Cichlid newbie!!!

[Mandz87]

:help:
I currently bought a 29H tank, I have my eye on some electric yellow cichlids. I was wondering if I could get advice on how many I can keep in there? Also, if I should only keep a pair in that sized tank how do I go about getting a pair? Thank you to everyone who responds I greatly appreciate it!!

 

[Coler]

Is this a 29 hex tank ?

you need to keep 3/4 females to every male; if only one female is kept she will be harassed to death. Th

The 29 hex is not ideal for this. A 29 long would be better, and you could probably keep 4/5 in the above ratios for a while.

The reason for this is that the hex does not provide enough surface area along the 'length' to allow for territory forming.

 

[Mandz87]

It might be a hex? I'm not to sure what that is...but here are the measurements. 30x12x19

 

[GirlieGirl8521]

Thats a standard 29g tank. Hex=hexagon shaped tank.

This still IMO isn't the best tank size for Mbuna. Yellow labs are usually not very aggressive though, so it could work.

Make sure you fill the tank with rockwork, since they are rock dwellers.

Labs are not fish that form pairs, they are polygamous, so keep 3-4 females per male like Coler stated.

You could have a species tank and have 8 or so Labs in the tank, or possibly find another species of the same temperament and size of Labs, like Rusty Cichlids.

 

[LuckyCricket]

It is not big enough, it would work for a while but even if you stacked up the rocks all the way to the top you would still have issues. Yellow labs are LESS aggressive but still aggressive I had issues with a very aggressive male and he was in a 75 gal with 6 females. You could look into some shell dwellers, or dwarf cichlids.

 

[cav]

Yellow labs are LESS aggressive but still aggressive.

I agree. I only have the one in my mixed tank but quite often battles with others that try to get into its hiding hole