Justin - 2011-06-06 I have recently gotten a 36 gallon bow front aquarium. I wanted to try African cichlids. I have successfully maintained a 55 gallon for a long time and I understand the ammonia to nitrites to nitrates, lighting, filter and est.
1.I have a sand bottom with an inch to 2 inches in various spots. I have rocks with holes and 4 cichlid stones. I have heard that 1/4 is the most for substrate, is this a big deal or is it more random nonessential information. Also the sand gets bubbles forming under the surface. There is no bubbler in the tank and the filter doesn't disturb the water (bubble wise) that far down. Are these nitrite/nitrate bubbles? Should I be alarmed?
2. I bought 4 "assorted" cichlids. I know that one of them is a labidochromis and another is an electric blue. There is two others, orange and albino? I am pretty sure that they are mubas? I have heard that minimum for keeping this type is 15 fish in a 125 gallon+ and I have also heard that I can have about 6 in my 36 gallon tank. Will they be to agressive to the lowest on the totem pole? What is a good answer to my predicament? Will I have to return the ones I have, or can I by 2 more?
3. I have also heard that you can use dither fish to calm them down, rainbows or whatnot. I have also heard that you cant mix them with any thing else then African cichlids. Is this wrong or true?
I am so frustrated with the internet right now. I find what seems to be right and a few minutes later it's left.
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Clarice Brough - 2011-06-07 I love those bow front tanks, should make for a beautiful display. It does sound like you have 4 Mbuna, the rock-dwelling cichlids originating from Lake Malawi. Exact species is tough to determine because these fish have hybridized much throughout the hobby, unless you buy a particular species rather than say a fish labeled Pseudotropheus sp., you can't know for sure. However, all Mbuna have the same basic requirements.
I think the reason you may be reading 1/4" gravel is because cichlids are notorious for rearranging the substrate and this large size substrate is hard for them to move. Personally I don't mind that, and have used finer substrates. Yet with an undergravel filter, I have to watch to make sure they don't create bald areas resulting in the filter loosing its efficiency.
Bubbles form in the aquarium with a variety of gasses. Nitrates and Nitrites are chemicals in the water, so probably not necessarily what's in the bubbles. As bubbles are aggitated and float to the surface the gasses will then be exchanged for oxygen. But I don't know of any problems developing with having bubbles hanging around, so can't answer that.
Your question on the number of cichlids depends on a number of things, with no hard and fast rules. You should be okay as far as load on the aquarium, especially with regular water changes. The real question is compatibility. Each male will want a territory, and he will defend it fiercely. But it is a small territory focused around his particular cluster of rocks. So you need to have enough rocks and caves to accommodate them. Then you should mostly see them keeping other fish at bay when they approach the area. However sometimes you get more aggressive fish that will take pursuit. But again with enough rocks and caves, you provide lots of get-a-ways. Your tanks sounds like its good in this regard, so I would probably stick with the 4 fish and see what happens. You could try a couple more, but you may find there's not enough territories. You may also find you need to add more rocks. Yes, it is often the "low" fish on the totem pole that gets the most aggression. Dither fish can help to keep the aggressor busy by spreading out the aggression, but I personally like to try and get the tank decor to help solve this.
As far as mixing fish, it depends on the tank. I have kept (and currently keep) Mbuna with other tropical fish (and a few goldfish... lol), but in a large aquarium with plenty of space for all, and plenty of rocks and caves. The cichlids don't seem to be concerned with the other fish accept for reminding them to stay away from their caves/rocks. They all come up and eat together. I wouldn't recommend this for some of the more aggressive and much larger South American cichlids though, because I can't provide a large enough aquarium space (the 100's of gallons type).
With that said, once you have a well established cichlid tank, you have to be careful adding new fish. The older fish rule, and don't take kindly to intruders. Some things that can help are to remove the existing fish, rearrange everything so there are no established territories, and then re-introduce both the old and new fish together. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't. It's actually better to get a new larger tank with a whole new environment, so that everybody is on equal footing. But new fish can be introduced, just be sure to monitor the situation closely until you're sure it will work it out. Otherwise you have to pull the new fish and put them in their own tank.
Justin, I hope all this helps. You actually ask really good questions and I'm sure you will have a beautiful display in your bowfront.
Justin - 2011-06-10 Thank you for the response! I know of the younger the more compatible thing with cichlids, so I bought the 4 smallest ones in the store. I do water changes about every other week or when needed. I have another question..... The sand in the bottom, do I put the siphon a little above the sand after stirring it up or do I turn the siphon off when the sand gets near the top of the plastic tube? The fish don
Sam - 2011-06-25 I'm not sure if you are still looking for an answer, but... The bubbles under sand are not good. They are gasses that build up and if released all at once will harm your fish. This is a common problem with sand tanks. Usually loaches or malaysian trumpet snails can stir up the sand so that this does not happen. In regards to the aggression, I bought 6 "assorted" cichlids and had about the same mix as you. I find that the yellow labs get terrorized and I had to move one out of the tank because the others ate his fins. They have since grown back, but I don't think i will be putting him back with the others. Hope I could help.
Jay - 2010-11-09 Hello I have 2 electric yellows female and male, my male keeps chasing the female around and I notice the female is missing parts of her fin, also notice she hasn't been eating for a few days anything I can do?
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lisa - 2011-04-01 I would consider adding more females for him. The dominant male in my tank, if he wants to breed and a female does not he will pick on her. If you have more he will focus less on one female and hopefully do her less damage.
Veronica Davidson - 2011-05-29 When they have eggs in their mouth they won't eat. Is it possible that they mated and you missed it? If the female has a bump under the bottom jaw area thats a sign she has a mouth full of eggs. My females will not eat and will hide a bit when they have eggs. I've had some females mate and never knew it till one day I saw babies going in and out of their mouths.
Shane - 2011-05-20 Why does my electric yellow cichlid shake its body when i's near another?
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Charlie Roche - 2011-05-20 The shaking behavior is usually the male trying to attract a female for breeding. Kinda neat. There are some short movies of this behavior on u-tube. I just entered cichlids shaking and got about 6 shorts - only one was good. I don't know how to send the link for the one. Sorry. Have fun.
David Brough - 2011-04-28 Can i keep my 2 yellow labs in my 120 gallon tank with semi agressive fish?
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Charlie Roche - 2011-04-28 Gosh Dave, if you don't know the answer to this - who would? According to what you have written, the yellow labs are peaceful little fellas and they are so pretty. 120 gallon tank is pretty big and I am sure you have little caves and hidey holes for your labs. However, I am sure you have other tanks for a semi agressive fellow. Why take a chance?
David Brough - 2011-04-29 Oops! This comment was assigned to me by my mistake. Its a good question and a good answer so I'd say its a keeper! Sorry to whomever actually posted it. My bad.
Wanda Hayward - 2011-04-11 I have 2 yellow labs, after 2 weeks the black on the fin is now gray. It is just on one of them. I wonder what am I doing wrong. They are eating the same, and also playing the same. Please help!
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Charlie Roche - 2011-04-12 I can't know for sure but look up FISH DISEASE and TREATMENT on Animal-World or click on the that link in one of the questions. There is one sympton that describes the fin turning grey and it says it is a fungal infection and there is a recommended treatment. The Animal-World owners did fish for a trillion years and the symptoms and treament are in plain english and easy to understand. Try looking it up and see if it helps. Let us know. OK?
Vanessa Horrigan - 2011-03-29 This is a silly question but will an electric yellow and cobolt blue labs breed together? Just asking cause I really want to breed my cuckoo catfish and they seem like a good one and I like their colours. But I cannot decide which one I should get.
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Vanessa Horrigan - 2011-03-29 Also is there a difference between a electric yellow lad and an electric yellow cichlid? If so can you tell me how?
Keith - 2010-10-25 Hi I have had my electrics for a few months now and they're breeding like mad started with 4 now have over 50 with the babies lol anyone know the pricing of these fish or a good price to sell them for?
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JR - 2010-11-28 I get $3 each for the fry at 4-5 months old.
jason - 2011-03-03 Impossible to say as it depends where you live.
Tari - 2009-10-15 Hi, I have just started feeding my fish the Spectrum food and my electric yellow is turning black, like it has been in a fire or something! All my other fish are still looking normal. Do you think it is the food that is making it turn black or some other problem? It doesn't look sick or unhealthy, it seems perfectly fine, apart from the fact that its turn black!!!
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chris - 2010-03-23 It's black because it's a male, this is normal.
evan - 2010-06-04 Its not that those are called ammonia burns the fish is dying change that water now! It's not the food its the small tank your keeping him in get a bigger tank or don't even try to keep africans be smart when you buy animals that's like buying an elephant to keep in your back yard it needs space.
Wende - 2010-06-05 Chris is right and Evan is wrong.... I have had my electric yellow since my albino convict and striped convict laid him almost three years ago...... whenever he goes into heat, he turns black too....... just make sure he has a mate..... after he and the female had babies, the black will go away for a while...
kyle - 2010-06-05 Males tend to develop black stripes with age.
Marko - 2010-06-22 Hey, I have 8 of these fantastic little guys in my biggest tank with other malawi's and 3 of mine are completely black! I have had them for about 4 years now and haven't had a problem with them eating, aggression, or breeding due to them being this colour, the best bet is to keep an eye on them at first then just leave them to it, I actually would prefer them to stay this colour now as I enjoy the colourful young they are having. Good luck.
Anonymous - 2010-09-01 My yellow started getting black around the face and chin, like a sootie grubby kind of black stain. I asked the pet shop guys and they recommended some additive which I put in the tank and now he's shiny yellow again. Maybe ask your local shop?
Megan - 2010-09-12 A lot of the spectrum food and other foods that are meant to help intensify color will sometimes have the opposite affect on certain fish. Some do get darker, I would suggest changing the food.
Joeski - 2010-10-01 It's nature taking its course. I read somewhere that they turn black in the wild to be able to steal catfish eggs at night time (evolution)...in captivity w/ other cichlids they are maturing and they are also preparing to mate...you should see them begin to puff out their fins to attract a mate...they will chase their female, lip lock, & swim in tight circles and will shake in front of them.
Mikey - 2010-10-24 If it's maturing and turning black means it's a male...it's not said here on site, but when males grow they turn almost all black (thinsk, all tho they were black anyways and then all the side of fish turns black...its cool man enjoy it, they are a lot more beautiful that way).
Keith - 2010-10-25 The whole fish is not supposed to turn black only the fins if the fish it self is turning black in body some of your charcoal from filters may be entering your tank and the fish are sucking on the stones. The male turns black on all fins more pronounced and the females only have black or top dorsal fin.
Joel - 2010-11-03 I am feeding Spectrum too along with spirulina flakes and I have 5 labs and a variety of other Mbuna. Only the dominant male lab is turning black around the mouth and gills. The rest are still the normal color. I am going to talk to my local pet shop, but I tend to believe it is just a maturing male getting ready to breed.
james - 2010-11-17 It's just a part of their colour cycle.
jason - 2011-03-03 You are wrong keith about only males having all black fins. My female has deep black on all fins and is carrying eggs in her mouth right now.
Hannah - 2011-01-07 Fish are often like humans or dogs, doesn't matter what people say we all have different personalities. I have had two different pairs of Electric Yellow Cichlids. I have a 55 gallon tank and I had an Electric yellow with a few other cichlids and that cichlid killed every fish I had in that tank and even multiple sucker fish. My ammonia level got high in my tank without me knowing and killed him so I decided to get another one and the new one I got I put him in with the same kind of fish I had before and he hasn't killed any of them or the sucker fish, so it just depends on the fish personality, just like humans some are angry some are happy :)
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emma - 2011-02-21 The same thing happened in my tank, the yellow lab killed all the other fish in our tank, even the cichlid bigger than itself.
quicky2g - 2011-01-19 I have this in a 75 gallon with other african mbuna's. It seemed difficult to find a dominant male in the pet shops around my area with a nice black striped dorsal fin but I finally found one. He is very hardy and eats just about any kind of flake or live food I give him. I was very surprised to have aggression problems with the electric yellow but I did. I had a red zebra in my 75 and added another and the electric yellow started bullying both my red zebra's for about 3-4 days. The aggression finally died down but it was very strange...every once in a while you can find a peaceful fish that gets aggressive or an aggressive fish like an auratus that's peaceful (I have a peaceful auratus!)
The bold striking colors of the Electric Yellow Cichlid have certainly helped it earn its name!
I have recently gotten a 36 gallon bow front aquarium. I wanted to try African cichlids. I have successfully maintained a 55 gallon for a long time and I understand the ammonia to nitrites to nitrates, lighting, filter and est.
1.I have a sand bottom with an inch to 2 inches in various spots. I have rocks with holes and 4 cichlid stones. I have heard that 1/4 is the most for substrate, is this a big deal or is it more random nonessential information. Also the sand gets bubbles forming under the surface. There is no bubbler in the tank and the filter doesn't disturb the water (bubble wise) that far down. Are these nitrite/nitrate bubbles? Should I be alarmed?
2. I bought 4 "assorted" cichlids. I know that one of them is a labidochromis and another is an electric blue. There is two others, orange and albino? I am pretty sure that they are mubas? I have heard that minimum for keeping this type is 15 fish in a 125 gallon+ and I have also heard that I can have about 6 in my 36 gallon tank. Will they be to agressive to the lowest on the totem pole? What is a good answer to my predicament? Will I have to return the ones I have, or can I by 2 more?
3. I have also heard that you can use dither fish to calm them down, rainbows or whatnot. I have also heard that you cant mix them with any thing else then African cichlids. Is this wrong or true?
I am so frustrated with the internet right now. I find what seems to be right and a few minutes later it's left.
I love those bow front tanks, should make for a beautiful display. It does sound like you have 4 Mbuna, the rock-dwelling cichlids originating from Lake Malawi. Exact species is tough to determine because these fish have hybridized much throughout the hobby, unless you buy a particular species rather than say a fish labeled Pseudotropheus sp., you can't know for sure. However, all Mbuna have the same basic requirements.
I think the reason you may be reading 1/4" gravel is because cichlids are notorious for rearranging the substrate and this large size substrate is hard for them to move. Personally I don't mind that, and have used finer substrates. Yet with an undergravel filter, I have to watch to make sure they don't create bald areas resulting in the filter loosing its efficiency.
Bubbles form in the aquarium with a variety of gasses. Nitrates and Nitrites are chemicals in the water, so probably not necessarily what's in the bubbles. As bubbles are aggitated and float to the surface the gasses will then be exchanged for oxygen. But I don't know of any problems developing with having bubbles hanging around, so can't answer that.
Your question on the number of cichlids depends on a number of things, with no hard and fast rules. You should be okay as far as load on the aquarium, especially with regular water changes. The real question is compatibility. Each male will want a territory, and he will defend it fiercely. But it is a small territory focused around his particular cluster of rocks. So you need to have enough rocks and caves to accommodate them. Then you should mostly see them keeping other fish at bay when they approach the area. However sometimes you get more aggressive fish that will take pursuit. But again with enough rocks and caves, you provide lots of get-a-ways. Your tanks sounds like its good in this regard, so I would probably stick with the 4 fish and see what happens. You could try a couple more, but you may find there's not enough territories. You may also find you need to add more rocks. Yes, it is often the "low" fish on the totem pole that gets the most aggression. Dither fish can help to keep the aggressor busy by spreading out the aggression, but I personally like to try and get the tank decor to help solve this.
As far as mixing fish, it depends on the tank. I have kept (and currently keep) Mbuna with other tropical fish (and a few goldfish... lol), but in a large aquarium with plenty of space for all, and plenty of rocks and caves. The cichlids don't seem to be concerned with the other fish accept for reminding them to stay away from their caves/rocks. They all come up and eat together. I wouldn't recommend this for some of the more aggressive and much larger South American cichlids though, because I can't provide a large enough aquarium space (the 100's of gallons type).
With that said, once you have a well established cichlid tank, you have to be careful adding new fish. The older fish rule, and don't take kindly to intruders. Some things that can help are to remove the existing fish, rearrange everything so there are no established territories, and then re-introduce both the old and new fish together. Sometimes that works, sometimes it doesn't. It's actually better to get a new larger tank with a whole new environment, so that everybody is on equal footing. But new fish can be introduced, just be sure to monitor the situation closely until you're sure it will work it out. Otherwise you have to pull the new fish and put them in their own tank.
Justin, I hope all this helps. You actually ask really good questions and I'm sure you will have a beautiful display in your bowfront.
Thank you for the response!
I know of the younger the more compatible thing with cichlids, so I bought the 4 smallest ones in the store. I do water changes about every other week or when needed. I have another question..... The sand in the bottom, do I put the siphon a little above the sand after stirring it up or do I turn the siphon off when the sand gets near the top of the plastic tube? The fish don
I'm not sure if you are still looking for an answer, but...
The bubbles under sand are not good. They are gasses that build up and if released all at once will harm your fish. This is a common problem with sand tanks. Usually loaches or malaysian trumpet snails can stir up the sand so that this does not happen.
In regards to the aggression, I bought 6 "assorted" cichlids and had about the same mix as you. I find that the yellow labs get terrorized and I had to move one out of the tank because the others ate his fins. They have since grown back, but I don't think i will be putting him back with the others. Hope I could help.
Hello I have 2 electric yellows female and male, my male keeps chasing the female around and I notice the female is missing parts of her fin, also notice she hasn't been eating for a few days anything I can do?
I would consider adding more females for him. The dominant male in my tank, if he wants to breed and a female does not he will pick on her. If you have more he will focus less on one female and hopefully do her less damage.
When they have eggs in their mouth they won't eat. Is it possible that they mated and you missed it? If the female has a bump under the bottom jaw area thats a sign she has a mouth full of eggs. My females will not eat and will hide a bit when they have eggs. I've had some females mate and never knew it till one day I saw babies going in and out of their mouths.
Why does my electric yellow cichlid shake its body when i's near another?
The shaking behavior is usually the male trying to attract a female for breeding. Kinda neat. There are some short movies of this behavior on u-tube. I just entered cichlids shaking and got about 6 shorts - only one was good. I don't know how to send the link for the one. Sorry. Have fun.
Can i keep my 2 yellow labs in my 120 gallon tank with semi agressive fish?
Gosh Dave, if you don't know the answer to this - who would? According to what you have written, the yellow labs are peaceful little fellas and they are so pretty. 120 gallon tank is pretty big and I am sure you have little caves and hidey holes for your labs. However, I am sure you have other tanks for a semi agressive fellow. Why take a chance?
Oops! This comment was assigned to me by my mistake. Its a good question and a good answer so I'd say its a keeper! Sorry to whomever actually posted it. My bad.
I have 2 yellow labs, after 2 weeks the black on the fin is now gray. It is just on one of them. I wonder what am I doing wrong. They are eating the same, and also playing the same. Please help!
I can't know for sure but look up FISH DISEASE and TREATMENT on Animal-World or click on the that link in one of the questions. There is one sympton that describes the fin turning grey and it says it is a fungal infection and there is a recommended treatment. The Animal-World owners did fish for a trillion years and the symptoms and treament are in plain english and easy to understand. Try looking it up and see if it helps. Let us know. OK?
This is a silly question but will an electric yellow and cobolt blue labs breed together? Just asking cause I really want to breed my cuckoo catfish and they seem like a good one and I like their colours. But I cannot decide which one I should get.
Also is there a difference between a electric yellow lad and an electric yellow cichlid? If so can you tell me how?
Hi I have had my electrics for a few months now and they're breeding like mad started with 4 now have over 50 with the babies lol anyone know the pricing of these fish or a good price to sell them for?
I get $3 each for the fry at 4-5 months old.
Impossible to say as it depends where you live.
Hi, I have just started feeding my fish the Spectrum food and my electric yellow is turning black, like it has been in a fire or something! All my other fish are still looking normal. Do you think it is the food that is making it turn black or some other problem? It doesn't look sick or unhealthy, it seems perfectly fine, apart from the fact that its turn black!!!
It's black because it's a male, this is normal.
Its not that those are called ammonia burns the fish is dying change that water now! It's not the food its the small tank your keeping him in get a bigger tank or don't even try to keep africans be smart when you buy animals that's like buying an elephant to keep in your back yard it needs space.
Chris is right and Evan is wrong.... I have had my electric yellow since my albino convict and striped convict laid him almost three years ago...... whenever he goes into heat, he turns black too....... just make sure he has a mate..... after he and the female had babies, the black will go away for a while...
Males tend to develop black stripes with age.
Hey, I have 8 of these fantastic little guys in my biggest tank with other malawi's and 3 of mine are completely black! I have had them for about 4 years now and haven't had a problem with them eating, aggression, or breeding due to them being this colour, the best bet is to keep an eye on them at first then just leave them to it, I actually would prefer them to stay this colour now as I enjoy the colourful young they are having. Good luck.
My yellow started getting black around the face and chin, like a sootie grubby kind of black stain. I asked the pet shop guys and they recommended some additive which I put in the tank and now he's shiny yellow again.
Maybe ask your local shop?
A lot of the spectrum food and other foods that are meant to help intensify color will sometimes have the opposite affect on certain fish. Some do get darker, I would suggest changing the food.
It's nature taking its course. I read somewhere that they turn black in the wild to be able to steal catfish eggs at night time (evolution)...in captivity w/ other cichlids they are maturing and they are also preparing to mate...you should see them begin to puff out their fins to attract a mate...they will chase their female, lip lock, & swim in tight circles and will shake in front of them.
If it's maturing and turning black means it's a male...it's not said here on site, but when males grow they turn almost all black (thinsk, all tho they were black anyways and then all the side of fish turns black...its cool man enjoy it, they are a lot more beautiful that way).
The whole fish is not supposed to turn black only the fins if the fish it self is turning black in body some of your charcoal from filters may be entering your tank and the fish are sucking on the stones. The male turns black on all fins more pronounced and the females only have black or top dorsal fin.
I am feeding Spectrum too along with spirulina flakes and I have 5 labs and a variety of other Mbuna. Only the dominant male lab is turning black around the mouth and gills. The rest are still the normal color. I am going to talk to my local pet shop, but I tend to believe it is just a maturing male getting ready to breed.
It's just a part of their colour cycle.
You are wrong keith about only males having all black fins. My female has deep black on all fins and is carrying eggs in her mouth right now.
Fish are often like humans or dogs, doesn't matter what people say we all have different personalities. I have had two different pairs of Electric Yellow Cichlids. I have a 55 gallon tank and I had an Electric yellow with a few other cichlids and that cichlid killed every fish I had in that tank and even multiple sucker fish. My ammonia level got high in my tank without me knowing and killed him so I decided to get another one and the new one I got I put him in with the same kind of fish I had before and he hasn't killed any of them or the sucker fish, so it just depends on the fish personality, just like humans some are angry some are happy :)
The same thing happened in my tank, the yellow lab killed all the other fish in our tank, even the cichlid bigger than itself.
I have this in a 75 gallon with other african mbuna's. It seemed difficult to find a dominant male in the pet shops around my area with a nice black striped dorsal fin but I finally found one. He is very hardy and eats just about any kind of flake or live food I give him. I was very surprised to have aggression problems with the electric yellow but I did. I had a red zebra in my 75 and added another and the electric yellow started bullying both my red zebra's for about 3-4 days. The aggression finally died down but it was very strange...every once in a while you can find a peaceful fish that gets aggressive or an aggressive fish like an auratus that's peaceful (I have a peaceful auratus!)