# electric yellow hiding out



## goosen8r (Jul 10, 2008)

I have a well-established and healthy 30g tank with 7 full-grown cichlids in it. I added 2 yesterday. I had 1 elec yellow and she hid all day. I added another yesterday and now the old one is coming out and the new one is hiding. she doesn't move much at all and almost acts dead. just an effect from a new tank, or do you think it's a hierarchy thing? i've been told i need around 12 in this tank to make them sociable. they're all africans, and there's only one male.


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## goosen8r (Jul 10, 2008)

oh and one other question anyone here should be able to answer...is using sand as a substrate and not gravel with undergravel filtration better? I hear lots of opinions either way.


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## xalow (May 10, 2007)

What other cichlids do you have in the tank? It could be an agression problem especially if the tank is a bit too short in length.

How do you know there is only one male? Electric yellows can only be told apart by watching them spawn/hold eggs, or looking at their undersides as far as I am aware.


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## goosen8r (Jul 10, 2008)

i have the following:
Labidochromis caeruleus (Kakusa) - yellow lab female (2)
Pseudotropheus socolofi - Blue male with black fin tips
Metriaclima estherae (OB) - orange female with black spots
Metriaclima estherae (Red) - solid orange female
Nimbochromis livingstonii (Kalingo) - gray splotchy female
Iodotropheus sprengerae (Rusty Cichlid) - "rusty" brown male


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## kingpoiuy (Jun 9, 2008)

My electric yellow likes to hide too. I just figured that's what it likes to do. It doesn't seem stressed out or anything.

Does yours eat?

Mine will eat but will skip a meal now and then because he'd rather hide.


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## goosen8r (Jul 10, 2008)

mine does that same thing all the time....well, she did....i found her dead in pieces this morning. called my local pet store this morning and he said it might be best, since my cichlids are large, to just trade them in for about 12 little ones and let them grow together so they will be more sociable, and i think i'm gonna take him up on it.


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## xalow (May 10, 2007)

Its not the size of the fish you buy them at that you should worry about, the final adult size is more important. Metriaclima estherae and Nimbochromis livingstonii are not suitable for a 30 gallon tank, they can get over 10 inches which is twice as big as the other fish. Having 12 cichlids in a 30 gallon probably isn't the best idea either unless is a soem sort of dwarf mbuna species. Having young fish grow up together will work out only until they start showing adult levels of aggression.


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## goosen8r (Jul 10, 2008)

see, i read here that i should have only about 3 or 4 fish in the 30g, but all of the lfs's say to load the tank up to limit aggression, my mother's cichlids do fine this way. I don't know what's right to do. I trust you all, but I don't want this tank to just have a few cichlids that always hide out and i never get to see them, isn't the point of having fish to enjoy them?


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## xalow (May 10, 2007)

With lake malawi mbuna cichlids it is a good idea to have them in larger number so that the agressive fish have several fish to spread out their aggression upon. However for most species of these fish, a larger group is simply too many fish for a 30 gallon. You are better off with a four foot long tank if you want to keep the mbuna, the livingstonii would be best kept in at least a 6 foot long tank.

If you are sticking with the 30 gallon try looking for some dwarf mbuna like psuedotropheus saulosi or demasoni (at least 12 of the demasoni). Also some people find that keeping labidochromis caeruleus in smaller tanks is possible because of their more docile nature.

It can be really frustrating sorting out all of the information, but once you have a well planned tank all set up it is a lot more rewarding than having one with problems.


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## goosen8r (Jul 10, 2008)

ok thanks for some ideas. I like having lots of fish in a tank, and i finally found a cichlid store that sells them by the species, so I shouldn't have as much trouble now. thanks again.


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