# Questions about Cyps and Paracyps



## fishcurious (Mar 4, 2008)

I have a 180 gallon tank ready to set up. It is 6 ft by 2 ft by ?. I want to have some schooling fish in it and have been reading about cyprichromis (i like the Utinta and the Goldfin) and paracyprichromis nigripinnis. I like both. Can i mix these two together? If so what school size would you reccomend for each. Also my husband likes the redline torpedo barb / dennison barb. Can these mix in too? Other individuals i like: paratalipia polenni, calvus, goby, bufflao/block head cichlid. I have a hold on the polenni and buffalo head. Comments on the fish we are interested in woiuld be appreciated. Also other suggestions are welcome. If i can finally settle on the inhabitants then i can get a move on with the set up.

thanks. :fish:


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## m_hsiao (Feb 13, 2008)

i keep cyprichromis leptosoma utinta and paracyprichromis breeding colony together and they do just fine, they will go well together.. mine are only in a 90 gallon so i don't see how that can be a problem in your tank so go for it..


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## fishcurious (Mar 4, 2008)

m_hsiao said:


> i keep cyprichromis leptosoma utinta and paracyprichromis breeding colony together and they do just fine, they will go well together.. mine are only in a 90 gallon so i don't see how that can be a problem in your tank so go for it..


thanks. i've read i should keep at least 12 to 15 of each. any thoughts on the other ihabitants i mentioned?


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

Mixing Tanganyikan cichlids into community tanks can be a bit tricky. I'd worry about the polenni making snacks of all of the schooling fish mentioned.  As Tangs are expensive and sometimes hard to find, many hobbyists choose not to mix them with cichlids from other lakes/rivers but instead stick to Tang biotopes.

I suspect it might be harder to match the dietary requirements of the gobies with your other fish, but calvus might do fine in your setup.


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## fishcurious (Mar 4, 2008)

triscuit said:


> Mixing Tanganyikan cichlids into community tanks can be a bit tricky. I'd worry about the polenni making snacks of all of the schooling fish mentioned.  As Tangs are expensive and sometimes hard to find, many hobbyists choose not to mix them with cichlids from other lakes/rivers but instead stick to Tang biotopes.
> 
> I suspect it might be harder to match the dietary requirements of the gobies with your other fish, but calvus might do fine in your setup.


Thanks for the post. So let me pose the question another way. What reccomendations for tank mate would anyone suggest. 180 gallon and interested in cyprichormis and parcyprichromis.


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

Ahh, much better question :thumb:

I love A. calvus, N. buescheri, and J. transcriptus for rock dwellers in Tang community tanks. You have a ton of floor space, so I'd recommend a school of sand-sifting Enantiopus spp. and then a colony of shelldwellers like multifaciatus or similis. I love gobies, and manage to fit them into most of my tanks by feeding NLS (New Life Spectrum) pellets that accomodate herbivore and carnivore diets.

Tang species to avoid (well, in my opinion, the chance of them not working out is too high): 
-any brichardine cichlids 
- frontosa 
- tropheus
- Large julies or N. leleupi if you are going to have smaller shellies


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## fishcurious (Mar 4, 2008)

triscuit said:


> Ahh, much better question :thumb:
> 
> I love A. calvus, N. buescheri, and J. transcriptus for rock dwellers in Tang community tanks. You have a ton of floor space, so I'd recommend a school of sand-sifting Enantiopus spp. and then a colony of shelldwellers like multifaciatus or similis. I love gobies, and manage to fit them into most of my tanks by feeding NLS (New Life Spectrum) pellets that accomodate herbivore and carnivore diets.
> 
> ...


I love calvus and gobies too. I look into the other ones mentioned. Thanks.


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## TorontoRaptorsFan (May 20, 2005)

A large tank is a waste of space for Cyprichromis. Cram them into 4' tanks including jumbos. I have had my best breeding success and I'm sure many breeders can attest as well in a smaller tank than in a large sized one.

My colony of Cyprichromis Kitumba and O. Ventralis Kipilli are going to get moved to either 4' 90 or 75g tanks. Same with my future colonies of Cyp Kerenge Island and Cyp. Kilila. I currently have my Kitumba colony in a 125g tank which will be switched over for Malawi Haps.


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## fishcurious (Mar 4, 2008)

TorontoRaptorsFan said:


> A large tank is a waste of space for Cyprichromis. Cram them into 4' tanks including jumbos. I have had my best breeding success and I'm sure many breeders can attest as well in a smaller tank than in a large sized one.
> 
> My colony of Cyprichromis Kitumba and O. Ventralis Kipilli are going to get moved to either 4' 90 or 75g tanks. Same with my future colonies of Cyp Kerenge Island and Cyp. Kilila. I currently have my Kitumba colony in a 125g tank which will be switched over for Malawi Haps.


So if i am looking for some schooling groups what would you reccomend for a 180 gallon tank? Breeding isn't my goal at this time. Thanks for the input.


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## 24Tropheus (Jun 21, 2006)

Paracyps given enough rock cover will be fine with none jumbo Cyps in the open water in a 180g.
The bigger the groups the better.
Both are quite easily bullied by rock dwellers (and pretty much any other Tangs) so be careful on those.

Its a species breeding tank vs a community tank thing.
You can breed most mouthbrooders very well in very small tanks by packing them in.
Never seen a successful mixed tank based on this principle work well. Cyps and Paracyps though are less of a problem. The more the better if you can keep the water quality up.

I would love to see some Cyp community Paracyp tank with egg guarders working in crowded like conditions that have worked well for a few months posted. 

Me I will go back to lowly populated tanks for none mouth brooders and mixes of mouth brooders and egg guarders until I see clear evidence keeping em together at high levels works well.

If you want to mix em in a 180g then I would recommend getting the Paracyps settled first.
Pretty sure this will be better than Cyps first.

Both together well may work well but prob best if the Paracyps are the larger of the two as the prob will most likely be Cyp to Paracyp aggression/dominance.

About 18 of each would be my guess.


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

TorontoRaptorsFan said:


> A large tank is a waste of space for Cyprichromis.


 :roll:

Many hobbyists keep cyps in large tanks because few other cichlids habitate the open water column in large numbers without tearing apart other tankmates. When you've got another Tanganyikan cichlid species that can fit the bill in a community tank we can talk about wasted space.


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## gunnerx (Apr 14, 2008)

I picked up 7 Kigoma Jumbo Cyps last Friday. They were put into a 6ft 120g tank with 8 Daffodils and 6 Brevis. 4 of the Daffodils had taken over half the tank where all the rocks are and were chasing away anyone who get near it. The first night, the cyps were trying to sleep near the rocks and the larger Daffodil kept on chasing them away but they kept on going back. I looked last night and what do I see? The Cyps are sleeping inside the rock caves where the Daffodils that were chasing them away were staying.  I guess that's what persistence and power in numbers can do!

I am thinking of adding 10 Paracyps to the tank and will most likely be Juvies, would this be ok? Sorry to ask in someone elses thread but I feel it follows the same topic.

And yes, I highly recommend Cyps in a large tank!


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## Multies (Mar 9, 2007)

that will be fine. just that the daffodils are a bit of a control freak. they will control the tank if they pair up. i would remove them. then the rocks will be for the julies and paracyps


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## Rockfish... (Feb 6, 2007)

Wow triscuit pretty much nailed the mix in my 125gal. I have a very active breeding groups of Kerenge Island Cyps and Paracyprichromis nigripinnis ( Last week I had 6 Cyps and 4 Paracyps all holding at the same time ) with A. calvus, N. buescheri, J. transcriptus and L. ocellatus ( gold ) in addition I also have a group of N. nigriventris and a group of Syno. petricola all living in harmony.


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## Charles (Feb 25, 2003)

TorontoRaptorsFan said:


> A large tank is a waste of space for Cyprichromis. Cram them into 4' tanks including jumbos. I have had my best breeding success and I'm sure many breeders can attest as well in a smaller tank than in a large sized one.
> 
> My colony of Cyprichromis Kitumba and O. Ventralis Kipilli are going to get moved to either 4' 90 or 75g tanks. Same with my future colonies of Cyp Kerenge Island and Cyp. Kilila. I currently have my Kitumba colony in a 125g tank which will be switched over for Malawi Haps.


I don't think housing cyps. in a large tank is a waste of space. In my 125, I had 20 cyps. kitumba and 12 paracyps. with 10 xeno kekese in there. They all coexisted fine and breeding. Aggression level is minimun and I even fit in a pair of inkfin and a pair of julie. trans. gombe in there.

In my opinion, if you can provide the space, why not. If I have the money and space, I would put them in a 300 gallon. It is so much more enjoyable when I can provide them with swimming room.


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## fishcurious (Mar 4, 2008)

I was offline for a couple of days and was pleasantly surprised by the thread continuing. I am excited about putting ths tank together and it seems that cyps and paracyps can do well together. I now have to figure out where to get them from. I haven't found anyone locally who has them. Any ideas? Do any of you think a paratalipia polenni could fit in???


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## cagrant29 (Apr 4, 2004)

I love paracyps. They are absolutely awesome fish! Go with a bunch of those.
Good luck and enjoy! Maybe some comps & some shellies try L Signatus or gold occies or both!


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## Rockfish... (Feb 6, 2007)

This is where I buy most of my fish www.sicichlids.com Awesome quality and very reasonable shipping rates.


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## fishcurious (Mar 4, 2008)

Thanks everyone.


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## fishcurious (Mar 4, 2008)

I have been leaning toward a "regular" cyp. versus a jumbo because the jumbo have an aggressiver temperment. Do jumbos need a different consideration of tank mates because they are aggressive. Are there more group problems? Should there be a minimum of males to females?

thanks,


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## Multies (Mar 9, 2007)

i dont think so. 
but i think you would need more females for jumbos if the males are more aggressive.


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## triscuit (May 6, 2005)

I was waiting to see if someone else would chime in on the paratalipia polenni question because I have no experience with them. However, their size and dietary preferences makes them great predators for a schooling fish like cyprichromis. Cyps are too expensive to be snacks so I wouldn't recommend trying it. Cyps sleep on the bottom of a tank at night, making them easy prey.

Jumbo vs. non-jumbo: with your tank size it shouldn't be a problem, as they typically leave other species alone.


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## GlennCastle (Apr 4, 2008)

as far as tankmates for Cyps. I personally have a 60 gallon with 20 Cyps, 1 N. Helianthus, 1 Chalinochromis Bifrenatus, 3 Caudopuctatus, 3 Petros, 1 Callochromis, and 1 Black Calvus. 
the chemistry is great. I've found that if you really like the look of a more aggressive fish, just keep one, because usually they are more aggressive towards their own kind.


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