Will they breed

[tttnjfttt]

Right now, I am in the research phase of planing my new african cichlid tank. I know it is best to keep one male to atleast every 3 females. My question is, because of intentionally mixing genders, will my fish be breeding and will I need to be prepared to raise and re-home the fry?

 

[Soaup]

Its likely your fish will breed, if you get them while they are small you will not need to worry about this for a few months time to up to a year.. I currently have a fish who is pregnant and when that happends its recomended you separated her from the others to reduce the stress on the fish by the breeding male. If you decided to keep her this will be a good time to have other breeding females so one is not being picked on. Good luck

 

[tttnjfttt]

Will a 20 gal tank be suficient for holding a pregnant female? I just tore down my 20 gal when I got my new 40, which is what I am going to be using for the cichlids. I can add rocks, and leave the old spounge in the new filter...

The fish I am looking at get no bigger than 5", most are smaller.

 

[Soaup]

I had a 20 gallon tank that about 2 wks ago i transfered to a 50 gallon and i do now have a holding female in a 20 gallon and she is doing good she has been holding for about a week in the tank alone so i will get back to you on her sucess. I believe the fry will be hybrids but im still excited.

 

[vantgE]

They will breed for certain depending on how many groups you are keeping and how dedicated you are to raiseing them you will need at least a 10gallon. But I use a 20 gallon and a ten gallon currently and so far this is a great setup that I would suggest, a ten is a little small and would be very hard work to maintain for near selling size cichlids

A fry tank is best almost bare. At least one sponge filter, a rock or two, bare bottom, heater, and lid, it works the best and it's cheap.

 

[tttnjfttt]

My current plan is a group (1 male, 3 or 4 females) of Labidochromis caeruleus, Pseudotropheus sp. “Acei” aka. Yellow Tailed Acei , and one more group, but I haven't decided on which species yet. There will also be 6-8 tiger barbs in the tank. Someone suggested the Rusty Cichlid, but that one just isn't catching my eye.

My tank is 40 gal, 36" long, 15" deep, 17" high. I will be adding the spounge from the 20 gal I tore down, and probably buying bio-spira so I can add all the fish at once without causing a mini-cycle.

 

[Soaup]

I currently have an over hang aqua clear 150 on my tank, is it recomended to install a sponge or box filter before the fry are born for fear the filter will suck them up?

 

[freddyk]

will I need to be prepared to raise and re-home the fry?

I tried my hand a breeding and it was fun raising the first broods, but it's a lot of work with all the feedings and maintenance. Soon I just got some catfish instead. A holding female will do just fine in the tank you've described and moving her would be more stressful then leaving her. There's no need to be prepared to raise the fry, though you may want to be.

You don't need to worry about gender with either of those species - just get a group of each (you can't sex juvi's anyway). Watch out for any stress between the mbuna and tiger barbs, their opposite biotopes make it a less then ideal mix. The tiger barbs will pale in comparison to the Malawis anyway, so why not keep it all Malawi?. A male Aulonocara would work in that setup, as well as some catfish. Labs are groupers and Acei are shoalers, so more of their own only helps.

 

[vantgE]

  Soon I just got some catfish instead.

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What kind of catfish? would a group of synos in the tank do the trick there is no way I can keep up with these guys myself and there is always one that survives if I don't raise em

 

[Angry_Platy]

Yes they will breed and chances are, if you bought them from the same tank that they will b brothers and sisters. I have heard oof people buying each african cichlid from a different store for that exact reason

 

[tttnjfttt]

You don't need to worry about gender with either of those species - just get a group of each (you can't sex juvi's anyway). Watch out for any stress between the mbuna and tiger barbs, their opposite biotopes make it a less then ideal mix. The tiger barbs will pale in comparison to the Malawis anyway, so why not keep it all Malawi?. A male Aulonocara would work in that setup, as well as some catfish. Labs are groupers and Acei are shoalers, so more of their own only helps.

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Thanks for the advice. I will definately look into the Auloconcar. Do you think it would work to get maybe 6 labs, 6 Aceis, and one Aulonocara (assuming I can actually find them)? The reason I want to keep the tiger barbs is they were the fish that I had in my 20 gal that I love. Plus, I'm afraid of if I re-home them, they will get stuck in a tank that is way too small for them and live a short, miserable life. I got the barbs before I knew much about water hardness, pH, or KH. Later I realized how ideal my water is for African Cichlids, so when setting up my new tank, I have kept them in mind.

Also, can you recomend a catfish for this tank? I really don't like the common plecos.

Yes they will breed and chances are, if you bought them from the same tank that they will b brothers and sisters. I have heard oof people buying each african cichlid from a different store for that exact reason

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It would be great to be able to get them from a different shop, however, I am having enough trouble finding one decent LFS. I have started to expand my search so I will be driving an hour and a half to two hours each way. I've posted in the tropical chit chat section just trying to see if anyone from the aresa I'm looking into knows of a good shop.

Thanks for the feedback everyone and helping a total newbie to cichlids!

 

[freddyk]

Synodontis make excellent tankmates (Multipunctatus, Petricola, Notatus... see what you can get). I've heard of Raphaels doing well in these setups too. Pretty much any relatively tough catfish or loach that can handle the water will work. You may or may not have some fry make it, but if you do it's kind of cool to see one or two survive on their own.

 

[freddyk]

Do you think it would work to get maybe 6 labs, 6 Aceis, and one Aulonocara (assuming I can actually find them)?

Sometimes less is more, and I can assure you this is a beautiful setup.