malawi_man Posted October 31, 2012 Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 Hi everyone, I've got a 4ft tank which currently houses: 10x electric yellows 10x blue dolphins 10x demasoni 10x protomelas sp. taiwan bristlenoses All ranging 4-8cm Now that they are sexable I will be getting rid of all but 2 males of each species, but I would like to add one more species. I think a group of tropheus could go well, but does anyone have any other recommendations? I am trying to choose species that will not interbreed. Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted October 31, 2012 Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 what is the foot print? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi_man Posted October 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 Tank is standard 1200*450*450mm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted October 31, 2012 Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 i think your going to have some aggression issues with what you have in a tank that size. When a male wants to breed he takes up a certain amount of space and aggressively guards it. It will only take two males to cover your entire tank for their territories so every other fish will get chased, harassed and beaten so there will be plenty of damage i think. The Taiwans will get over 15cm, maybe up to 20cm so personally i think they will far to big to be in that tank but you may have a reasonable amount of time before they are. I had my red empress in a 1200x500x500 and they were ok in there with just a few other fish but that was only 1 male (15cm) and 3 females (10cm), not 10 fish. The dolphins will also get to a good size so i think you'll need to reduce your numbers significantly as they grow. personally i think there's a good chance your going to have some serious damage to the sub dominant fish, you may be lucky and not have any issues but it could go either way. I wouldn't add any tropheus to your tank, certainly not while you have the taiwans in there. I think you need to remove the taiwans before they get too large, without them you may be able to add another species and have good success. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted October 31, 2012 Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi_man Posted October 31, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2012 I anticipate keeping 1m 3-4f of each species, which seems like a reasonable number of fish to me for this size tank. I tend to prefer overstocking and over filtering tanks as this seems to have worked for me in the past. I haven't kept taiwans before, how aggressive are they compared to other africans? I assume similar to aulonocara species? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted November 1, 2012 Report Share Posted November 1, 2012 I anticipate keeping 1m 3-4f of each species, which seems like a reasonable number of fish to me for this size tank. I tend to prefer overstocking and over filtering tanks as this seems to have worked for me in the past. totally agree, over stock, over feed and over filter has worked well for me. I haven't kept taiwans before, how aggressive are they compared to other africans? I assume similar to aulonocara species? i'm not sure but they will be significantly larger and therefore will easily dominate and destroy. Even the most peaceful africans like the yellows go ape dodos when it comes time for breeding, i had a yellow male kill 3 females in the space of a week when he wanted to breed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi_man Posted November 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2012 Might have to get another tank, here we go again................. :roll: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted November 1, 2012 Report Share Posted November 1, 2012 Might have to get another tank, here we go again................. :roll: you don't have to, just manage them as they mature and get rid of the unsuitable fish. if you pay attention to the tank and their behaviour regularly you'll work out which are trouble and which aren't and then you can deal with them appropriately. I had a rogue duboisi male, all he did was chase everyone but he wasn't the dominant male and didn't breed with the females. All he seemed to do was fight and cause trouble so when I decided I had enough i got rid of him and the entire group chilled out and it has been pretty peaceful ever since. you can over stock etc with the right group of fish, one male can be completely different in temperament to another so you just have to select your group the best you can as they mature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted November 1, 2012 Report Share Posted November 1, 2012 your doing it the right way, starting with larger groups so you have a good chance i think but you may have to make decisions you don't like to get it right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi_man Posted November 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2012 The demasoni always fight between themselves, so I'll get rid of a few of them. The current dominant taiwan male seems pretty peaceful even when breeding, so I'll keep him. thanks for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted November 3, 2012 Report Share Posted November 3, 2012 keep the dems, if anything add more i think to spread the aggro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexjenkin Posted January 27, 2013 Report Share Posted January 27, 2013 How much for 5 male yellows? Dan :bounce: Hi everyone, I've got a 4ft tank which currently houses: 10x electric yellows 10x blue dolphins 10x demasoni 10x protomelas sp. taiwan bristlenoses All ranging 4-8cm Now that they are sexable I will be getting rid of all but 2 males of each species, but I would like to add one more species. I think a group of tropheus could go well, but does anyone have any other recommendations? I am trying to choose species that will not interbreed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malawi_man Posted January 27, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2013 Didn't end up with many male yellows sorry, I'm keeping them all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexjenkin Posted January 27, 2013 Report Share Posted January 27, 2013 Didn't end up with many male yellows sorry, I'm keeping them all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nudge Posted January 28, 2013 Report Share Posted January 28, 2013 I agree with smidey. The taiwans will get to big for that tank same with the dolphins, both these guys get well over 15cm. Even if you have a 1m to 4f group thats still potentially gonna be 10 or so 15cm+ fish with a breeding group of taiwans and dolphins. I reckon you would be better off picking 1 of these 2. Overstocking is a good idea if your tank is big enough 4ft maybe a bit small for these guys once they mature.If you wanna stock heavy in your current tank aim for fish that don't get bigger than 15cm. A 4x2x2 tank may work better but your current tank is to narrow (front to back) , the dolphins although slow growing can get as big as 20cm+. I wouldnt thin out your dem colony either if anything add a few more, they are hyper aggressive amongst themselves so the more targets they have to chase helps to spread out the aggro. If you take a few out now you may find that 1 of the males will kill off the rest of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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