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55gal african cichlid tank

Discussion in 'Freshwater Aquariums & Fish Photos' started by buzz4520, Jun 25, 2009.

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  1. buzz4520

    buzz4520 Thread Starter Well-Known Member

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    .
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    buzz4520, Jun 25, 2009
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  2. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    Wow, is that a pristine tank. What do you all have in there (aquatic species wise)?
     
    MOD_Dawn, Jun 25, 2009
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  3. buzz4520

    buzz4520 Thread Starter Well-Known Member

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    thanks dawn. there are 9 africans : socolofi (tank boss), crabro, estherae, jewel, yellow lab, venustus, sprengerae, 2 that i haven't got positive id's on yet, and a pleco.
     
    buzz4520, Jun 25, 2009
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  4. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    Do they go after your pleco (when I have africans they killed mine)?
    Also, aggression issues yet? Is thinking your gonna need more rockwork/hiding spots in the future. I had a ton and my tank turned into slaughter fest. But then again, I was later informed that the guy at my lfs improperly sexed them and that's why the issues occured??
     
    MOD_Dawn, Jun 25, 2009
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  5. buzz4520

    buzz4520 Thread Starter Well-Known Member

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    they all pretty much leave the pleco alone. we have to keep an eye on them when put fruits/veggies in as a treat, the "dark" side of the pleco will show. not too much aggression, there's some chasing going on but thats about it for now lol. once the ven gets more size to it and if its a male then i think there's gona be somoe trouble. we wanted to have an all male tank, but i think that 4 or 5 maybe female. i know that there is 1 right now, we just moved at the beginning of the month and whlie i was draining the tank to move some fry got sucked out and went in the front yard, didn't even know they were there until i found one stuck to the side of the glass.
     
    buzz4520, Jun 25, 2009
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  6. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    yup, sounds like you have a female in there somewhere.
    I found out venting is the only true way to sex them, but I moved back to my true love (community tank).
     
    MOD_Dawn, Jun 25, 2009
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  7. NoctuVide

    NoctuVide Member

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    definitely want to get a little more rock work (caves) in there. Nice looking cichlids though. I also have a venustus (impulse buy...i loved the coloration) in my 55...the only problem with that is they eventually will get to large for a 55 so you'd either have to move them to another larger tank, or trade him in. Once mine gets too large I'm probably going to bring it down to ned's for a trade or something. My Christmas Fulu is the Alpha male in my tank (at least as of right now)
    Dawn, did you have males of the same type of cichlids in there? I know for example with christmas fulu's....if there is more than one male, one will kill the other as soon as it possibly can.
     
    NoctuVide, Jun 25, 2009
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  8. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    MOD_Dawn, Jun 25, 2009
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  9. NoctuVide

    NoctuVide Member

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    hmm, looks like you had a couple red zebras in there with the others?
     
    NoctuVide, Jun 25, 2009
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  10. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    I just remember them being supposed all african.
    a few I can remember>
    Zebra red/orange
    Zebra ob
    electric blue (?johanni)
    electric yellow
    auratus
    I think one was a tiny blue with black stripe (demonsai or somethin like that)
     
    MOD_Dawn, Jun 25, 2009
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  11. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    Hey buzz, how often and how much water are you changing at a clip on that 55?
     
    MOD_Dawn, Jun 25, 2009
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  12. NoctuVide

    NoctuVide Member

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    hmm...well if I'm thinking correctly, Red Zebras can be mean as hell and will attack other cichlids... It could very well have been that your LFS had sexed them wrong and you had more then one male of each type in there...which could result in the slaughter being that I think most cichlids will not tolerate another male of the same species in the tank
     
    NoctuVide, Jun 25, 2009
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  13. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    someone on here told me they were more than likely sexed wrong...exactly what you are referring to.
     
    MOD_Dawn, Jun 25, 2009
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  14. NoctuVide

    NoctuVide Member

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    yeah...so strange how they can be so evil to each other in a tank...but in the wild it isn't a problem. even just watching bluegill in a pond (very closely related) they live so peacefully with each other in a tight knit school. Can you imagine going to Malawi and watching wild cichlids... just watching videos of them is amazing...but seeing it with your own eyes...
     
    NoctuVide, Jun 25, 2009
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  15. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    that would be awesome..I know I love going to my local zoo and checking out all the fish!
     
    MOD_Dawn, Jun 25, 2009
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  16. buzz4520

    buzz4520 Thread Starter Well-Known Member

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    Dawn we do 15gal water change every week for 3 weeks & 1 week @ 25 gal.
     
    buzz4520, Jun 25, 2009
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  17. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    wow. amazed it's crystal clear...I would have though you were doing a 50% every week on it.
     
    MOD_Dawn, Jun 25, 2009
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  18. buzz4520

    buzz4520 Thread Starter Well-Known Member

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    thanks. i don't think we do anything different than anyone else. we're running 2 aqueon 55 hob filters. nothing special.
     
    buzz4520, Jun 25, 2009
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  19. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    I know, but I know of people who have such trouble with water quality when it comes to the aggressive fish. I think it's mainly due to them stirring the substrate when they get bigger and begin knocking stuff around..that and possibly food is my guess.
     
    MOD_Dawn, Jun 25, 2009
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  20. buzz4520

    buzz4520 Thread Starter Well-Known Member

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    it just must be the water we have then lol. on our 125gal, which is alittle overstocked with the 3 oscars, 1 jd, 2 pleco. we'll do 40 gal water change for 3 weeks & 1 week @ 60 gal, water is clear in it as well.
     
    buzz4520, Jun 25, 2009
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