CICHLID PROBLEM!?!? appreciated?

Question

I have a 29 gallon tank.
What should i get.
-2 convict cichlids, male and a female, they breed and have fry that i can raise.

OR

-A tank full of malaiwan/African cichlids, ranging from
Electric Blue Cichlid
Electric Yellow Cichlid
Kenyi Cichlid
Demasoni Cichlid
Peackock Cichlid
Jewel Cichlid
A variety of cool cichlids.

What should i get?

Opinions, comments or answers well appreciated.
Thanks

Answer 1

Tunish, either way I think you can't go wrong. In my opinion I think you'd get more enjoyment ouf of seeing the dynamics and interactions of that malaiwan community and I'm building up a small one myself. Only thing on that listing I'd be wary of that Jewel Cichild. I've been advised they are very very aggressive and in a 29 gallon tank, and that population, I'm not sure there'll be enough space for him and the others.

Conversely, breeding is very rewarding and I think that falls into it's own catagory to feel successful because it's not always a given fish are going to mate even if you have a male and female. The real issue with this aspect is convicts are known to mate and mate OFTEN, so what is your plans to do with the fry? Do you have necessary housing for them and consider, though it maybe years before they reach the age for it, those in turn may very well breed as well, but by then I'm sure the adults you've got in hand will have spawned out batches upon batches by then anyways. Now if you have a binding agreement with a local supplier or pet store that will take them for you, good for you and wtg getting that set up!! If you don't I'd think you'll end up over populating your capabilities to hold the fry in a short period of time. I wouldn't be happy knowing someone bred fish and then just ditched fry in the toilet or killed them off because they didn't plan for the offspring. As long as you have a solid plan for fry, you can't go wrong there either

In the end, I'd go with the community, that would be my choice.

JV

Answer 2

I'd go with African Cichlids myself. But like Jon V mentioned, Jewel Cichlids can be highly aggressive. I currently have a Red Jewel Cichlid in a tank with an Oscar, a Green Terror, a Bala Shark and a couple large catfish, and I can tell you that the Red Jewel is easily the most aggressive fish in the tank. The Oscar is practically three times the size of the Jewel, but the Jewel chases him around and is constantly harassing him as well as all the other fish in the tank. The other fish are all either too fast or too big for the Jewel to really do any harm to, but that little sucker has one hell of a bad attitude. I'd definitely think twice about putting a Jewel in with other smaller fish. They definitely do NOT play nice with other fish.

Answer 3

A good question to ask yourself.... what in the world will I do with all those baby convicts? At first that's not so hard to answer since you can usually give away some to pet stores (don't expect to sell them for nore than MAYBE 10 cents each) But on the 27th batch that question is really hard to answer LOL.

Unless you really just want to try your hand at breeding, I would go with the African tank. Of course, in a sense you can do both. If you stock the tank with only one or two species of africans odds are you will have them spawning in a while. Those young would be MUCH easier to sell.

MM

Answer 4

I would go with the convicts or a group of electric yellows.Most of those other Africans are not suited to your tank size as they are very aggressive(especially kenyis) and need more room.

Answer 5

29 gallon is too small for africans to get along all that well. I would go with the convict pair. You might actually be able to get away with 2 pair of convicts if you divide the tank adequately with a center divider & 4" terra cotta pots on each side of the tank.

Answer 6

I'm not into raising babies, so I hope that the pairs that I have dont mate LOL so I elect for the different ones. I have 2 yellow labs and 2 aeci blues and I like to just watch the differences in the fish and their behavior. Its also much more fun to watch different fish and different colors than a tank full of one type of fish.

Answer 7

if you know how to sex the convict cichlids that's what i would go for.... but i bought two convict cichlids (babies) of unknown sex, and one of them basically harassed the other one to literal death. i bought a few assorted cichlids of unknown sex before (babies) and had basically the same problem, though maybe not quite as bad.
you should also keep in mind that they grow pretty big and you might not wnat more than a couple (or one) in one tank

Answer 8

I rarely change water on my cichlid tank...I have an algae eater(Pleco) that cleans it very well. When I do change it I use Amquel to clarify the tank.

Answer 9

convicts ar annoying you start 2 end up with a million half way through the year