This question is for all you Cichlids ADDICT

[Wildfire]

Hi to all you fanatics! I have come to thepoint were I have a felling my cichlids are getting too large for my tank and would like to have your opinion and maybe come to a solution. I have a 20 Gal with 6 cichlids but 3 of them are getting growing an aweful lot. I believe they have come to a point were they will need a larger home. I would hate to see them die because they are too large for there home.

What I was thinking is since I am a Cichlid addict I would bring them back to the LFS and get some small fry to make them grow and obviously sell them again for them to get a new home.

I think this is the best way for them to survive. What do you guys think??? )

 

[phoenix]

What are your fish?? and yes 6 cichlids in a 20 is not a good thing.

Without knowing any other info I would say yes definately return them to the LFS there are very few cichlids that i can think of that would do well in a 20 gallon tank solo in adulthood much less with 5 other tankmates..

Have you concidered getting a much larger tank??

 

[thecichlidaddict]

Wildfire

I don't think that buying cichlids and selling them every time they get too big is a good idea. They grow pretty fast, you will be doing it a lot, and since you will never have a mature fish like that you will never get a full cichlid experience.

My first suggestion would be to buy a bigger tank. How big you would need to buy it depends on the fish you are keeping.

My second suggestion would be to return the fish and get one that will not outgrow the tank. There are not many, but there are a few.

 

[Wildfire]

Have you concidered getting a much larger tank??

I have thaught of getting a bigger tank but unfortunatly this will have to wait until I get a house. I want a monster tank like Freshmike! I am going all the way. I would love to have at least a 100 gal. tank as soon as I get a house. For the time being I will have to settle for my 20 gal. As for not getting some more Cichlids it's hard for me as they are the fish I prefer. I just got used to having cichlids and looking at Freshmikes pic wants me to keep chiclids even more!

I know a 20 gal for chiclids is fairly small and I am finding out the hard way and to tell all of you the honnest to god truth I am disapointed that I will not be able to keep my growing chiclids. I am attached to Z, Electro, Bart, Choco and Twety. It just seems hard to believe that Cichlids grow so fast but I have seen it happen with my own eyes!

What else can I have in a 20 gal without them outgrowing the tank?

 

[CongoCalvus]

Some shell dwellers, would be excelent.

 

[Doby_the_Dojo]

well you could have dwarf cichlids like apistos, rams, or kribs
i think you could keep a pair of yellow labs but i'm not sure

 

[thecichlidaddict]

A pair of any mbuna is a bad idea, they are not monogomous fish and one will end up getting harassed by the other.

You can do shell dwellers, or a number of smaller tanganyikan rock dwellers like many Julidochromis and Neolamprologus, as well as a dwarf Altolamprologus.

If you like planted tanks then all of the previous dwarf riverine species work well.

 

[Adrinal]

NEVER buy anything that when in its full form you can not support it in what you currently have for equipment. Even finatially secure folks cant be sure about having housing ready at the right time. IMO thats like having kids before getting a house job and money set aside without debt... right... guess that isnt going to convince anyone... nm do as you wish.

 

[Aulonochromis]

I have to agree with the dwarf cichlid idea. You could get some shell dwellers or Apistos. It's so much more fun when you have some mature fish spawning and can say "yeah I bought them when they were just fry and look how theyve blossomed." B)