African Cichlids getting big..need advice

[nfinit1]

Hello All
I am helping a friend with an african cichlid.
He has mbunas, pictus, plecos, and syndotis
The fish are now really getting big....He has two male Auratus(he bought three two females and one male...one of the female colored ones turned brown????)
The first and biggest problem is the First Male Auratus has made half of the tank His territory. That part of the tank has the rocks/slate..the rest of the tank is artificial plants and driftwood...
The next problem is that he has about 24 fish in the tank...they are getting big

Ok
I suggest we do this
1)Sell or give the 2 pictus, 2 plecos, and 1 syndotis(keep 1 syndotis), venetus(yes he has a venetus) and a few other of the cichlids so that there are less fish for the filter(eheim) to support.
2) Take out all ornaments, do a really good gravel clean, replace the plastic plants, driftwood with more rocks...

I think this is THE BEST PLAN
I am open to any other suggestions

Thanks!!!

[Verse914]

first we need to know what size tank all these fish are in. Auratus are very aggressive and need a larger tank to reduce their aggression a bit.

[nfinit1]

Its a 75 gal tank...the one that is four feet long and 18 inches deep

[Reiner]

Get rid of the Venustus ( will get to big), the Pictus cat and all the Auratus. The dominant male Auratus will always have at least half of a 4 foot tank as his territory ( IMO Auratus belong only in 6 foot long tanks). Also post what else he has in the tank. 24 fish for a 75 gallon tank is quiet a load. Also for a tank that size you should not need more then 1 good algea eating pleco.

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

Auratus are exremely agressive. You say a female one turned brown... totally brown? That would be strange. They naturally go darker... probebly around mating time.... but still stay primarily yellow. Im not sure why this would have happened. Is she holding?

Yeah i would seriously say down-stock. And maybe get him to add MORE rocks, because thats all mbuna love. Do the whole tank in rocks. Drift wood lowers ph so maybe take that out. Add rocks to the other side and stagger plants all around. It might make for a more balanced tank as well.

The tank might be big enough for the auratus, but only the auratus and would have to get rid of all the other mbuna. If it were up to me, i would rid of the auratus and get some salousis or afras (i have these guys and i LOVE them). Amoungst some other peaceful mbuna. Well, as peaceful as you can get. OR you could outs with the mbuna all together and get some peacocks. :D

[valerie]

Can we get a complete stock list of all the fish in this tank and how many of each there are. That way it will be easier to say what to keep and what to get rid of.

[nfinit1]

Ok
Its a 75 gal thats been upabout 6 months and he bought everything when they were juvies..really small..now everyone is around 4 to 6 inches
Yes He definitly had two yellow and 1 brown auratus when he bought them....So is brown male or female...One yellow one turned brown...now there are two browns and they go at it sometimes...the yellow holds and stays away hidden most of the time
He has two rustic zebra
Two Kenyas or Kennis Male is Sky Blue and the Female is starting to turn Orange....
I think he has two electric blues
and two that look like a demasoni but there arent
the Auratus or another killed the Demasoni one night
Three Aratus 1 yellow and two brown
Venetus
Albino zebra who not growing and might be meal soon
2 yellow labs
1 electric yellow lab
1 frontosa who is the coolest cat in the tank..peaceful always away from the action like snoopy or garfield..
2 pictus
2 syndontis
2 plecos
some others but I dont know the names....

He likes the action between the Auratus...After cleaning his tank last night we agreed he needs to give or sell the pics, plecos, and keep on syndontis...the rustics, venetus, frontosa, are definitely going....
I am not an african cichlid expert yet..I just started into the world of planted tanks...but I did research and I didnt know Peacocks were aggresive...I have a 150 gal that I will make live plants or tanganikan...peacocks are aggressive????wow!!!!

So we need to get all that stuff out....do a good gravel clean..ADD MORE ROCKS...I have some red rocks from left over from a Salttank....can we use those????..you get them at any LFS..they have holes in them...
Breaking the caves and stuff up and then putting them back helps start new terratories???right????

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

Yes re-arranging stuff causes the fish to start new terretories. If you were adding any fish... add them right when you change everything around so the established fish dont have any terretories yet. But i dont think you will be adding any.

The auratus.... you have two males and a female. When they are born all the juvies are yellow... then the males turn to a brown/blue/black color when they mature. You have ended up with 2 MALES and that is bad. If you want to keep the auratus... exhange one male for one or two more females. This will help curb his aggression. Make sure there are no similarily 'striped' and colored fish in the tank with them.

[nfinit1]

Hey LuvmyKribs
Let's say we get rid of everyone except 1 syndontis, all the auratus, and the two kenyas or Kenis
We add three female auratus...would that satsify the two males or would we need more females???

Thanks guys U are definitely confirming things we thought on last night during the water change...I also told him he may want to get another eheim on that tank

MAn this is making me want to turn my 150 into an african cichlid tank...but I am bitten by the live plants arena right now

[jimbo]

I would recommend your friend to get rid of one male Auratus or exchange it for a female.
It’s a rule of thumb with Malawi-cichlids to have just one male of each species in a tank unless it’s 180 gall. or bigger. The action between the two male Auratus, which your friend likes so much, will only last until one of them is floating belly-up on the surface.

Jimmy

[lupi2279]

the auratus and kenyi are going to be tough to keep in a 75. 2 of the meanest mbuna. Its not the # of fish he has thats so troubling, its what he has. venestus=big, front=big, auratus= terror, kenyi = probable terror

[Raf]

Well, I can't really add much more than has already been stated.....all I can say is that some fish are just not worth keeping IME. The M. auratus may be cool at first, but they are just little brats and the males can bug to no end. If you have two males, twice the trouble. Even females can be brats. The kenyi are also very aggressive.

If your friend really likes these africans, then keep em, just get rid of the extra male. The venustus and front are going from what you tell me....which is good, as they both need bigger tanks to thrive.

If your friend isn't really attached to the mbuna, then i suggest he get rid of them and get some less aggressive africans. If he likes mbuna, the perhaps some more labidochromis....or some Iodotropheus sprengerae (Rusty). Those are much easier to keep. Perhaps even some Aulonocara or other Haps once the tank has been mostly cleared out.

The possibilities are numerous, but the current inhabitants need some attention to proceed further IMO.

HTH a bit ;)

Raf

[valerie]

What sort of synodontis does he have? As some need to be in groups and some can be ket solo. UNtill you find out what species i would get rid of them and leave one, that one left over may not be too happy alone.