Newby with some cichlids

[limartin]

Hello this is my first post and I appreciate any suggestion

I bought for my daughter a 10 gal tank and currently we have 4 cichlids:

2 Pink convicts
1 Yellow Electric
1 Melanochromis auratus

For about two months everything was ok, but on the last few days I noticed some fin nips and when the Yellow was all beat up, so I stopped the M. auratus.

The Yellow was in a very bad shape, all his fins were nipped and was laying in the bottom of the tank for about two days.:headshake2:

I bought a tank separator and the bad guy is there (jailed!) and seems that the other guys are doing ok, even the Yellow started to swim again and "play" with the pink convicts.

Any suggestions if it’s possible to change the behavior of the M.auratus?

Thanks in advance!!!

 

[Rbishop]

Get a 55 gal tank for starters, Proper male/female ratio, and lots of rock work.

 

[MySpace Mike]

Yes, Electric Yellows are African Cichlids, and the Pink Convicts are Central American Cichlids. The Convicts are going to attack anything in that tank, due to they spawn at around 2", and are very aggressive when they spawn. For 2 a 10g tank is way to small, i would recomend at least a 40g tank.

Convicts are known to kill fish a lot larger then them when it comes to protecting their territory.

Also, with convicts, say you bought to baby males, well one of them will end up changing sex to a female, ive had it happen to me.

 

[nmrsco]

a 10 gal is really too small for those fish- they will grow much too big- not to mention aggression

 

[jm1212]

when fish are crowded, they become more aggressive. with cichlids, especially auratus and convicts, this aggression get even worse.

 

[Weezer]

As posted, a 10 is to small for Cichlids, after rock-work is layed out {which they need} and substrata ect, there isn't much room left.........

 

[tarheels910]

Try getting rid of the africans. I think 2 small convicts would be fine in a 10 gallon.

 

[MySpace Mike]

Even if he only kept the pair of Convicts, he should get a 29 gallon minumum tank size for them.

 

[KenyanSandBoa]

when fish are crowded, they become more aggressive. with cichlids, especially auratus and convicts, this aggression get even worse.

This would be my main concern as well. These fish will sacrifice their lives to claim their territory in nature...and they'll do it in an aquarium as well.

I agree with Mike too. Just for the convicts alone I would say something in the 30 gallon range is minimum.

 

[limartin]

Thank you very much all for your input! I'll try to find a larger tank!!