First cichlids lots of questions...

[SA]

Hi all,

I am stocking my 45G tank with my first cichlids. Great looking African Lake
Malawi 2 Yellow Labs, 2 Blue Zebras and I also got over this past weekend 2
bright orange ones that look identical to the yellow labs without the black
stripe on their dorsal fin and of course they are not yellow.

These are all babies, less than an inch long, but growing fast.

Does anyone know what the actual name is for those specimens either Latin or
casual. (Sorry if this is a basic question I am very new to this...)

Since this is only my third month with the established tank, I was wondering
if anyone cares to offer any gotchas, or any resources I can reference in my
quest to house those 6 cichlids successfully.

They all seem to be doing fairly well, except one is a bit too hyperactive,
moving rapidly from side to side. I have read that mollies with such
behavior can signal a health problem, is that also true with cics or can it
be some shock because of the new surroundings and the fact that she's the
smallest one of the bunch?

Thank you all very much for any responses and Happy Holidays.

Steve

[IceManDug]

The yellow labs have a common name of Electric Yellows and their scientific
name is Labidochromis caeruleus. The blue zebras have a scientific name of
Pseudotropheus sp. zebra (sp = species). The bright orange ones could be
red zebras but without seeing them it would be hard to say for sure.

If I could offer any advise at all, it would be to get 4 or 5 babies of each
kind. As they grow you can see how many males and how many females that you
have. I always want to have at least 2 females for every male. With only 2
of each type of fish, if there is any aggression, it will be taken out
mostly on the other one of the same species. This will escalate even more
once they reach breeding size.

Hope this helps. Good luck and enjoy the fish!

--

Doug Branham
"SA" > wrote in message
...
> Hi all,
>
> I am stocking my 45G tank with my first cichlids. Great looking African
Lake
> Malawi 2 Yellow Labs, 2 Blue Zebras and I also got over this past weekend
2
> bright orange ones that look identical to the yellow labs without the
black
> stripe on their dorsal fin and of course they are not yellow.
>
> These are all babies, less than an inch long, but growing fast.
>
> Does anyone know what the actual name is for those specimens either Latin
or
> casual. (Sorry if this is a basic question I am very new to this...)
>
> Since this is only my third month with the established tank, I was
wondering
> if anyone cares to offer any gotchas, or any resources I can reference in
my
> quest to house those 6 cichlids successfully.
>
> They all seem to be doing fairly well, except one is a bit too
hyperactive,
> moving rapidly from side to side. I have read that mollies with such
> behavior can signal a health problem, is that also true with cics or can
it
> be some shock because of the new surroundings and the fact that she's the
> smallest one of the bunch?
>
> Thank you all very much for any responses and Happy Holidays.
>
> Steve
>
>

[Phil & Edwina]

There's a few good sites with pictures to help find what it is
and countless sites for caring for your cichlids

Your Orange fish could be a juvenile of Pseudotropheus Saulosi
http://www.malawimayhem.com/profile_show.php?id=276
or as IceManDug said a Maylandia estherae (Red Zebra)
http://www.malawimayhem.com/profile_show.php?id=278

I think the rapid shaking from side to side is just shimmering a
mating/territorial display

Personally I liked http://www.cichlidrecipe.com/cichlidrecipe/
for its simple 'crash course' style advice on keeping africans

[SA]

Thank you both for your insightfull responces. I supose i will have to wait
a bit longer till they develop to tell for sure.

After reading IceManDug's comment about getting a few of each i couldn't
help but wonder how many do you guys think i can house in a 45G tank. I felt
that 6 woul be about the most. You think I may be able to stock some more? I
have over speced my canister filter just to be on the safe side with one
Fluval rated for up to 75G I believe, if that makes any difference.

Phil I believe you were right about the establishing the territory thing,
it's just amazing how now she guards that one spot and has relaxed quite a
bit.

Thank you both again.

Steve

[T]

I have some wheres in the nature of 40 africans housed in a 55USG tank. This
was done on purpose, as to help stop aggresion amongst the different
speices.. Hard to remeber what your target was when you see two or three
more of the same fish .. Most of the fish in this tank are 3 to 5 inches in
length, so they are mostly adults.. When I first statred learning about the
Africans I took to heart that the tank so be over stocked to prevent over
agression, granted I have had to increase the filtration to keep up to the
demands of the inhabitants, but I have been succesful so far, as I have only
lost one fish over the past year due to agreesion ( when I first started up
the tank, I had very few fish, the male kenyi killed of his female companion
because of over aggresion ).

Tim...
"SA" > wrote in message
...
> Thank you both for your insightfull responces. I supose i will have to
wait
> a bit longer till they develop to tell for sure.
>
> After reading IceManDug's comment about getting a few of each i couldn't
> help but wonder how many do you guys think i can house in a 45G tank. I
felt
> that 6 woul be about the most. You think I may be able to stock some more?
I
> have over speced my canister filter just to be on the safe side with one
> Fluval rated for up to 75G I believe, if that makes any difference.
>
> Phil I believe you were right about the establishing the territory thing,
> it's just amazing how now she guards that one spot and has relaxed quite a
> bit.
>
> Thank you both again.
>
> Steve
>
>

[SA]

Tim,

Thanks for the info. I think I will try something similar... I was thinking
of stocking up to 15 (5 of each, yellow lab, blue zebra, and red zebra) I
wonder if they get really big, I think 3-4in will be ok anything larger I
will get nervous.

Of the three types it seems that the blue zebras are the most aggressive
thus far... I wonder which ones are going to be the biggest and toughest...

Thanks again and if you have any additional info you can spare I'd
appreciate it.

Happy New Year all!

Steve

PS. BTW do you have any breeding going on that 55G tank Tim?


"T" > wrote in message
hlink.net...
> I have some wheres in the nature of 40 africans housed in a 55USG tank.
This
> was done on purpose, as to help stop aggresion amongst the different
> speices.. Hard to remeber what your target was when you see two or three
> more of the same fish .. Most of the fish in this tank are 3 to 5 inches
in
> length, so they are mostly adults.. When I first statred learning about
the
> Africans I took to heart that the tank so be over stocked to prevent over
> agression, granted I have had to increase the filtration to keep up to the
> demands of the inhabitants, but I have been succesful so far, as I have
only
> lost one fish over the past year due to agreesion ( when I first started
up
> the tank, I had very few fish, the male kenyi killed of his female
companion
> because of over aggresion ).
>
> Tim...
> "SA" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Thank you both for your insightfull responces. I supose i will have to
> wait
> > a bit longer till they develop to tell for sure.
> >
> > After reading IceManDug's comment about getting a few of each i couldn't
> > help but wonder how many do you guys think i can house in a 45G tank. I
> felt
> > that 6 woul be about the most. You think I may be able to stock some
more?
> I
> > have over speced my canister filter just to be on the safe side with
one
> > Fluval rated for up to 75G I believe, if that makes any difference.
> >
> > Phil I believe you were right about the establishing the territory
thing,
> > it's just amazing how now she guards that one spot and has relaxed quite
a
> > bit.
> >
> > Thank you both again.
> >
> > Steve
> >
> >
>
>

[T]

Breeding... Yes, starting to get some going on... First the socolofi and
kenyi breed together, then the yellow lab, then the OB peacocks, and now the
male OB has breed ( watched today ) with the other female peacock. The one
female PC should be dropping her babies soon, and now I will keep track for
the next 21 days on the other PC female.. If my female (EB) Hap was still
around, I am sure I would have had a batch of electric blues by now... Now
I am going to have to find buyers for my babies sooner or later.. Keep the
nice ones and cull out the others I don't want for breeding stock...

Timmer..


"SA" > wrote in message
...
> Tim,
>
> Thanks for the info. I think I will try something similar... I was
thinking
> of stocking up to 15 (5 of each, yellow lab, blue zebra, and red zebra) I
> wonder if they get really big, I think 3-4in will be ok anything larger I
> will get nervous.
>
> Of the three types it seems that the blue zebras are the most aggressive
> thus far... I wonder which ones are going to be the biggest and
toughest...
>
> Thanks again and if you have any additional info you can spare I'd
> appreciate it.
>
> Happy New Year all!
>
> Steve
>
> PS. BTW do you have any breeding going on that 55G tank Tim?
>
>
> "T" > wrote in message
> hlink.net...
> > I have some wheres in the nature of 40 africans housed in a 55USG tank.
> This
> > was done on purpose, as to help stop aggresion amongst the different
> > speices.. Hard to remeber what your target was when you see two or three
> > more of the same fish .. Most of the fish in this tank are 3 to 5 inches
> in
> > length, so they are mostly adults.. When I first statred learning about
> the
> > Africans I took to heart that the tank so be over stocked to prevent
over
> > agression, granted I have had to increase the filtration to keep up to
the
> > demands of the inhabitants, but I have been succesful so far, as I have
> only
> > lost one fish over the past year due to agreesion ( when I first started
> up
> > the tank, I had very few fish, the male kenyi killed of his female
> companion
> > because of over aggresion ).
> >
> > Tim...
> > "SA" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > Thank you both for your insightfull responces. I supose i will have to
> > wait
> > > a bit longer till they develop to tell for sure.
> > >
> > > After reading IceManDug's comment about getting a few of each i
couldn't
> > > help but wonder how many do you guys think i can house in a 45G tank.
I
> > felt
> > > that 6 woul be about the most. You think I may be able to stock some
> more?
> > I
> > > have over speced my canister filter just to be on the safe side with
> one
> > > Fluval rated for up to 75G I believe, if that makes any difference.
> > >
> > > Phil I believe you were right about the establishing the territory
> thing,
> > > it's just amazing how now she guards that one spot and has relaxed
quite
> a
> > > bit.
> > >
> > > Thank you both again.
> > >
> > > Steve
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>
>