electric yellows in a 20 gallon?

[Wackinator]

hey i got a 20 gallon tank that i wanna set up and put some electric yellows in

i know the tanks not big so i was wondering if i could keep at least 3-4 electric yellows in it?

thanks

[rED O]

I would not try it. I would not suggest mbuna in anything smaller than a 55 gallon. If have one in a 20 gallon that would be fine, if you had two they would fight non stop. and if you had 3, two would pick on one. For mbuna I would keep a group no smaller than 8. mbunas are less agressive when there is a larger group. So I would try one yellow lab or none.

Edited September 15, 2008 by rED O

[Lana Bollers]

hey i got a 20 gallon tank that i wanna set up and put some electric yellows in

i know the tanks not big so i was wondering if i could keep at least 3-4 electric yellows in it?

thanks

I think the electric yellows would be happier in a 33gal tank. If they are juvi's then you could probably get away with keeping them in a 20 gal for a bit.

Keep lots of rocks and hiding places. I have read on other forums where people have kept them successfully in a 20 -25gal, however I don't personally feel they would be the most happy there.

But you wont know unless you try... If they are not happy and constantly fighting then you could always put them into a bigger tank.

Lana

[Wackinator]

I would not try it. I would not suggest mbuna in anything smaller than a 55 gallon. If have one in a 20 gallon that would be fine, if you had two they would fight non stop. and if you had 3, two would pick on one. For mbuna I would keep a group no smaller than 8. mbunas are less agressive when there is a larger group. So I would try one yellow lab or none.

hey i got a 20 gallon tank that i wanna set up and put some electric yellows in

i know the tanks not big so i was wondering if i could keep at least 3-4 electric yellows in it?

thanks

I think the electric yellows would be happier in a 33gal tank. If they are juvi's then you could probably get away with keeping them in a 20 gal for a bit.

Keep lots of rocks and hiding places. I have read on other forums where people have kept them successfully in a 20 -25gal, however I don't personally feel they would be the most happy there.

But you wont know unless you try... If they are not happy and constantly fighting then you could always put them into a bigger tank.

Lana

ye i was actually just gonna keep juveniles in the tank right now and if they do happen to be constantly fighting i would move them but now im having second thoughts about that

do you guyz know of any cichlids i could succesfully keep in a 20 gallon? and maybe even breed?

[Vallisneria]

There are lots of cichlids that can live and breed in a 20g, unfortunately those dont' really include Mbuna or other malawis.

If you want to stick with africans, fish from lake tang. will work well. I kept and bred a small colony of shelldwellers in a 20g. N. multifasicatus and L occellatus are a few shellies. A pair of the smaller Julidochromis species.

For non african cichlids, there are lots to choose from. There are many Apistos to choose from. Blue rams, Rainbow cichlids(herotilapia multispinosa).

It depends on what kind of tank you want.

[krazy_Karma]

Something else you can try are dwarf Cichlids, there were so many from Lake Tang that I liked but I already started with my Malawi fish.

I had 5 electric yellows in my 47 gal tank among them were 25 other fish, from dolphins, fronts, peacocks etc...now that tank was crowded the last few fish I added but I knew my 80 gal tank was soon to be ready, but I never had a problem with the electric yellows fighting at all, in fact the one that was most agressive was my red zebra, then the polit male was next.

Lisa

[firestorm]

I have to somewhat agree with everyone here. You can successfully keep yellow lab juvies in a 20 gallon, but for a proper sized breeding group of 1 male and 3-4 females I would go no lower than a 33 gallon. You don't necessarily need to have a tank as large as a 55 unless you are getting into a more aggressive species of mbuna.

Not all dwarf cichlids will survive well in a 20 gallon either. Dwarf mbuna because of their aggression level will not work either. But dwarf tanganyikan or dwarf SA cichlids will work. I personally love the Lamprologus ocellatus or the multies, or you can definitely go with a trio of 1m/2f of blue rams and apistogramma species (the ratio is so the male and choose his female to pair with). A 20 gallon might be too small for regular sized rainbows, but any dwarf rainbows will work well. Basically any species of fish that stay under 4" and are not highly aggressive will work out in a 20 gallon.

If you need any more advice feel free to ask