Cichlid Care

7 Comments For This Post

1. dolphinsilversea01 Says:
   July 16th, 2009 at 12:01 pm

   It depends upon the fish’s adult size. It is inches per gallon. You have a 29 gallon so you have 29 inches to work with. Find out the adult size of each fish and figure out from that what you would prefer to have in the tank.

2. dpfhpres Says:
   July 18th, 2009 at 11:47 pm

   You could put a pair of convicts or 3 yellow labids maybe 4 but only one male the jewels while can been done in that tank I have seen some that would get o big for that tank

3. Blue's Mom Says:
   July 22nd, 2009 at 6:51 am

   I would not recommend mixing africans with south american cichlids. They come from different biotopes and their requirements are different.

   Also, that many cichlids in a 29 gallon will murder each other. Cichlids are highly territorial and aggressive, you will go from having many cichlids, to one - likely the yellow lab.

   I would suggest either just convicts 2 max, a male and a female, and you will end up with many many more… convicts are hard to sell to pet stores if they have babies - so be prepared.

   3 yellow labs - one male two females, they will also breed, but you may be able to sell offspring for cheap.

   Red Jewels 3 max, one male two females - also breeders.

   Jewels, even though they’re also from Africa (same as Labs) are river fish - different biotope from labs (labs come from hard alkaline water while jewels and convicts come from soft acidic water). Jewels are a less aggressive fish than the other two species and thus would not be good tank mates.

   For this size tank you could also do a pair (male and female) of firemouth cichlids or a pair of festivums.

   Cichlids, in all honesty, are best housed in larger tanks 50g or more, due to their aggressive and territorial natures and often larger sizes.

4. Gary C Says:
   July 22nd, 2009 at 9:06 am

   Convicts, yellow labs, and red jewels would be a bad mixture, as all three of these are notoriously aggressive fishes, and you wouldn’t be giving them enough room to each have their own territories. Also, they each have different water requirements. The jewel cichlids do best in soft water, the convicts in moderate water, and the yellow labs in hard, alkaline water.

   I recommend that you choose the one of these species that best matches your water supply, and get about four or five juveniles. As they reach adulthood, two of them will pair off and begin to chase the others into a corner of the tank. At that point, you can remove the others (leaving the pair in the tank) and watch the spawining and fry-raising behaviors that make cichlids famous.

5. junie Says:
   July 25th, 2009 at 5:19 pm

   The convict is very agressive and best left alone.

   The convict would probably kill the yellow labs and just one yellow lab would get too large for your tank anyway.

   The red jewels just one will fill this tank also. They are also very agressive and should be kept alone.=

6. Dcgemini Says:
   July 27th, 2009 at 6:21 am

   It depends on what kind of cichlids. Adult size and temperament are factors. The one inch per gallon goes “out the window” for cichlids. 29 gallons is not enough room for ONE 12″ oscar. And several small cichlids could become territorial and quarrelsome.

   I’d stick with a few jewels.

   The convicts breed heavily, if you have a mix of males and females.

   The yellow labs have “special requirements” for african cichlids.

7. sp33dstix Says:
   July 28th, 2009 at 1:22 pm

   Look into shell dwellers, they stay fairly small buy have all the characteristics of cichlids. These guys you can easily fit 5-6 in a 29 gallon tank. Be prepared though, they need a sandy substrate and LOTS of shells for hiding.
   Here is some information. The “brevis” are one of the more common ones that you can find in pet stores.

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