Adding 1'' cichlids with 2" cichlids.

[Fishnoob78]

I have a 46 gallon bowfront that has been running for almost 3 months now.

Inside are 4 yellow labs, 4 hongi redfins and 1 Pseudo Demasoni.

All of these fish are about just a hair under 2 inches to almost 2 1/2 inches long.

Today I was at my LFS and they have their tank of yellow labs marked at 2.88 each. The labs are about 1''. I had paid 7 when I bought mine from the tank.

Id had been thinking about more demasonis (10) or adding 4 acei's but because of their $$ and me on a super tight budget with school and everything i'm going to pass on those choices.

If I bought some of those 1" yellows would it cause a problem because they are about half the size of my current fish?

Also whats the max # of labs that I could add? I know the hongis will grow to be the larger fish in the tank.

thanks for any input.

[leveldrummer]

adding the 1" with the 2" wont be a problem, they are all still very small and should be fighting to much yet, just playing, i would worry about over stocking the tank though, it would be fine for now, but all those fish will need more room when the get larger, think of the future, if you do add more, and end up with fighting, re-arrange your tank, that will make all the fish loose their territory, and they will all have to start over from scratch. im not familiar with hongi redfins, but the acei's are awesome fish, its best to keep cichlids a little crowded, but you dont want them packed in so tight that you can only fit a gallon of water and remember, you will have to do larger, more frequent water changes with more fish.

[goodie]

Originally Posted by leveldrummer

adding the 1" with the 2" wont be a problem, they are all still very small and should be fighting to much yet, just playing, i would worry about over stocking the tank though, it would be fine for now, but all those fish will need more room when the get larger, think of the future, if you do add more, and end up with fighting, re-arrange your tank, that will make all the fish loose their territory, and they will all have to start over from scratch. im not familiar with hongi redfins, but the acei's are awesome fish, its best to keep cichlids a little crowded, but you dont want them packed in so tight that you can only fit a gallon of water and remember, you will have to do larger, more frequent water changes with more fish.

Gotta agree on that! Especially with "think of the future". Those labs will start breeding sooner or later. Hey, what do you know! FREE FISH