froggiegal

I just adopted 6 new cichlids! I am so excited. I got an additional Borelyi, 1 Electra and 4 yellow labs - 1 m / 3 f. I was so shocked to see how much the other cichlids have grown in the two weeks they've been in the tank.

I'm seeing the blue scolofi being a little territorial along with the larger jewel. Tomorrow, when I do my water change, I will move their housing around!

Can someone tell me why the fish swim up and down the sides of the tanks, almost in a frenzy? My Corys do the same thing.

I believe "Killer" was adopted by someone who came into my LFS. Hope he's okay. I will post pics over the weekend. I am glad I traded Killer as the new fish in the tank are truly beautiful. Please keep your fingers crossed that they will get along. Their profiles do not show them to be aggressive fish!

bonnielona

HI Bonnie, (love the name, that's mine as well!)

I post on Yahoo Answers as well to get information from other experienced aquariust. I had the same question and posted it. this is one of the answers I had recieved:"What they are doing is called "pacing" and is a symptom of them wanting to be somewhere else. It is particularly noticeable in fish that are new to a tank.

I have been told over the years that it is a sign of water quality not being in the range that is comfortable for them and they are trying to find another area of their world that is more hospitable to them.

Do regular (weekly) partial (25-35%) water changes and condition the fresh water properly and the pacing should stop."

i took his advise and tested the water, and sure enough my nitrates were high, i treated the water according to directions, did a 50% change the next day, then the day after the tank change, i tested again, and my nitrates were near perfect! So I hope this info helps you as it did for me. Good Luck.

Bonnielona

froggiegal

Hi Bonnie,

I agree, great name! Thanks for your input. The new fish I got had only been in my LFS around 4 days so I am sure that they really need to acclimate to my tank. I checked my water parameters and it was good on the ammonia and nitrate but my nitrites were .025. I did a 25% water change and vacuumed really well. I'll test it again tomorrow.

I'll have read up on the parrot cichlids as it appears they don't mind being with other fish.

My 50G has 8 Corys, 1 dwarf frog and 3 fantail guppies. I'm trying to get this tank to cycle and seems to be taken ages!

Thanks again for your input.

Allie

With keeping african cichlids happy you should have 1 male to 2-3 females for each species. I hope you can get enough of each and have a big enough tank for them. Red fin borleyi dominant males can get 8"-9".
The placidochromis electra/ Deep water hap is my favorite hap that I have ever had. They are pretty shy.
With Malawi cichlids a water change twice a week is usally needed...depending on how stocked your tank will be.

froggiegal

Hi Allie,

This is my second time around in stocking this 45G cichlid tank. The first time I bought whatever the LFS recommended. I soon found out that I had a melachromis Auratus (m) who killed everyone, thus we named him Killer. He lived by himself for a good 1 - 1/2 years b/c I knew I couldn't put anything in the tank!

As a result of Fishlore and finding a really good LFS, I traded Killer and now am stocking once again - but with a little more knowledge and the fact that my fellow sales person is a longtime Fishlore enthusiast. I have the 4 yellow labs with a 1/3 ratio. I'd like to breed those. I wanted milder cichlids so chose the socolofi and the lectra. Had a cynotilapia afra who started to become "killer 2" and he quickly went back to the LFS - but he managed to nip and stress my albino socolofi and he didn't make it.

The Jewels became territorial along with the socolofi and along with my water change this weekend I changed their environment. I have one male red fin / one female.

I've got to give it some thought about adding 2 add'l female red fins as I think my tank is at its maximum for stocking. I have a 12 inch Pleco along with 2 smaller plecos. If the labs produce frys, I'll have to keep that in mind.

What's your recommendation?

Allie

When the labs produce fry and they will...if you want hem to survive they would have to go into a grow out tank. I would have a 10g ready for a holding tank. If you want to produce fry, you'll need a 33g for growing them out. But if you don't the chance of survival... in that sized tank with Haps and bigger mbuna they don't have a hope in heck. Maybe a few survivors
I would only have 3-4 Malawi species that get 4-5" in there if you want more red fins they need a bigger tank.
http://cichlidforum.com/articles/c_borleyi.php

froggiegal

Thanks, Allie - I've got to read up on how old the labs have to be B4 they spawn. I think I may have 2 female borleyi as the coloration does not have any blue like the link above. But I will research that as well. I'm going to eyeball the tank before I make any more decisions about putting more fish in.

So much to learn.