# breeding bumblebee cichlids (crabro)



## s&amp;mhornet (Oct 27, 2012)

i have a 55 gallon tank with 6 female bumblebees and 1 male i want there to be great breading grounds should i leave it at that or should i add another male and a few more female there is lots of hiding in the tank i just want to know what would make them breed faster maybie more room?and i have rocks that look like these juvinile fish will be able to move later on but cant grab and spit them right now should i get smaller rocks or let them grow into them i will post pictures soon


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## mbunainflames (Oct 27, 2012)

s&mhornet said:


> i have a 55 gallon tank with 6 female bumblebees and 1 male i want there to be great breading grounds should i leave it at that or should i add another male and a few more female there is lots of hiding in the tank i just want to know what would make them breed faster maybie more room?and i have rocks that look like these juvinile fish will be able to move later on but cant grab and spit them right now should i get smaller rocks or let them grow into them i will post pictures soon


Crabo's get pretty big, especially the males. Having 2 males to a large harem of females would be cool, keep the two males competitive, however, as they get bigger, one will most likely kill the other. Crabo males DO NOT LIKE other males.


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## s&amp;mhornet (Oct 27, 2012)

so do you figure the amount of fish i have now is a good start for breeding? also *** read some places that they are hard to breed and some say its easy... will i absolutely need to keep the fry in another tank till theyre 3 to 4 inches long? this is what *** read


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## mbunainflames (Oct 27, 2012)

If you get another male I'd get a couple more females. If you have a lot of hiding places some babies most likely will survive. If you want to maximize the amount of babies that survive, move holding female to another tank or strip her at the right time and keep the babies in another tank. Stripping can be at first and if not done right can be hard on the female fish holding.


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## s&amp;mhornet (Oct 27, 2012)

ok is there enough room for more or would that just crowd my 55 gallon and make them not want to breed? wich way would maximize my chance for fish im already leaning towards putting thm in a smaller tank is my 15 gallon big enough for fry? i could always get a tank separator 2 could i not? thanks for the advice thus far


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## mbunainflames (Oct 27, 2012)

Crabo males can get up to around 8 inches full grown. with 4 females each and 2 males that is 10 fish. Pretty much as many as you want in a 55gallon since they can be a bigger sized mbuna. 20-30 gallon would probably be best to raise fry. I've always loved Crabo males when they mature. Jet black


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## 748johnd (Jun 30, 2007)

A 55g is pretty small for crabros. A full grown male isn't going to have much room to turn around. I wouldn't keep them in any tank less than 6 feet.


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## s&amp;mhornet (Oct 27, 2012)

thanks for the advice flames i think i will just make it 7:1 and john if i had a 500 gallon tank id much prefer that 2 but fact is i dont and they have enough room in there....and a full grown crabros will oviously be able to turn around they are not oscars dude....


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## jcabage (May 29, 2012)

s&mhornet said:


> a full grown crabros will oviously be able to turn around they are not oscars dude....


Report back when you have a tank full of grown crabro. That many large and ruthless fish will surely be pretty difficult to keep in a 55, especially with the rockwork they need. Crabro's are awfully aggressive to only have 6-7 body lengths of room to swim away from each other.


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## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

I'd add a few more females if they are available...1m, 9F


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## s&amp;mhornet (Oct 27, 2012)

yeah im going to get 1 more soon and i had 2 oscars in that tank till thy got to big (came with the tank) and they could still very well turn around and you know what iv done enough research on the fish to do as best as i can with a 55 and maybie in a couple years i might re evaluate not lik it cost that much for just a tank i got more then enough filtration but thres alot of people online that have no better in put thn duh i think you need a bigger aquarium for one its a species specific tank so why not go and tell the other buddy thats got a 90 gallon with 3 types of mixed my setup is nice they have an awsome selection of driftwood and hiding spots i know my selection will last a long tim if not forever thank you for everyone that answered in a more helpful note


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## mbunainflames (Oct 27, 2012)

Just have to see how it goes, I'd invest in a backup plan. Crabo's can get really nasty to each other when they start getting larger. I've had many over the years. They are really intolerant of each other. Even sometimes the females against other females. Though when I've had male crabo's in with other aggressive mbuna species, the Crabo usually got beat until he had to be removed, or survived to be just to big to be bothered by most of the other mbuna that he was 2-3times the size of lol.


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## ratherbfishnjp (Dec 21, 2011)

Even two oscars is too much for a 55. I wouldnt put 2 oscars in nothing smaller than a 125. Tell ya what, lets put you in an 8 by 8 room with 9 people and see how you feel. WOW


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## ratherbfishnjp (Dec 21, 2011)

Dude, all your looking for is the answer YOU wanna hear. Normally when more than one person tells you you need a bigger tank.... hopefully something in your head should go off and say...gee I think I need a bigger tank. Instead, your trolling around looking for an answer to support your wants to make you feel better about your selection while everyone here or any other forum your going on is doing their best to try to help you. I have no tolerance for **** like this.


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## smitty814 (Sep 27, 2012)

ratherbfishnjp said:


> Even two oscars is too much for a 55. I wouldnt put 2 oscars in nothing smaller than a 125. Tell ya what, lets put you in an 8 by 8 room with 9 people and see how you feel. WOW


They don't even do that in prison.



ratherbfishnjp said:


> Dude, all your looking for is the answer YOU wanna hear. Normally when more than one person tells you you need a bigger tank.... hopefully something in your head should go off and say...gee I think I need a bigger tank. Instead, your trolling around looking for an answer to support your wants to make you feel better about your selection while everyone here or any other forum your going on is doing their best to try to help you. I have no tolerance for #%$& like this.


Yes ppl do like positive reinforcement. You should just give your advice and move on instead of trolling his thread. Crabros stay small for a long time and will be quite happy in a 55 for 1 year or more.


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## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

Yes, folks..lets kep this positive. Even if people chose to ignore advice, they may have a back up plan if something doesn't work. It's not a reason to be rude. We are all here to learn to take better care of our fish, for our enjoyment.


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## ratherbfishnjp (Dec 21, 2011)

Florida, im sorry but its extremely difficult to stay positive and I find it insulting and a slap in the face to give my advice and for others to give their advice to help the people that are trolling different forums and looking for someone to say what they want to here and will keep doing so until they are satisfied. It is a waste of time to the members that are truly helping others and for the people truly needing answers and therefore may cause less people using the forum approprietly. I have dealt with a string of these people in the last month and it is sickening and disheartening to the people that truly love the hobby. Your a moderator... im sure there is something that can be done about this as they were taken care of in other forums as well.


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## ratherbfishnjp (Dec 21, 2011)

Smitty, in case you didnt read his initial post, he wants to BREED them which means they will not be small because they will start breeding at anywhere between 4 to 6 inches which means they are not small. When having a fish of that aggresive nature and of that size you need much more than 55 gallons to achieve this, otherwise there will be many stressed fish to dead at that. If you wanna try to give someone advise make sure you know the story and some background. While learning this also look up the meaning of "trolling" and let me know. As I was minding my business reading posts as any normal person would be and strangely run into the same C...r...a...p elsewhere.


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## smitty814 (Sep 27, 2012)

ratherbfishnjp said:


> Smitty, in case you didnt read his initial post, he wants to BREED them which means they will not be small because they will start breeding at anywhere between 4 to 6 inches which means they are not small. When having a fish of that aggresive nature and of that size you need much more than 55 gallons to achieve this, otherwise there will be many stressed fish to dead at that. If you wanna try to give someone advise make sure you know the story and some background. While learning this also look up the meaning of "trolling" and let me know. As I was minding my business reading posts as any normal person would be and strangely run into the same C...r...a...p elsewhere.


Maybe if you don't like it here you should move on. It seems you have a hard on for some ppl. Nobody has to take your advice but thankyou for giving it. I'll throw it out with some of the other advice I get on forums. Troll on. :dancing:
As for his OP he doesn't say what size his Crabro are. I have 4 female and 1 male Crabro and they're only about 3".


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Folks, with thousands of active members it's obvious we'll have differing opinions on fish husbandry, but the key to keeping a discussion friendly is having each member offer his or her own opinion and experience without becoming argumentative. Varying opinions make a discussion board what it is, but please leave out the personal comments and keep your comments/suggestions directed to the post, not the poster. This site is for the promotion and enjoyment of the hobby, please keep this in mind before hitting the 'post/reply' button. Thanks for your consideration.


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## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

ratherbfisnjp: This is a tough position for us as moderators. Although I do see your point, to a degree. Even as moderators, our advice differs at times. Ultimately it is up to a person to take or ignore advice given on this forum. If you see that someone is not responding to your advice..back away from the problem, and do not let it make you angry. Your right, this is a great forum, and we want to keep it as such. We will not let anyone criticize or make rude remarks to others.

Smitty...same advice..don't let it get to you.


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## s&amp;mhornet (Oct 27, 2012)

g thank you smitty!!! i wasnt asking what problems i was gonna run into in the future just now!!! some people... yes the question was about stocking i can pick up a larger tank for like 100 bucks if i need to...seing as ii have way more then enough filtration picking up a different tank would cost minimal and not looking for the answer i wanna hear just the answer to the question i was asking!!!! and if you read what i typed we wouldnt be having this problem and by the way where i was talking earlier i said the 2 oscars came with the tank but thanks once again for nothing they are in a way larger home now. for future referance go and answer the complete newbie questions i need specialist answers about crabro not amatures telling me to get a bigger tank when i have a tank full of juviniles


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## smitty814 (Sep 27, 2012)

Hornet I'm sure you have probably given this site a read but in case you haven't here it is.
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/cichlid ... opheus.php


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## mbunainflames (Oct 27, 2012)

Give advice, give opinions based off of experience with the topic of the thread. There is no reason to take the internets so seriously. People are going to do whatever they want in the end, to which some may not aggree with. I think this thread has offered some good feedback (without the fighting). It is up to the OP to take the feedback and use it how they see fit. We can only control our own selves and actions, not the actions of others.


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## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

s&mhornet said:


> i need specialist answers about crabro not amatures telling me to get a bigger tank when i have a tank full of juviniles


It will be 3 years this february that I have kept this species. Not long term at all, but i am more then committed to keeeping this fish over the the long term. So as an amatuer with this species I will give you my opinions. For an mbuna it gets BIG. Monster size. 8" doesn't sound too big but really, I beleive 4-10X the size of just about any species of mbuna. I will show that, on this forum , on a weight scale!

Never kept the fish in a 4 ft. tank. Should be more then suffecient if you want to breed the fish and then move on. So, long term i have no opinion other then to tell you they are huge for mbuna and are quite aggressive. I've only kept them in 6ft. 125 and 180 gal. When I bred them, 15 fry became 7 survivors in my 180. Today I own 9; 2 original and 7 from a feb. 2011 spawning (4 in my 125 and 5 in my 180)

Let us see yours on a tape and a weight scale to see where yours are at in terms of their developement. They do get big and are aggressive.( Though like most cichlids they pay most attention to fishes in and around their own weight class). Conspecific aggression can be brutal with this species, though they do tend to focus on fish of similar size......bottom of the pecking order, if of similar size can have a real hard time. Usuallay a female!


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## mbunainflames (Oct 27, 2012)

BC in SK said:


> s&mhornet said:
> 
> 
> > i need specialist answers about crabro not amatures telling me to get a bigger tank when i have a tank full of juviniles
> ...


I aggree with this. They are very nasty to each other. Males once they get to a certain size and realize: "Hey, I'm bigger then most of these guys harrassing me, I think I'll put a stop to it", and then they start sticking up for themselves, aggressively. I've even had male crabo's that got to big and mean for their mbuna tank in with Texas cichlids, Red devils and so on, and when the male crabo is around full size (8in), they fit in just fine.


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## 748johnd (Jun 30, 2007)

Hornet, probably most people on any forum are amateurs. I've been keeping fish for over 60 years an consider myself an amateur. You don't have to accept any advice offered, but at least appreciate that someone offered their opinion even if you don't agree with it. Good luck finding a professional.


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## s&amp;mhornet (Oct 27, 2012)

oh yes so much to learn in world of fish never stop learning eevan when at black belt (bows to sensei john)


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## 748johnd (Jun 30, 2007)

Arigato!


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## s&amp;mhornet (Oct 27, 2012)

thanks for everyone with answers to my originial question! youve been really helpful i appriciate your useful advice everyone take care


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