New Cichlid Tank - Need Advice

[maybrc]

Hi there! I have a tank with five Cichlids, two blue peacocks and three yellow labs. They are new and have been in the tank less than two weeks. I have had Cichlids for years on and off and never had any eat my plants! But, that is what they are doing.
I need to remove the live plants and add some rocks I bought at my fish store. I want your advice. These guys are doing so well and are very healthy. When I redo the tank scaping, should I remove them or work around them in the tank? I have been fortunate to never have to rearrange much. I just want opinions. I do not want to stress them.

Thanks!!!!

Valerie

 

[dthoffsett]

You might ask a mod to move this to the Old World Cichlids, as your fish are African Cichlids.

The yellow labs are labidochromis caeruleus of the the mbuna (rock-dwelling cichlids) of Lake Malawi, Africa. The peacocks are also of Lake Malawi, if you post pics we can ID them for you.

The labs are likely the ones eating your plants since they are herbivores, the peacocks however are carnivores. Mbuna's in the wild live amongst the rocks with algae as the only plant life, peacocks prefer more open water. You can have plants with mbuna, however, it's usually best to stick with hardier plants like java fern or some of the anubias species. You'll also want to either plant them in pots or attached to the rocks as mbuna will happily dig them up for you.

I'd suggest reading the following articles, and post any other questions you might have.

[URL="http/www.fishforums.net/content/African-Old-World-Cichlids/27706/The-Mbuna-Aquarium/"]http/www.fishforums.net/content/African-...Mbuna-Aquarium/[/URL]
[URL="http/www.fishforums.net/content/African-Old-World-Cichlids/98179/Feeding-Mbuna/"]http/www.fishforums.net/content/African-.../Feeding-Mbuna/[/URL]
[URL="http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/introduction_list.php"]http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/introduction_list.php[/URL]
[URL="http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/peacock_corner.php"]http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/peacock_corner.php[/URL]

 

[maybrc]

You might ask a mod to move this to the Old World Cichlids, as your fish are African Cichlids.

The yellow labs are labidochromis caeruleus of the the mbuna (rock-dwelling cichlids) of Lake Malawi, Africa. The peacocks are also of Lake Malawi, if you post pics we can ID them for you.

The labs are likely the ones eating your plants since they are herbivores, the peacocks however are carnivores. Mbuna's in the wild live amongst the rocks with algae as the only plant life, peacocks prefer more open water. You can have plants with mbuna, however, it's usually best to stick with hardier plants like java fern or some of the anubias species. You'll also want to either plant them in pots or attached to the rocks as mbuna will happily dig them up for you.

I'd suggest reading the following articles, and post any other questions you might have.

<a href="http/www.fishforums.net/content/African-Old-World-Cichlids/27706/The-Mbuna-Aquarium/" target="_blank">http/www.fishforums.net/content/African-...Mbuna-Aquarium/</a>
<a href="http/www.fishforums.net/content/African-Old-World-Cichlids/98179/Feeding-Mbuna/" target="_blank">http/www.fishforums.net/content/African-.../Feeding-Mbuna/</a>
<a href="http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/introduction_list.php" target="_blank">http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/introduction_list.php</a>
<a href="http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/peacock_corner.php" target="_blank">http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/peacock_corner.php</a>

Thanks for the info. I am new to this forum and cannot believe I put this post in New World!!!
This is what I get for being in a hurry...