Trios or duos?

[smcurry83]

I was originally planning on having about 4 different trios of cichlids in my tank. After seeing how hard it is to sex juvi's I'm thinking I should go with duos. This way there will always be a 1:1 male to female ratio or just 2 males per species. This would also allow me to have a better variety of cichlid species.

What are your thoughts?

[Fishguy2727]

You want at least two females per male. Otherwise the females are picked on too much.

[RainMan]

I've rationalized the duo approach too. It works sometimes... but, some species don't get along in pairs so well. My bumblebees are a good example of this. I had 2 males and the dominant fish killed the other. And then proceeded to go after the rest of the community. He went back to the LFS. Soemtimes you have to do a little research there. Each species so different. Some like to only be in large schools... like the demasoni.

Eitherway... the key is going to be large tank with multiple territorial spots with caves and such to hide in. Good luck

[RainMan]

You want at least two females per male. Otherwise the females are picked on too much.

That is so hard to do... how do you guys/gals manage to pick out females over males?

[Fishguy2727]

With mbunas you need to overstock the tank at first. This allows you to remove indivduals as needed (too agressive, not aggressive enough, wrong gender).

[smcurry83]

That is so hard to do... how do you guys/gals manage to pick out females over males?

This is a great question. This is what actually raised the idea for this thread. The few stores I've been to have all told me that most juvi's can't really be sexed. What's the secret?

[RainMan]

Oh... that's why you overstock. It's so hard to get rid of them once you have them. :(

It can be a real PITA to get a good balance of cichlids. Have you noticed that after you remove a problem fish another one will take it's place? Or all the sudden after a long time... one will start to get aggressive out of nowhere?

[smcurry83]

Oh... that's why you overstock. It's so hard to get rid of them once you have them. :(

It can be a real PITA to get a good balance of cichlids. Have you noticed that after you remove a problem fish another one will take it's place? Or all the sudden after a long time... one will start to get aggressive out of nowhere?

Actually I started with 3 electric yellows and the biggest picked on the other 2. The biggest actually died and the next biggest took it's place as tank bully. I added 2 kenyi's, which are smaller, and they have actually taken over most of the tank!!!

[plow]

Oh... that's why you overstock. It's so hard to get rid of them once you have them. :(

It can be a real PITA to get a good balance of cichlids. Have you noticed that after you remove a problem fish another one will take it's place? Or all the sudden after a long time... one will start to get aggressive out of nowhere?

Yep I've notriced this, and for that reason I am always going to try and make sure I have a bully and a fish that is bullied, and the rest can live in peace.. well thats my theory anyway... lets see if it works lol...

[smcurry83]

So the idea is to overstock the tank and eventually weed out & replace the trouble makers or problem fish... When you take out the "bad' fish, what do you do with them? I'm pretty sure we're not talking about "flushing" fish!

[RainMan]

Actually I started with 3 electric yellows and the biggest picked on the other 2. The biggest actually died and the next biggest took it's place as tank bully. I added 2 kenyi's, which are smaller, and they have actually taken over most of the tank!!!

yeah... i've been there once or twice.. different combo of fish. But, similar story.


Yep I've notriced this, and for that reason I am always going to try and make sure I have a bully and a fish that is bullied, and the rest can live in peace.. well thats my theory anyway... lets see if it works lol...

That's too funny.... Even more funny... because it actually makes sense. Kinda. LOL


So the idea is to overstock the tank and eventually weed out & replace the trouble makers or problem fish... When you take out the "bad' fish, what do you do with them? I'm pretty sure we're not talking about "flushing" fish!


That's the real problem... what do you do with them? Luckily my lfs is pretty cool about taking/swaping fish... as long as they are healthy. But, as we are finding out... sometimes removing them isn't the answer either. I wouldn't ever say kill a fish because it didn't get along. I wouldn't ever do it either. But, if it comes down to one over the entire tank's harmony... what are you going to do? Those are the days I hate!

That's usually how I end up with 3 or 4 tanks. Damn this hobby sometimes!

[smcurry83]

That's the real problem... what do you do with them? Luckily my lfs is pretty cool about taking/swaping fish... as long as they are healthy. But, as we are finding out... sometimes removing them isn't the answer either. I wouldn't ever say kill a fish because it didn't get along. I wouldn't ever do it either. But, if it comes down to one over the entire tank's harmony... what are you going to do? Those are the days I hate!

That's usually how I end up with 3 or 4 tanks. Damn this hobby sometimes!

I've got a few good specialty shops in my area. I'm sure at least one of them would be good about trading. I'll look into that for sure. I definitely don't wan't to have to "dispose" of a fish just because it causes problems in the tank.

Thanks for all the info.