MousePotato

Greetings, everyone, from southeast Texas!

I am relatively new to fish-keeping as I have never before (successfully) maintained an aquarium. I was once the unwitting contributor to the demise of two “kissing fish” when I was a teenager (why, oh, why do some pet store employees know nothing beyond dechlorinators when it comes to fish?), but that’s about it. I have been recently “roped-in” to this hobby and I was very happy to come across this site.

My story begins at work. Aquariums are very popular at my office and I had been tempted to get my own for some time. I am fortunate to have co-workers who know a bit about fish-keeping and, as it turned out, some extra fish! A few months ago I was informed by one co-worker that his wife had had quite enough of two particularly aggressive cichlids snacking on her more decorative display pieces and that they had to go one way or another. I have a reputation as a first-class softie and I guess I felt I had to defend it because before I knew it I had offered to set up a home for these hooligans. I was advised that a ten gallon aquarium would be sufficient, but I didn’t think that sounded right so I bought a twenty gallon starter kit.

We filled the bottom with gravel from a co-worker’s (I will use the abbreviation CW from now on) guppy tank, still wet with lots of yummy bacteria and another CW added water with more powders and chemicals than I knew existed. The next morning the tank looked like a fishy ghost town with long streamers of white stuff flowing freely from the gravel and all the decorations. Could one of you tell me what that white stuff was? No one had ever seen it before.

I guess it wasn’t toxic and my tank must have cycled quickly because by the end of the day CW2 borrowed a cup of guppies from CW1 and dumped them in my tank. They thrived and prospered, munching on the white stuff and even produced fry in a few weeks.

Then one morning CW2 arrived with a Tupperware container (let’s call it a holding cell) containing my two hooligans. I caught most of the guppies (two fry were just too fast for me) and moved them to other tanks before adding my cichlids.

The cichlids quickly set up shop with the larger one dominating a castle structure put there by CW2. Sadly, my two remaining guppy fry disappeared within hours. Now one cichlid guards the castle while the other stays near the filter.

I think I have correctly identified one cichlid as a Demasoni female, but I am not sure about the other. He is about three inches long and a silvery blue with faint stripes. His fins are dark and he has egg spots. I think he is native to nail salons as I have seen many in such places. Any ideas?

Anyway, I am concerned about the Demasoni as she seems quite stuck in the one corner. Today I bought a little cave structure and placed it opposite the castle so she’d have another hiding place. Do you have any advice on how to make her life more comfortable? I have read that a greater female to male ratio is better, but I know I have a small tank. Should I upgrade to a bigger tank? Should I upgrade to a bigger tank and add more fish for hooligan number 1 to pick on? Would it be safe to add more fish to the tank I have? As aggressive and territorial as they are I am afraid I don’t have enough space for the two of them as it is.

Sorry for the long “introduction” message, but I would appreciate your advice!

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COBettaCouple

welcome to fishlore! that white stuff could've been a type of algae. as far as the cichlids go, i've not had any cichlids so I only know some basic things about them and i think you may have a couple species that like a rocks/caves type environment. They could be the same species, but i don't know. i think it's more likely that they aren't with their behavior and perhaps are wary of each other since neither has like fish to swim with. We do have a lot of cichlid owners here, so i hope you'll get more advice from them, but the solution would seem to be either a big tank with small schools of each or 2 tanks with a school of 1 type. Best of luck with them.

MousePotato

Thank you, Dave and Stacy.

Whatever the "white stuff" was it was really quite beautiful. I wish I had taken pictures before the guppies ate it all.

Hopefully, someone who knows about cichlids will stop by soon. I think you may be on the money, though, with your suggestion of creating schools. I did not know they were schooling fish. Thanks!

COBettaCouple

You could post your fish pictures in the forum for fish ID'ing and you'll find plenty of help from members in determining their species, compatibility, etc.

Butterfly

Welcome to FishLore! We have people of all ages and experience levels from all over the world So jump on in the water's fine
Could you tell us what kind of powder and chemicals you put in your tank please?
I think you are probably right about the P. demasoni and I THINK the other is a P. elongatus .
Check this out and see what you think.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/article...us_gallery.php
Carol

MousePotato

Thank you, Butterfly. I'm not sure of all the stuff that was added to the tank. I brought the box to my office and CW2 basically nabbed it and set it up in a whirlwind! I know he added all the water conditioners that were in the starter kit. He also added some Stress Coat and bit of aquarium salt.

I was considering P. elogatus as a possibility for the larger fish. He also kind of looks like Cynotilapia afra "white top." All I know is the smaller one came from "the twenty dollar tank" and the larger one from the "ten dollar tank." I will try to get a better picture and post it in the Fish ID forum. I had a lot of trouble getting those pictures - they are quite camera-shy!

Butterfly

yep fish can be a bit camera shy sometimes. Sometimes only one or two out of twenty or thirty are really good so you did good with what you got
Carol

susitna-flower

Bonochick

Welcome! That's cool that you've got such a fish-friendly workplace.

sgould

Welcome!

Joy44

Welcome MousePotato! I have also just recently been given some cichlids. They are only four weeks old now and I don't really know much about them either. I do know that they are convicts and already bossy little SOBs. Welcome aboard and good luck in your adventures.

lolagurl

those chichlids are beautiful!!! why isnt anyone saying anything..good luck!

MousePotato

Thank you, everyone, for your welcoming words. I will move along to the cichlid forums for more advice on these particular little cuties. Thanks again.

Jim

they are beautiful... good luck

MousePotato

I am getting lonely in the cichlid forums, so I'm going to post here again.

I went by my office this afternoon to do some water testing and a 25% water change. I’m still new at this and I may have traumatized both fish trying to get the gravel vac working. Anyway, once I finished the water change my fish began behaving completely different. The little one went into the castle previously guarded by the big one and he went in after her. The little one stayed hidden for about 10 minutes while the bigger one swam in and out of the various holes, circling the castle and sometimes staying inside for a minute or two. I figured I frightened them so much with the vac that the little one decided I was scarier than the other fish!

Well, eventually both fish came out and the little one hid in another cave. That’s when everything changed. The big one kept darting at the cave and the little one would come out and appear to chase him away. She started running him back to his castle. As I was quietly cheering her newfound bravado I realized that they were not fighting like they did before. They started circling each other and the big one would tremble violently every 30 seconds or so as the little one chased after his tail. After a few minutes of this, both disappeared into the castle.

Did I just witness mating behavior?

susitna-flower

Sounds like it to me, but are they the same species? Some fish are encouraged to mate by having water changes. My suggestion is to google cichlid breeding. Were you having problems here in fishlore getting ciclhlid folks to answer? : They really are the ones to know about these fish behaviors, I haven't even had angles......Keep trying , or if you need to pm someone let us know and maybe we could pass something on. This is summer time and I am sure lots of folks are up to their eyeballs doing whatever they do in the summer! FISHING

Best of Luck....

Fish in the Frozen North 8)

MousePotato

Thank you for your reply, susitna-flower. I did research Malawi cichlid breeding behaviors and it sounds like that’s what I saw! I wish I had filmed it because it was really quite beautiful. I have never seen my big boy look so brilliantly colored nor the little one so confident.

I guess the people in the cichlid forum are busy because I haven’t received any input from them yet. Well, I certainly understand being busy! I would probably be away from my laptop as well if I weren’t on call this weekend. My moniker “MousePotato” comes from my job more than my hobbies.

I don’t think my fish are the same species, but they are very similar. As I wrote before, the female is almost certainly Pseudotropheus Demasoni and the (presumably) male is probably Pseudotropheus Elongatus. I am “sexing” them by the fact that the bigger one has vivid egg spots while the smaller one has none. I believe these two can interbreed although that was not my intention.

I went by Petsmart before I went to the office so I could pick up a master test kit for the water and ask the associates for some advice. I was considering adding another fish or two to diffuse the bullying. The kid with whom I spoke was very arrogant and dismissive of me (note to self: do NOT expect to be treated well when visiting Petsmart straight from the stables!). He said both of my fish (sight unseen) would grow to six inches or more and I needed a bigger tank or to get rid of one of them. According to my research P. Demasoni is a dwarf Mbuna which will only get to 2.5 - 3 inches, meaning she is fully grown. The male may max out at 4 inches (he’s about 3 inches now) or he could possibly get bigger, depending on the variety.

I have started working on husband to get a 55 gallon tank for the house. I’ve been showing him the DIY forum in an attempt to bring out his Tim Allen instincts and get me some more fish. To paraphrase a famous quote: “If he can build it, they will come!”

Butterfly

Sounds like mating behavior to me also. Some cichlids will cross breed.
Carol