Cichlids Qs

[Lillyan]

So I may end up with a extra 55g. We want Cichlids, but I know some get too big, others too mean and the really cute & pretty ones arn't sold in my area. Basically, we can only choose from fish at Petsmart. I know they have Yellow Labs, so which other ones from this store can live with Labs? How many Labs can I have & how many of the other fish? I do not want a tank with only a few, 3-6 fish. I most likely wont have any other fish in this tank, other than a pleco or something like that.
thanks!

[snoopy65]

Labs are Mbuna, so you would want to look at other Mbuna to go with them. Mbuna as a whole are aggressive fish and it is better to overstock a tank rather than have just a few fish. This spreads out aggression. I would not add a pleco to the tank as mbuna are known to pluck the eyes out at the very least. Besides they are vegetarian and keep their own algae cleaned up. Now onto what fish to keep in with your labs. First I would do 1 M/ 4 F of each species and go with Rusties and Acei if you can find them. As far as Mbuna go, they are the mildest. They have great contrast to the yellow labs. Lots of rock work is the preferred aqua scape for Mbuna.

[toddnbecka]

Check out aquabid.com for a much better selection of cichlids than petsmart. Find some you like, do the research while you cycle the tank, and buy from someone with good feedback. This time of year is great for shipping cichlids Priority Mail rather than Express/overnight at 4-5x the price.

[ianab]

Other option, buy 4 Yellow labs, one male, 3 fems and set up a breeding colony.

You wont have 4 fish for very long, watching them breed is very interesting, and they are interesting enough that you should be able to sell the young fish.

4 small fish in a 50gal may be boring, untill they raise 50 fry.

Ian

[Lillyan]

I have no luck selling fish, so breeding would be stupid. >.<

[blue2fyre]

Acei will do well with labs. I would really suggest getting your fish offline though. You'll get way better quality fish. Petsmart fish usually don't color up as much as ones you can get online.
For a 55 gallon I would suggest
5 yellow labs
5 acei
5 rusty cichlids.

All are pretty peaceful, colorful and will get along.

[pjrichar]

you can go with apistogramma,, if you find someone on these forums that has some young fry or juvies for sale... they are usually super cheap and shipping priority is cheap... they are peacefull then you could have cichlids and ton of other fish too..

[hollyfish2000]

Please note that apistogramma are not African cichlids and cannot be mixed with them. Sorry if that seems I'm stating the obvious, but not everyone understands New World vs Old World.

If you insist on only getting fish from Petsmart, you are wise to stick with labs and pseudotropheus acei, both of which have been available in my particular local Petsmart. And, in fact, some of the labs are quite good looking. I have not found that gender matters all that much. More importantly, look for labs that are clean yellow with no (or little) black bars in their body or black "bearding" around their face. Five or six is a good number, as previously stated. Acei gender isn't all that important either. So five or six of them are good as well. I've never seen "rusties" in a Petsmart. Do not get zebras or any of the other mbuna offered at Petsmart EVEN if the clerk says it's OK. It won't be. Petsmart will occasionally get peacocks in. You could add a single male peacock to a lab and acei mix if you wanted.

Good luck.

[Lillyan]

How do I tell the sex of the fish?
I know Livebearers have a very diff. anal fin and Labyrinth fish usually it's the dorsal fin.

[blue2fyre]

Labs and acei won't care too much about the gender ratio. Which is good since the males and females look identical. The best way is to buy mulitply juveniles and remove extra males. Usually males will be more colorful(slightly). The best way to to vent them.