# will this work out



## raydawg (Dec 25, 2012)

i would like anybody's advice thank you, all of my fish are 2-3inc in a 55gal standard with 2 emperor 400 filters.

1 yellow lab male

1 frontasa male

1 ACEI male

1 dragon blood male

1 M. cyanerhabdos (Maingano)

1 T. moorii


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## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

No.

for one, frontosa are from a different lake than all the others, and they grow 12-14".

Second, the Moorii gets 9".


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## raydawg (Dec 25, 2012)

but what will happen?????? why wont it work????


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## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

The fish get too big. Think about it. Your tank is 12" wide.

I'm sure you would be uncomfortable if you only had 2 or 3 inches to turn around.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

I also believe the "moori" in this case is a Tropheus moori, a fish that is best kept in larger groups of Tropheus. Tropheus can be difficult to keep, if not done right. If done right, they can be easy. They require a vegetarian diet, so they would need to be fed accordingly.

As young fish, most of the tankmates are too aggressive for the frontosa. As mentioned, frontosa get too large not only for the tank, but for some of the tankmates. They are a predator in nature, and a full grown male has been known to eat whole, fishes of 6", and I've seen them try up to 8".


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## raydawg (Dec 25, 2012)

i have done this before but i had 12 fish in a 55gal the frontasa only got 7inc they lived for 7 years then i lost power for over a week and they died i think they could have went a long way.


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## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

You can't say the frontosa "only got" 7" because they will get 12" pretty easily if you feed and house them well.


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## raydawg (Dec 25, 2012)

it only got 7" man being in a small tank well a 55 with 12 other adult fish all full grown that can stunt the growth a fish don't u think why would i lie, and i feed my fish well but to you i might not house them well my fish are all very healthy.


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## Kerrin (Oct 17, 2012)

raydawg said:


> it only got 7" man being in a small tank well a 55 with 12 other adult fish all full grown that can stunt the growth a fish don't u think why would i lie, and i feed my fish well but to you i might not house them well my fish are all very healthy.


Are you saying that it worked out for you because your fishes growth was stunted due to being in too small a tank? how is this a good thing? and how does this equal good care?

I'm sorry to say this but I read to many posts like this so here goes,

Why ask for advice if you are just going to argue/disagree with the people who provide said advice. Your tank is to small for your frontosa long term, like it or not! what you do with this advice is up to you, but I regard the people on this forum to be as knowledgeable as anybody in the world regarding cichlids. Would you count yourself in the same league?


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## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

raydawg said:


> it only got 7" man being in a small tank well a 55 with 12 other adult fish all full grown that can stunt the growth a fish don't u think why would i lie, and i feed my fish well but to you i might not house them well my fish are all very healthy.


Why would you stunt a fish? How would you like it if I kept you in a tiny box where you couldn't turn around for 7 years? I guarantee you that all the other fish were not "full grown".


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## metricliman (Sep 3, 2012)

Also, I would not put "stunted" in the "healthy" category.


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

It is possible that the 7" frontosa was a female.


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## raydawg (Dec 25, 2012)

it was a female i think she never developed that big bump on its head idk if thats a male or female thing is it????????


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

OK, so I'd avoid the frontosa (male or female) because even a 7" fish is too big for a 55G. Acei is also a 7" fish...avoid. Cyaneorhabdos (Maingano) is too aggressive for a 55G...avoid. Tropheus, as mentioned...avoid.

You could do the labs and the dragonblood possibly. A breeding group of each, or those could be your first two males to create an all-male tank.


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## ratherbfishnjp (Dec 21, 2011)

Is there a reason why you arent considering a bigger tank (125 +) and actually have a nice group of Fronts and have a real display tank instead of a mix n match hodge podge of fish because they look cool. be looking around in craigs list adds for bigger tanks bud there are tons used out there that are pretty cheap in price. If you want put the add on here and ask and see if its a good deal if you want help. Just PLEASE dont make life miserable for your fish! Be a good responsible respectful fish keeper and do whats right man. what your doing is like putting 8 people in an 8 by 8 room and hope they get comfy for years to come. would you liek that? besides the happier the fish the better looking they will be for you! I promise you that


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## 13razorbackfan (Sep 28, 2011)

raydawg said:


> i would like anybody's advice thank you, all of my fish are 2-3inc in a 55gal standard with 2 emperor 400 filters.
> 
> 1 yellow lab male
> 
> ...


First....the Frontosa is not going to work because of their size and because they are not super active fish and will they can survive they will not thrive in a Malawi tank. Second....the Moorii will not work either because of diet and best put in a tank with other moorii's.

Now that we have that out of the way you can do he lab and Maingano probably but you would really want to get a good male to female ratio but even then the Maingano can be aggressive for a 55g. You could probably leave the dragon's blood in the tank but they can get very aggressive towards less dominant fish in a 55g so you will want to keep an eye on him. The Acei would probably be OK but they can get a bit big for a 55g. Then you really need to go out and find some other fish as well. Do you have good local access to fish?


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## raydawg (Dec 25, 2012)

no i dont have any good pet shops around me i got the 5 fish from petsmart and the dragonblood on the internet im just going to see how it works out i feed my fish first thing in the morning slow sinking super color cichlid peelets then at night omega one super vegee kelp flakes the fish are very healthy my ph is 8.2 water is testing all zero ppm and my fish are doing great.


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## raydawg (Dec 25, 2012)

the only fish tht is giving me problems is the Cyaneorhabdos (Maingano) hes aggressive to little to do any damage


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## ratherbfishnjp (Dec 21, 2011)

Just wait... you havent seen aggression yet!! One day your gonna come home to some torn up or dead fish and your gonna learn. You do as you wish Ray, you came her for help and we all told you its not a good idea but yet you choose to do your thing... THATS FINE Everything with this hobby is trial and error and you will learn the hard way that something just dont work the way YOU want it. You can not change the nature of the fish my friend and you will find out VERY soon that this little project you have going will give you a crash course in reality. Its just a **** shame you are taking it on fish that dont see it coming. You may "Kill" fish on a daily basis (whoopee we all go fishing) but now ...soon... your making life very hard for your pets and soon to be killing them out of sheer negligence. Thats all im gonna say.. Im done!


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## Yael (Nov 25, 2012)

Rath, you all have already helped me a lot and I know there are many others you've helped. In fact I just sent a link to the forum to one of the lfs employees. He's likely reading now and learning more about how to help and advise his customers.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

My bet is that raydawg will start to see the problems when his fish mature, and since he has our predictions and remedies, he will know just how to fix things.

He appears to be monitoring the health of his fish and since they are young it is possible things ARE OK at this particular moment.

Or maybe he will have that one-in-a-million tank that works in spite of all odds. :thumb:


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

Folks, please respect the right for members to disagree with other members' advice. There's no need to get angry or berate someone because they disagree or choose not to follow your advice.


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