Electric yellow cichlids

[Pimpshrimp]

How u all doing? i consider myself fairly new to this hobby but not a beginner, i say this because i have not kept a large range of fish species yet but have had my tropical fish tanks for about 2 years. This coincides with me wanting to keep electric yellow cichlids and obtaining a juvenile one. But i do not know much about them and would like anyone with experience in keeping them or knows there cichlids to fil me in or these very attractive fish. I have a filter with an over turn rate of about 3 1/2 times the tank an hour which is an external filter. My tank i have running now is about 15 gallons and i have used goldfish as a temporary biological starter and will remove them once i get my cichlid(I have been cycling the tank for about 4 1/2 months). The subtrate is gravel and, decorations include bogwood and a Echinodorus amazonicus and anubias nana. I am aware that most cichlids probably prefer sand subtrate and are known to eat or dig live plants in an aqaurium up, will this be a problem for the electric yellow cichlids? Also cichlids are prone to be territorial, is this a case with this fish, and if so are they more aggresive towards certain species such as those with trailing fins (betta splenda) . And if you are wondering what i am planning to do with the cichlid once it gets big i am planning to transport it to my 20 gallon bare tank.

[something_fishy]

Its a good choice to get some of these guys, they are almost my favourite of all the cichlids as they make the aquarium look so brightly coloured, almost like a marine reef community.

They tend to be one of the most peaceful types of cichlid around. They can live on their own or in pairs and are not territorial at all!

They can grow to 7 or 8 inches so i would say that you need to have a reasonably sized tank (definately over and above 30g or so).

they particularly like to have lots of rocks and caves in their tank that will provide hiding places for them. they tend to be quite good at not digging into the substrate so your plants should be fine.

[Lisachromis]

7 or 8 inches? That's a bit big for electric yellows. Big males are usually not much more than 5". How many of them are you planning on keeping? You definitely need some space with these guys even though they are on the lower end of the aggression scale for Malawians.

[Moltenice]

I have one who is very very mellow. Awesome fish but definately on the lower end of the aggression scale.

Mine spends alot of time in a rock cave, along with my Red Zebra (my favorite breed) so some good hiding spots would be great for him/her.

I got mine at about the 1.5" mark and now it is 3" in length. I have had it about 8 months, so that's maybe an idea of how much it will grow. I recommend getting the smallest one you can, I find the tiny malawians to be the most interesting. They are so curious and cool to look at.

[Gourami Swami]

Not too agressive, I would get yourself a 30 gallon for one male and 4 females. They like to be kept harem stye. Put lots of rockwork in the tank and use aragonite sand. Dont worry about the pH, the arag sand will take care of that for you.

[Mr Aquarium]

Ok to clear up the record here,

These fish do dig in the subsrtate, all malawi mbuna do, it's they're thing,
If you do rock work in the tank, make sure the base rocks get pushed clear the the bottom of the tank, they will dig under them and they can shift n fall onthe fish, perm hurting it or worse....
and plants, IF, your one of the lucky ones and get a group of these fish young enough, and don;t get to carried away with planting heavey,
stay with like Jungle Vals and bigger type plants, and if it works out then your lucky, if not, it falls back to the normal malawi cichlids destroying the plants thing...
They do well in groups, and do well with some other Species, just be carefull what ones you mixx with them is all,
they breed on a regular basis, and if your not wanting to learn how to take the fry from the females mouth, then go with all males,
Only wild caught malawians will hold and care for the fry, non wilds will hold and spit the fry like normal, but it isn't long and she will see them as food,

It is correct that they are more on the peacefull side of the mbuna, but they do clame territory.....
If you do go with juvies to start out, Just be ready to find a dead female here n there, once they find a female, it seems other females sometimes turn up dead.


My tank last fall, the fish was small, and the plants didn't last a week in there and they was gone. it is a 55g by the way

[emc7]

Mine got 6-7". For a 20g, only 1 full grown. I think GSs suggested stocking for a 30 is right on. Yellow labs don't eat plants like P. Salousi, but they will did them up. You could try pots. Very few Yellow lab fry survive in the main tank. If you get a brood tank for the females to spit in, they do fine. I've never known these to kill each other, but mine are in a 55. They will dig out a cave under a rock.

[Buggy]

lol the original post is almost 3 yrs old. He has probably already figured this out the hard way.

[Mr Aquarium]

Wel, we can just look at it as trying to revivie the forums lol,

Little extra info ona post never hurt a noob reading around on things.

[nathanbarry]

I agree. I have some electric yellows and they are one of the best fish i have ever had. but watch because they breed very easily.