# Tank Size for West African



## Ocellat (Nov 9, 2016)

Hello, all,

I am in the process of planning a tank that will house a pair of Nanochromis, Pelvicachromis, or the like. I recently kept a pair of Pelvicachromis pulcher as a change from keeping and breeding Mikrogeophagus ramirezi. I thoroughly enjoyed keeping P. pulcher, but I am interested in keeping something less common. My main question is tank size. I kept ramirezi and pulcher in 20 gallon longs. In my opinion, a 20 gallon high is the smallest display tank, 20 gallon longs being usually my minimum for dwarf cichlids. I am interested in hearing from you all what would work best for a pair from these groups of fishes. At the moment, I am interested in Nanochromis tranvestitus, but I am open to suggestions - tank size and fish pair suggestions being a tank and fish combination where the pair could live comfortably for their entire lifespan. Thanks for any input!
This was the P. pulcher 20 gallon long for reference. This new tank will be similar but with a lot of Cryptocoryne, Microsorum, Lilies, and Cyperus alternifolius. Also, powerheads instead of sponge filters


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## Mr Chromedome (Feb 12, 2013)

Most of the fish you are talking about would do just fine in a long 20. I've bred _N. transvestitus_ in a long 20 with no problem, as well as _P. kribensis_ Moliwe (used to be considered a _P. taeniatus_ population) and _P. subocellatus_. I've also kept other species, but breeding failure was not related to tank size. I think the _P. humilis_ types might need more space, as they are the largest species in that genus. But I would think a tank decorated mostly as the one in your photo would work well for just about any of them. There are some other fish that are similar to these genera that have other more specific requirements, but they are hard to find.


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## tanker3 (May 18, 2015)

Not sure of your question. Are you asking is a 20long OK for what you want? Or are you asking to go to a 20gal high?


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## Ocellat (Nov 9, 2016)

Thanks for the replies. tanker3, I can see how my question is unclear. I'm interested in hearing others' experiences regarding West African dwarf cichlids and the size tanks they are keeping them in. In regards to N. transvestitus, I read a lot of conflicting information, some saying a pair was fine in a 24"x12" base dimension tank while others describing much larger territorial areas as a requirement.


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## tanker3 (May 18, 2015)

I personally have never raised N. transvestitus, but I heard they are very sensitive to water conditions. I have only raised 2 kinds (at least that I recall) of West African cichlids, and those are Kribs- Pelvicachromis pulcher, and Anomalochromis Thomasi.


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## lizardboy (Jun 10, 2015)

I've kept Nanochromis parilus and splendens before, and while splendens would probably be fine in a 20 long if you wanted to do the parilus, which are larger but also really nice you might want a bigger tank.


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## Ocellat (Nov 9, 2016)

Awesome, I've been looking at:
Nanochromis transvestitus
N. splendens
N. parilus
Pelvicachromis signatus
P. taeniatus

If I have the room I would probably attempt a pair of the above fishes in a 75 gallon, but also wanted to see what other size options might work well.


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