Keyhole Cichlids. Help Please!

[totally tropical]

I plan to buy some of these little beauties for my understocked 300 litre tank as they would mix very well with my other fish. I have loads of caves etc for them to hide and feel secure.

My LFS has many juveniles only (not easy to sex at this age I am led to believe) and I am not sure how many to purchase as I would like a breeding pair eventually. I saw on one website that it would be best to purchase 4 or better 6 then when a breeding pair form get rid of the rest. Not sure that I would ideally like to get rid of the others if at all possible and do not know why? i.e. do the others fight once a breeding pair has formed?

Ideally I would like to know how many to buy and what female to male ratio is best (though I will probably playing a guessing game on this one as all juvenile in my LFS) and as previously mentioned: do I really need to get rid of the others when a breeing pair has formed? I have plenty of room in my tank and don't mind having quite a number of these fish if they would be happier, plus they look wonderful in numbers.

Many thanks.

 

[snowflake311]

I plan to buy some of these little beauties for my understocked 300 litre tank as they would mix very well with my other fish. I have loads of caves etc for them to hide and feel secure.

My LFS has many juveniles only (not easy to sex at this age I am led to believe) and I am not sure how many to purchase as I would like a breeding pair eventually. I saw on one website that it would be best to purchase 4 or better 6 then when a breeding pair form get rid of the rest. Not sure that I would ideally like to get rid of the others if at all possible and do not know why? i.e. do the others fight once a breeding pair has formed?

Ideally I would like to know how many to buy and what female to male ratio is best (though I will probably playing a guessing game on this one as all juvenile in my LFS) and as previously mentioned: do I really need to get rid of the others when a breeing pair has formed? I have plenty of room in my tank and don't mind having quite a number of these fish if they would be happier, plus they look wonderful in numbers.

Many thanks.

Yes a breeding pair will fight off all other fish. So if you want a pair you should only keep that one pair of Keyholes with some other fish is ok. But no other Keyholes.

I bought 3 Blue acaras and got a pair out of them I had 3 males 1 Female. But my pair was crazy I just split them up. I would say you could get just 3 but 6 would be the best # when it comes to getting a pair. You could keep 2 keyhole pairs in that size thank I think.

I have one Keyhole who lives with 2 Bolvian Rams and Carl the Keyhole is one of my Favourite fish of all times. They are great little fish.

 

[totally tropical]

I plan to buy some of these little beauties for my understocked 300 litre tank as they would mix very well with my other fish. I have loads of caves etc for them to hide and feel secure.

My LFS has many juveniles only (not easy to sex at this age I am led to believe) and I am not sure how many to purchase as I would like a breeding pair eventually. I saw on one website that it would be best to purchase 4 or better 6 then when a breeding pair form get rid of the rest. Not sure that I would ideally like to get rid of the others if at all possible and do not know why? i.e. do the others fight once a breeding pair has formed?

Ideally I would like to know how many to buy and what female to male ratio is best (though I will probably playing a guessing game on this one as all juvenile in my LFS) and as previously mentioned: do I really need to get rid of the others when a breeing pair has formed? I have plenty of room in my tank and don't mind having quite a number of these fish if they would be happier, plus they look wonderful in numbers.

Many thanks.

Yes a breeding pair will fight off all other fish. So if you want a pair you should only keep that one pair of Keyholes with some other fish is ok. But no other Keyholes.

I bought 3 Blue acaras and got a pair out of them I had 3 males 1 Female. But my pair was crazy I just split them up. I would say you could get just 3 but 6 would be the best # when it comes to getting a pair. You could keep 2 keyhole pairs in that size thank I think.

I have one Keyhole who lives with 2 Bolvian Rams and Carl the Keyhole is one of my Favourite fish of all times. They are great little fish.

That's great, thanks - fish are a little pricey in my LFS in the UK - they are £6 each or 2 for £10.

Is it just a case of picking a male and female (if able to identify) or are they choosy about their partners and won't neccessarily mate with any male/female that comes along? Also at what age do they tend to mate?

Cheers!

 

[Acara Man]

I bought a pair from my LFS and paid £10 each. They're both sexually mature and were relatively easy to sex. The male is longer with extended fins and the female is smaller/more rounded with shorter fins.

Mine spawned the evening they were put into the tank.

 

[snowflake311]

I bought a male and female bolviana rams they did not pair up in fact the female picks on the male. It dose not always work out. So sometimes you can pick M F and hope for the best but it does not garentee you get a breeding pair. If you get a group and let them pair up on thier own you will have a stronger pair For sure.

 

[treefella83]

a wonderful fish for a peaceful tank