference.

Mark

kingkinn

Electric Yellow, and then a Purplish blue one.....

Shawnie

do you know the sex of your convicts?

deathtroll

does the purplish blue one have yellow fins or white fins if either of these it's an acei
your convicts should not be kept with these they have different water requirements and you africans need different foods if I'm not mistaken

Shawnie

cons are actually pretty adaptable... and can hold their own ...but, i worry about the others if they are a pair (the cons)

kingkinn

well i've had the cichlids together since march 28th or so.....and all 4 are doing good, i keep the water temp right around 80 degrees, and everything else is fine also, they get a long good and i feed them mysis shrimp and cichlid pellets and flake food, and about once a week i get them some feeder fish lol......overall they are doing better than what i thought they would.

Amanda

Watch with feeders - they're usually disease ridden from poor conditions. That could present problems to your fish. They also have minimal nutritional value.

kingkinn

thanks

gnomemagi

If you ever go larger than a 55 gallon, Clown Loaches are awesome little guys. I have two juveniles ( ~ 2") in a 55 with a Dempsey (4.5") and a Blue Acara (3.5"). My South Americans don't care a bit about the Loaches.

They're moving into a 100 gallon next month.

kingkinn

i went to the pet store the other day just to have a gander and saw the exact fish that my ol lady bought me and i'm pretty sure that the africans are borleyi cichlids, do they go good with convicts? i have had no problems yet....although i did put 2 crayfish in with them and they ate the smaller one....lol don't know if the bigger crayfish had something to do with this or not lol....

Shawnie

convits can hold their own..but again if they are a breeding pair, they will kill your borleyi cichlids

Angela_96

Feeding malawis meaty food is a big big no-no. (the mbuna anyways which is what labs, acei, etc is) They are herbivores for the most part and can get malawi bloat (dropsy) very easy from a high protien diet. I would suggest getting them away from the convicts that require different feeding and feed them veggie based foods, fresh veggies, and maybe a once a month treat of meaty food.