Cyrtocara moorii "Blue Dolphin" Questions

[FloridaFishGuy]

Ok im going to get a 55g tank and I plan on putting 4 Moorii in there and 3 yellow labs. Do you think this is a good combo? Also do you think that the Moorii will out grow the tank?

 

[FloridaFishGuy]

No one have any ideas? BTW if I cant put the moorii in the 55g what other VERY colorful fish would go good with yellow labs?

 

[semper fi]

since the moori only reach a max size of 8" a quad of them would not grow out the tank. you could either keep them with the labs or rusty cichlids, which are also colorful and peaceful fish.

 

[Becca]

I'm a newbie to Cichlids, so please don't take my advice as an "Authoritative" source. Just telling you what I have now.

In my tank, I have a Blue Dolphin, and I have a couple of Yellow Labs. I've provided plenty of hiding spaces and they seem to co-exist quite nicely. I've also picked out a few other very colorful fish for my tank: Red Zebra (they're a nice orange) Demasoni (lovely black and blue striped) a "Powder Blue" - this guy's great, he's light blue with very dark blue outlining the tips of all of his fins.

There are others in there, as well (take a look at my sig to see what I have) but, those are the most colorful.

Hope This Helps. If not, another GREAT cichlid source is http/www.cichlid-forum.com/index.php

 

[semper fi]

you might want to rethink the demasoni. demasoni are very territorial and do not even like their own kind to invade their space. can get quite nasty with other tank mates. you may find the demasoni ruling the tank and killing the other fish.

 

[Becca]

Thanks for the tip! The Demasoni seems to be ok - not picking on any of my other Cichlids, but I will definitely keep an eye on him. Honestly - he was an impulse buy. I wanted the Dolphin and the LFS guy from my Cichlid store advised not adding a single Cichlid to the tank since he'd automatically be picked on. (I've not seen that happen before, but figured I'd rather not risk it on a $10 fish...) So I grabbed a Demasoni. Actually, I've found the Demasoni and the Yellow Labs to be the most timid of the group, LOL.

If you wouldn't mind, can you glance through my sig and pick out any fish that might not be a good fit with the rest of the ones I have? I want to start off my Cichlid tank on the right foot and will be moving them over to the 75 when it's done cycling. If they're not going to work out well, then that would be a prime time to sell them back to my LFS.

Right now, everyone seems to get along just fine. There's a bit of agression, just chasing - mostly, but not too much. No ramming, no fin nipping. Just fish defending their individual caves, etc. I don't notice any one fish getting picked on, nor do I find any single fish "bullying" anyone else, so I thought I had good mix.

 

[vantgE]

I just took a peek at your 29 becca, Just the moori seems to be the only problem try yo keep 3 to one female male ratios if you are keeping same or dsimilar species, but then again they all being moved to the 70 right? so you'l be fine, when the mbuna get older they should be alot more agresion you won't notice bad nipping for a while. Also I don't think your eel will work I talked to cfc for a short bit here
http/fish.orbust.net/forums/index.php?sh...=40636&hl=mbuna
And side note on this the ti guy said the only soriegn species i have heard of being kept in with between mixed and favorable results are crabs synos and clown loaches
but I think it should be pretty much fine

 

[Becca]

I was afriad of the eel not working too well. It was an impulse buy (yes, bad me...smack..) and I really didn't think it would cause many problems. He primarily lives in the gravel. In fact, I never see him come all thew ay out. I did read up on these and found that's completely normal for this species of Eel.

All of the cichlids will be moved to the 75 gallon -that's correct. I really like the dolphin, but if he won't work out well in the tank, I have no problem selling him back to the LFS for some cichlids that are a better fit.

If I were to want to keep the Dolphin, should I just get more of them, or is there some other species I can get to help keep everything balanced?

 

[semper fi]

when you move the fish to the 75 i would work on quads of the fish. 3 females to every male at a minimum.

the problem with the c. moori is that you have an utaka (deep water fish) with mbuna (rockfish) so you nned to provide environments for the two of them. c. moori are great fish. just as playful as their trade name. they will get larger than the remaining fish. 8" is about an average size for them.

i would ask cfc about the eel though. he would be able to give you great advice on them

 

[Becca]

Cool, Thanks much. There are a few species of Mbuna that I'm not sure I want to keep. When I get the 75 done cycling, I'm adding all my fish to it at once, to keep agression levels down. Perhaps I can talk my LFS into trading in some of the cichlids I've got for more kinds of the same ones.

Is the "Quad" grouping necessary? I really don't plan to breed them, in fact, I'd rather not breed. Would you still suggest doing the quads? Or is it ok to have one of several kinds of mbuna, as long as diet and water requirements are the same? (I didn't think the fish were shoaling like tetras and mollies I had before..)

 

[semper fi]

bad idea to add the fish all at once on a newly cycled tank. you need to add the fish slowly. a few at a time. otherwise you will overload the bacteria established in the tank. you need to give the bacteria time to catch up.

i would add the less aggressive ones first. let them get their hiding spots and territories established and then add the more aggressive ones. the moori i would keep in the 29.

even if you have no intention of breeding fish, i would still keep the polygamous breeders in the quads. this will help to lower the aggression of the fish. in polygamous breeders, if you do not maintain the right ratio, they will focus their attention on the females in the tank. not neccessarily saying that they will crossbreed, some species will. zebras are known to crossbreeed. males with no females to distract them will take to dominating other fish. there is more to breeding fish than having a male and female together. keeping the tank at a lower temp rather than a higher temp makes the fish more lethargic and less willing to breed also.

 

[KribFreak]

Looks like your 29 is overstocked big time. The inch per rule never follows for cichlids. You should move some of your fish to the 70.

 

[Becca]

Let's see if I can address everything in one post:

Kribfreak: I know the 29 is overstocked, but - as you stated - the "inch per gallon" rule doesn't apply for cichlids. I am keeping a close eye on the water and have the tank over filtered. So far, I've not really seen much of a problem. Most of the fish are still babies, the biggest one being all of 2 1/2 inches - so they've got enough stretching room - though I'm sure they'll still be happy to move to the 75.

As for moving them to the 75, that's a big no no - not until the tank finishes cycling. Of course, once it does - I'm all for it., obviously since i bought the tank specifically for them.

semper fi: Thanks for the tips on adding the fish to the 75. As for keeping the moorii in the 29 - I'm a bit confused. My 29 is a tall, which means the footprint is that of a 20 gallon. Why would I want to keep one of my biggest cichlids (his adult size will be about 8") in the smallest tank? I think of most of the fish I have, he'd appreciate the 4' foot print.

As for the rest, I'm doing a fishless cycle, so I'm adding quite a bit of ammonia to make sure the tank can handle a big load from the fish. Once the cycle is done, I'll monitor the ammonia input and how well the tank is able to break it down before I add a single fish. This should hopefully address any concerns I have regarding how many fish I can add at a time.

 

[FloridaFishGuy]

Semper has her C. Moorii in a 29 gallon if I remember correctly. As adults they may get to big for the 29g but you would have to ask Semp about that.

 

[Becca]

That's another thing that I just don't get. Books I've read say to keep the Mooriis in about 75 - 90 gallons. LFS / LPS tell you to keep it in about the same. Cichlid forums tell you to keep it in at LEAST 125 and semper's got hers in a 29 gallon.

I'm having a bad day today...and the fact that everyone seems to be contradicting each other is annoying me more than usual. Sorry if any part of this post came across rude.