Help

[Pellet113]

I have a 27 gallon. The filter overturns 10x . I have : I fire mouth, 1 red zebra, 2 jewel chilcid, 1 opaline gorami. All is well besides the fire mouth..... The gorami is the head of the tank by no doubt, no one has ever stood up to him. Second on the food chain, the zebra. He chases the jewels around a bit but never picks at them, its harmless. Then, the jewels they are both female, and very pretty. They never bother anyone. Last, the fire mouth. All he dose is hide in the caves. I chose the least aggressive one at the store. Should I re-turn him for a more rambunctious/ active one? Thank you!

 

[james41683]

you have too many fish in such a small tank. the gourami may be boss at the moment but the zebra could turn at any moment and start killing off the others, same with the jewels if they end up being a pair they will take the whole tank. the firemouth may be getting picked on, it may be happening after the lights are off. the best approach would be to return everyone except the gourami and add a handful of tetras.

 

[Pellet113]

What?

 

[Spurry]

When you say red zebra you mean a Metriaclima estherae
That's a Mbuna malawi cichlid ?

 

[minnnt]

That is a strange mix...

 

[Spurry]

That is a strange mix...

its a disaster in the making, mate..

 

[Pellet113]

so who should i take out

 

[Spurry]

First deside what type of fish you want tropical oy Mbuna

 

[minnnt]

A 27 gallon tank is a little small for a full on Malawi/Mbuna tank.

What are your water stats? Hardness and ph etc? And what are the tank dimensions? All the info you can provide will help people advise you better of a more suitable stocking.

Cheers.

 

[Pellet113]

My hardness: is very hard, ph 7.8, nitrate and nitrite are in the safe zone. All is good quality wise, its 26 inch. long, 14 deep, 17 high. All is well now, besides the fire mouth all aggression is less among all.

 

[Spurry]

My hardness: is very hard, ph 7.8, nitrate and nitrite are in the safe zone. All is good quality wise, its 26 inch. long, 14 deep, 17 high. All is well now, besides the fire mouth all aggression is less among all.

you still dont get it do you ?
firemouth cichlid with jewel cichlids you may get away with
but the red zebra it's not a good idea to mix an African Rift Lake (malawi) like the Metriaclima Estherae (Red Zebra) and a South American. They are not very compatible!!!!!!

As for your water dont be shy tell us the GH and KH
your PH is a tad low for Malawi but right at the bottom of the scale

nitrate and nitrite are in the safe zone LOL what exactly is it ?

27uk gallons is 123lts of water way to small for malawi your Metriaclima Estherae is going to get 5 to 6" in size and sould be 1 male 3 to 4 females
the others cichlids my not have enough room to hide when the aggression starts.....

just remember you are the one that asked for HELP sorry you don't like the answers!

 

[Pellet113]

Ok will remove red zebra today at petco so what origin cichllids should i be able to add?

 

[Spurry]

so what origin cichllids should i be able to add?

African rift (malawi) need to be with there own kind, species only AND YOUR TANK IS TOO SMALL!

New World Cichlids im not sure some mix some dont.....


what about the water stats ??

 

[Yanks15]

Like Spurry said, that tank is too small for most if not all Mbuna. Some Cynotilapia don't get very large - 3-4" but you still need to provide plenty of hiding spaces for them to escape aggression. Rock and caves take up a bit of space and may not leave any space for them to roam. Really need 55gal(US) minimum for any kind of community of Mbuna. Sorry


Thanks,
Steve

 

[Pellet113]

Spurry , stop yelling i get it you didn't even answer my question. THANKS yanks