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[jgray152]

Today I had some money which was a bad thing because I like to spend. So I spent $48.21 USD at PETCO (LFS) and bought 9 new fish.

2 African Kenyi
2 African Venustus
2 African Bumble Bees
1 Jack Dimpsy
2 Other Africans that look exactly like the Venustus but seem to be called another name? 2 have a lot of yellow under them and 2 don't have a lot of yellow. Maybe 2 males and 2 females?

These went into the tank with 3 jewels, 1 electric blue, 2 electric yellows, 1 pleco and 1 needle fish.

They seems to be doing very good. I fed my other fish before putting the new ones in. Once I put them in they instantly started eating. And getting chased by the A-hole e-blue guy.

 

[Ferris]

Hi jgray152.

I'm afraid there's a few issues with your recent purchases. The main one being the Jack Dempsey - this is a large New World cichlid that is not compatible with the Mbuna/Malawi's that you have also purchased. Water and dietary requirements are completely different not to mention aggression issues. IMO you will need to return/re-home this fish as soon as possible....sorry

You have also combined Haps (Venustus and probably the others you describe which could be Livingstoni or Polystigma) with Mbuna (The Kenyi and the bumble bees assuming they are Pseudotropheus Crabro). Both Haps and Mbuna are from Lake Malawi but do have very different dietary requirements. Kenyi are Herbivores, Crabro are Omnivores and the Haps are Carnivores, the problem here being that if the Mbuna eat the food needed for the Haps, they are very likely to get bloat as they simply cannot process that level of protein. This unfortunately often proves fatal.

If you have a tank of 75 gal or larger it is possible to combine these fish but very difficult, especially feeding them correctly.

I know most of this is bad news but i hope it helps none the less.

 

[denis coghlan]

Another piece of bad news I'm affraid jgray,

Well its not bad but its something you should watch out for. By adding 9 fish all at once, you have more than doubled the "output" being produced in the tank. Just make sure that you check your water stats regularly over the next few days and carry out water changes to suit results. I think maybe twice a week at about 20-25% should cover it.

 

[jgray152]

Thanks for the input.

I have been feeding all my fish flake food. Can they all not eat this? They seem to gobble it right down.

The Jack dimpsy seem to be doing ok so far. Even though I just got him so I can't really say he will be ok.

For water requirements. I always have my water at a PH of 7.0+/- and a temp of about 80-84 degres. I recently did a water change but I plan on keeping an eye on the condition of the water.

Do any of these new fish need different water conditions?

My tank is a 55 Gallon Tank.

 

[adambrum]

As ferris said the dietary requirements are totally different the mbuna will no doubt get malawi bloat soon the mbuna will eat anything in front of them im sure if you put enough food in they would eat themselves to death !

Your ph is way off you should be looking at ideally 8.2 and the ph scale works at a factor of 10 meaning your water is 10 times to acidic ( Sure im right but apologize if im not ).

I think the best thing to do is decide which type of cichlid you want ie malawi mbuna,hap or new world( Non african ) and then come back but so far you have some of the most aggressive mbuna in there already.

 

[Ferris]

You'll need to get a veggie based flake for the Mbuna, preferrably something with a high Spirinula content. Tetra Pro Veg is pretty good and most LFS will stock this.

Temp is a little high also - 78-80F is advisable.

 

[jgray152]

Hmm. Alright well I guess I have to choose.

I Will do some quick research on all the fish to find out what family they are and decided. I would like a tank with a lot of colorful fish that grow from 2-4"

Which family should that be? I like the fish in some of you guys avaitors. Especially that blue fish with black strips looking at you.

I have always been know for keeping a large variety of fish in my tank but I think now that I keep leaning more toward cichlids, There is a line I just shouldn't cross when mixing.

Thanks Guys.

 

[Ferris]

Sounds to me like you want an Mbuna tank, Haps grow much larger whereas most Mbuna get to around 4-5". Most are also extremely colourful, which is another requirement you mentioned, you can get a nice mixture of species and a 55 gal tank is perfect.

 

[jgray152]

Thanks for the info.

I found this site with LOTs of good information about MBuna and Haps. Most of it is what you guys have described.

http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/feeding_mbuna.php
http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/haps_vs_mbuna.php

So I will return the Haps. So far the Jack Dimpsy is doing VERY well. (Only 2 days now I know). No one is chasing him around or picking on him. Though he is bigger then the other new fish. My 2 small jewel cichlids at first were pushing him around but they leave him alone now. I don't think I will return him. I do have a 30 gallon that I can always put him in if I need to.

I will adjust my PH to around 7.8 very slowly. Should I do this over a coarse of 2 weeks?

Well. Mbuna tank.... Here I come!

Have any of you ordered fish online? LFS don't always have the types I want. Although come to think of it they do say they can order specific type of fish. I think I just answered my own question.

You guys are great!

I used to think that pet store would not be able to pay me enough to work there since I "thought" I knew a lot about fish. Which I do but damn, you guys make me feel stupid. haha.

 

[Ferris]

Don't feel stupid, we've all probably done what you did at some point.

Just a warning on the Jack Dempsey - The JD is more likely to be the aggressor, these guys get to around 9" so a 30 gal won't be big enough as a backup plan i'm afraid. When fully grown he probably won't tolerate the other fish in his territory. They also prefer slightly soft/acidic water - the opposite to your Malawi's. It really would be better to do something about it now unless you may get at least a 55 gal in the near future (they grow very quickly) that can be set up for him. On the positive side, they are fantastic fish so if you can get hold of another tank - you won't regret it.

 

[jayjay]

JD's are suited for pH 7-8 so that is not really the problem. Though aggression will be a problem. Also the dimensions of the 30g would be helpful.

 

[Ferris]

JD's are suited for pH 7-8 so that is not really the problem. Though aggression will be a problem. Also the dimensions of the 30g would be helpful.

IMHO 8 is too high a Ph for a JD - There's a lot of conflicting info on the net about this. Even the profile on Cichlid-Forum quotes 7-8 and i normally trust the info on there. 6.5-7.5 is a much safer band to use and is what they are used to in the wild (Yucatan peninsula, Guatemala, Honduras).

 

[jayjay]

Most Central Americans IME do better with harder more alkali water also I agree with the cichlid-forum. What is the natural pH? Also most fish (excluding very sensitive fish) will be fine in a higher pH than normal or lower, as long as it is stable.

 

[jgray152]

Well I returned the HAPs and got rid of my Electric blue. That was very hard to do. I liked him. Even though he pissed me off while beating up my other fish, he felt like my child and I just gave him to someone and didn't say good bye

On the other hand. I gave the manager a list of Mbuna cichlids for her to check and see if she can get her hands on them. She said she would call me back.

She didn't know a whole lot on cichlids so I filled her in from what I have read.

She had a Freshwater Florida Sting Ray there too. It was sooo cool.

So anyways, after getting back home from about 5 hours have running around. I checked my tank and everyone seems a lot more calm. They actually come out and swim now. Its great!

9" for the JD huh? hmmm. damn damn damn

 

[Ferris]

So anyways, after getting back home from about 5 hours have running around. I checked my tank and everyone seems a lot more calm. They actually come out and swim now. Its great!

Good news