My 30 Gallon Tank

[mike45]

Hey,

I have a 30 gallon tank with a yellow lab African Cichlid. There aren't many decorations in the tank...just 2 small flowerpots. I actually started off with 8 mixed African cichlids in the tank (What a mistake...!) and now I am down to just the yellow lab. It is 3-4 inches long, and is pretty active.

My tank is brackish, so there is some salt content in it. Thats what the fish store advised me to do, so I guess that limits what other fish could go in the tank.

But, thats my question...can other fish go in the tank? Also, would the yellow lab just be better alone? I'm not too sure about their behavior and preferences.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[dirtydogg]

not to sure about brackish with an african cichlid. Try and post something in the africans forum.

 

[mike45]

Maybe I'm using the wrong terms. Its called African Cichlid Lake Salt (along with a pH booster) that I put in the tank. Anyway, my LFS calls them brackish fish.

 

[Fish Buddy]

Brackish, as in half the amount of salt normaly found in sea water??
Or do you mean that you put some thing like a tbs of salt per 5 gallons of water in the tank?
I would totally disagree with your fish store as chichlids are not brackish fish. Tire track eels are along with scats and monos, mollies, half beaks and puffer fish.

You could have more African cichlids in there. Maybe some other fish from the Victoria Lake where the yellow lab is from. You could try and make the decorations like something naturally found in the lake (rocks and caves?- some plants like java fern if you have a tube light).
Labs are a little agressive, but not as agressive as most cichlids. If you want colour and ease of caring, you could try cobalts, electric blues, accei, red by red zebras, philabornia marmalade (spelling?), kenya or something of the sorts. Some of the fish I mentioned are a little pushy. They should be ok though (those are what I have in my take -don't have a lab though)
Ok, Bon Chance!

 

[mike45]

Brackish, as in half the amount of salt normaly found in sea water??
Or do you mean that you put some thing like a tbs of salt per 5 gallons of water in the tank?

Brackish as in I put one tablespoon of salt in for every 10 gallons I think. So I guess its not brackish. I also put a table spoon in when I do a 25% water change.

 

[Ferris]

Yellow labs generally do better in groups but there is no real problem in 1 on its own. They should not be kept in a brackish tank though, African Cichlids should be in freshwater tanks only. Their natural environment has no salt whatsoever so I'm afraid your LFS has given you some really bad advice.

You need to either re-home the lab or stop adding salt. Sorry nto have to be negative but i hope this helps.

 

[Ferris]

Maybe some other fish from the Victoria Lake where the yellow lab is from

Sorry, yellow labs are from lake Malawi and are only compatible with other Mbuna species from the same lake.

 

[dwarf-puffers]

u could try some type of lobster or something

 

[Fish Buddy]

Sorry, yellow labs are from lake Malawi and are only compatible with other Mbuna species from the same lake.

What?- well I was taught wrong then. Sorry about that.

 

[Ferris]

What?- well I was taught wrong then. Sorry about that.

Don't worry, Mbuna are my speciality, I tried to help a guy in the catfish forum the other day and I couldn't even id a common Pleco.

 

[guppygirl]

Well, if you re-arrange all the ornaments and shift things around, you could get some more yellow labs. I would think that would be it though. You could also put some dojos in there, but they might be hard to find.
HTH!!
Robin