Big mean cichlid

[koi-angel]

I have a 2 year old african, (cant remember name but begins with an A) he/she had black and yellow horizontal stripes when we got it at only one inch long now its 5 inches and in a 10 gallon tank ALONE can not even be with a pleco, we want to move him to a 30 gallon empty tank we have, but we want to add more fish, my question is, we he eat everything again?? is there a chance he can be with other fish after being alone for so long?? thanks

 

[thecichlidaddict]

The fish you are referring to sounds like an Auratus.

These are very, very aggressive little fish, and were never meant to be in the confines of a 10 gallon tank. I would not trust him with any other fish in a 30 gallon tank either for that matter. If you want tankmates for him you must:

Purchase an appropriate sized tank. A 40 gallon breeder tank, or a 55 gallon regular tank is the minimum I would go with.

Make sure you get appropriate fish - in other words, only mbuna as aggressive as he is - take a look at Demasoni and Lombardoi for starters.

Make sure you have lots of hiding places of various sizes for harassed fish to escape to.


If getting a new tank is not an option then I highly recommend finding a new home for him and getting more approriate fish to the size of tanks that you have. If you need help choosing better suited fish then all you need to do is ask

 

[koi-angel]

Thanks!! i think we will have to get a bigger tank, well go with the 55 gal, im assuming we should get fish his size or bigger?? he is an Auratus, i looked it up online. i talked to my local fish store guy and he said he would take him in but my daughter LOVES this fish. (named him M&M)

She hand feeds him, and yes he is a big meany, we have wanted to get him a much larger tank, but were afraid he was gonna eat anything we added, if we go with the other two types you suggested will they fight?? we dont want anymore fish getting hurt including M&M also can you tell me how to find out if M&M is a male or female?? thanks for your help.

 

[juanveldez]

as long as you provide them all with rock work so that each little territory is broken up yes there will always be aggresion in the tank as all of the fish are aggressive but it should cut down on the amount of aggression

 

[thecichlidaddict]

Hey Koi-Angel

Males of this species tend to turn a dark brown with white or light yellow stripes. Females and sub-dominent males (males that live with other more dominent males) stay the golden color with dark brown stripes.

I'm going to give you some words of caution. They are not to scare you off, but more to keep you aware of what can happen.

Fish like Auratus are very aggressive. The fish I mentioned are two of the more aggressive species that would work. That does not mean that they won't fight, and that does not mean that a fish won't get inured or killed. You can do everything absolutely perfect and you will still find that aggression is a problem with fish like this - some people like these fish just because of this.

Here are some tips to help you out:

Try to add only fish of similar size. Since the current fish is already fully grown (and larger then usual if he is 5" long) then you will have a harder time finding tankmates, and you will probably pay more for them too. Keep an eye out in various websites for people selling of there fish, I find it a cheaper source for adult fish.

The less fish you stock, the more chances that one of them will become harassed to the point of illness or death. You will want at least 10 other fish in that tank to help distribute the aggression.

When it comes time to add fish to the new tank, do it all at once. In other words, don't add your Auratus to the tank until you get at least some of the other fish, that way he doesn't have a chance to establish territories before the others can.

Don't add more then one male of any of these species, this is certain death for the weaker males.

Always keep that 10 gallon ready, that way if you observe a certain fish getting beat up pretty badly you can remove it, nurse it back to health, and then find a new home for it.

If your daugher is young, and/or you do not want her to deal with fish injury and death, then I advise you to get some more docile species of fish to keep. Perhaps your daughter would feel better about that if you explained that it needs a really big tank that you can't provide? I don't know, I'm just speculating.

as Juanvaldez already mentioned, lots of rockwork is important. one cave per fish is not enough, try to offer as many caves, crevices and niches as you can by piling up rocks of different sizes and shapes.

I hope this helps somewhat.

 

[koi-angel]

yup...form you description hes a male. I have one more question, would he be happy in the 30 gallon alone or with a female?? and could we keep a large bottmom feeder in there??? also i took a pic of him. ill try and post it, thanks guys you have been really helpful, i doubt we can part with this fish we all love him!! he gets beef heart as a treat and my duaghter (shes 7) reads to him!!! LOLOL he just needs more space and i guess if we definately cannot provide him with a girlfriend he will be alone.... we dont really want to risk adding fish in with him (even in a bigger tank) if they will fight. koi-angel

 

[smb]

would he be happy in the 30 gallon alone or with a female??

No he would be bored by himself and probably kill the female if there was just 1. If you get your 55g you should put at least 10-12 in there imo. You want to put a lot of fish with these guys or else their aggro will be taken out on a select few and they could be killed.

he gets beef heart as a treat

I would never feed them beefheart. They can't digest high protein foods and they can get bloat and die. Feed vegetable based foods only.

 

[koi-angel]

ok, great!! i have learned so much in the last few days from you guys!! thanks again and i guess we will go for the 50 gal and keep our fingers crossed,

 

[thecichlidaddict]

I would not feed a fish any source of mammal meat - even pedetors.

The best diet for Auratus is a variety regular cichlid pellets/flakes including Spirulina flakes. If you want a tasty treat for him then use plankton or brine shrimp, it is much healthier then beefheart.

 

[Adrinal]

Depending on what other fish you get I would keep that monster in the 10g for a month after you have purchaced your other fish... or if they are the same size at the same time.
Yep his home is too small now. but better not rush him into a new tank too soon.

if your looking for schooling fish I've never had africans chace australian rainbows more than a few days (they are just too fast for the africans).

Eventually they just end up hanging out side by side... unless they are off chasing other africans in the tank.