Koi Fish Information Centre

Hm…. 16 African cichlids in a 50g tank is asking for LOADS of water quality and inter-species problems. You might consider joining one of the forums that deals specifically with these guys to learn about the individual species and their needs indepth before you put money into anything. Nothing worse than buying a whole setup and ending up losing money because the fish aren’t compatible or given enough room and up and die because of water quality issues or killing each other fighting.
http://www.frontosa.com/viewtopic.php?t=140 - I found this on the Frontosa. They recommend a 6′ 100g tank for 8 Frontosas. Another thread on the same forum - http://www.frontosa.com/viewtopic.php?t=253 - indicates that this species is best kept in a species tank and not mixed with other species.
And given that the blue moori (Cyrtocara moori) get up to 10″ in length, I’d say only one or two of them at most in a 50g tank (without other tank mates). Otherwise you are likely to end up having water quality issues that will adversely affect the fish quickly as they grow, not to mention compatibility issues with other fish if you choose to mix them with the wrong species. The sites I searched just as a preliminary scan-through suggest 45-55g per fish of this species IF they are under 5″ in length and 75-100g for over 5″.
Basically, none of these species are recommended to keep in a 50g tank if you have more than one or two (depending on species), and some of them don’t mix well with the others. I wish I had better “news” for you.
I’ve found the forums to be a great help with getting information on specific species or families of fish. And there are some great cichlid only forums. I can highly recommend them for someone trying to learn about cichlids.
Dawn

>>> Here is where my question comes in. I have talked to the guy that works >>> in the aquarium dept. and I have been doing a lot of reading, however >>> there is conflict. Some of what I read and was told is that I can obtain >>> a 50 gal tank and 16 cichlids would do very well in there, providing >>> they are all purchased around 3″ in length. >>> What the heck is the correct size of tank I should purchase, and if I >>> purchased a 50 gal tank how long would or could it last me? >>> The types of cichlids I would like to put into this tank are as follows: >>> four sunshine peacock, four blue moori (dolphin), four frontosa and four >>> Hap Ahli Tanzania. >>> Lana Bollers

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