cleaning/rearranging decor

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jayla2251

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Jul 1, 2012
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I've got a 55g that's had African cichlids for a few years. I have a ton of decor for them to hide. So much so that I can't gravel vac a majority of the gravel. And its starting too look bad. There's also too many fish anyways. The yellow labs are way too easy to breed. I know when you get new cichlids etc your supposed to rearrange the decor so that no territory is established. But if I tear down all the decor to be able to clean the tank decently, will that start a whole new fight over hiding spaces? Should I take the fish out also maybe?

I'm also toying with the idea of tearing it down and getting rid of them. But I honestly can never find actual people who know what they are doing when I post classifieds for fish or snails in my area. And I don't want them to go to another tank to just die.
 

Nepherael

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May 11, 2012
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Oh I hear ya there. I would dread trying to find a home for my babies. I say get some tank water in a bucket and put all the fish in there to get that gravel clean. It will stir up quite a bit of gunk in the water column and you won't have to worry so much about trying to clean and move things without hitting or squishing fish.
 

jayla2251

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thanks, I'll need quite a few buckets!
 

jayla2251

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What price would anyone sell their adult cichlids for? I swear at the LFS they are outrageous! I put an ad up, but don't have a price yet. JC, Thanks!


 

oo7genie

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Nov 18, 2010
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Any fish commonly available in chain pet stores isn't worth much at it's adult size, as anyone can get one cheap and grow it out. Most pet stores won't even take them in for free, and even online there are some kinds you can't even give away (like convicts). It's all about supply and demand, and there's simply no market for them. In all reality, most common adult fish won't even fetch what the pet stores are asking for juvies.

I have some rainbow cichlids, which (around here) are only available by traveling to a pet store 100 miles away (or ordering online). From a single spawning I got around 100-150 fry almost a year ago, and I'm still slowly getting rid of them for $3 ea, or less depending on how many are purchased. Adult ones I doubt I could get more than $5-10 for, probably closer to $5, if that.

Unless they're rare, previously owned fish simply aren't worth much.
 

jayla2251

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Oh I understand! I know the LFS around here will sell even just African assorted adults for $20~30 each. Of course I don't know if they actually sell many. One LFS I gave some goldfish to (2 large one small ~ no I didn't research, it was like my 2nd tank and I upgraded and tried to keep them) and they turned around and sold the large one's for $30 each. I really just was curious on a price so that I could filter thru serious people. I once put up an ad for FREE mystery snails and all the idiots came outa the wood work wanting them and didn't even realize they'd just be fish food with the kinds of fish they had. I do have a LFS that I think will take these if it comes down to that, they used to buy mystery snails from me. I just gotta get rid of at least the female labs so that they stop reproducing!
 

oo7genie

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Nov 18, 2010
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Yeah, there's one place here in town that will take in large "rescue" fish (for free), then try and resell them for $20-30 each. I've been going there for a couple years, and I don't think I've ever seen a fish leave one of those tanks.

I know how you feel about the reproduction. Both my cichlid tanks have multiple fish that have paired up, and continue to produce more fry. I keep hoping the other fish will get a nice snack, but there's always a few that survive. I just pulled a couple dozen out of my 150g cichlid tank, and need to find new homes for them.
 
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