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i have a 55 gallon tank with 6, 4 inch african cichlids and 1, 5 inch pleco i put them all in together two years ago. would i be able to add new africans to that tank of all different sizes or would my cichlids attack them and kill them. Or would that be perfectly fine and nothing would happen.

One other question is wat can i use to make caves in my tank

thanks

Last edited by chizunk at 30-Jan-2005 16:10

what kind of africans do u have? what kind of pleco? common plecos get too big for a 55, and r u talking about the cichlids from walmart? i will assume that they get like 6in. u can make caves out of coconut halves, pipeing, rocks, driftwood, ect

1st off i do not shop at walmart. they do not get bigger then 5-6 inches and i do not have a common pleco i am unsure of wat it is, possibly a Pterygoplichthys joselimaianus. my question is "can i put cichlids not the same size, but the same kind, in my tank." thats all i would like to know and if not please explain

1 ice blue
2 auratus
3 mbuna

1 ? pleco

you can put smaller sized versions of the same species no problem. obviously dont place in fry and think they gona live but a 2 inch fish shouldnt have much trouble. make sure you feed in bursts so the smaller fish have a chance to get food and use a smaller pellet so they can break it up easier.

also i would add more then one at a time so there isnt the problem of " the new guy " being picked on by everything in the tank. i would also move the decor around so the dominate males are busy claiming area rather then picking on the new fish.

keep a close eye on them for a couple days but it should be fine. in nature it happens all the time. OH ya make sure you got plenty of small holed caves or nooks for them to excape too. large enough for the new ones but to small for the adults to get into. this will be the best defense.

second part of your question, what can you use to make caves. there are countless ways. you can use a maze of pvc pipe with all different types and sizes of tunnels and holes. you can use clay pots that are cut in half. [link=this]http://community.webshots.com/photo/119716850/214977014UJFGQg" style="COLOR: #00FFFF[/link] this what pots look like in a tank. you can use slate or everyday rocks from your landscape store. loads of ways to go about it all with different costs and looks. you just need to decide what works for you

When adding smaller cichlids into a tank which the bigger ones are already in, add a few at once....
Gives them a bit of a head start

And as Sin mentioned, same species

thanks i think ill try it and as for that picture WOW beautiful tank sin BEAUTIFUL

i was going to redo the whole inside of my tank except the substrate, so would it be a good idea to redo it and then buy like 3 or 4 fish like the next day and if so what would be a comfortable amount of 1-2 inch ,added to the 6 4-5 inch

Last edited by chizunk at 31-Jan-2005 14:41