# I made a mistake



## SouthNarc (Nov 29, 2019)

I made a mistake and I take full responsibility for it. I have a 75-gallon Mbuna tank with various juveniles in it. The good folks at my LFS sold me two beautiful fish that the resident "expert" said would go great in my Mbuna tank. However, after much research, the fish I bought are Neolamprologus tretocephalus; commonly known as five bars. These fish are from Lake Tanganyika. According to research, some articles say these fish will end up killing everything in my tank. I have not had any aggression as of yet. They seem to be getting along nicely with the other fish but this is probably due to the young age of the trets. Does anyone have any experience with these fish? Can I keep them in an Mbuna tank or do I need to be looking at a species-specific tank?

Thank you in advance,
SouthNarc


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Even in a species tank experienced fishkeepers have trouble with trets. I would rehome, the LFS has to take some responsibility.

If you want to try trets in a species tank and have a spare 75G let us know how it goes.


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## SouthNarc (Nov 29, 2019)

Yikes.... Not what I wanted to hear. I will never buy another cichlid without first doing my research. I should not have taken that guys word but he has never led me wrong before. IDK why he did this time.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

IME local fish store employees don't mislead on purpose, but may not have enough experience with every fish they sell to always make good recommendations.


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## SouthNarc (Nov 29, 2019)

Yes. That is what I meant. I know he didn't mislead me on purpose. I just wish he and I would have known. Ultimately it is my fault. I should have known better than to buy fish that I was unfamiliar with. But they are a couple of gorgeous fish.


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## noki (Jun 13, 2003)

Can you post a picture? Seems odd that they didn't know the name of them. If you have a breeding pair, that might be a problem for the tank. They might get territorial but they should kinda ignore the Mbuna other than chasing away from a territory. One Tretocephalus might kill the other, they may not tolerate each other in the same tank.

Major problems really don't start until cichlids become sexually mature.


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## SouthNarc (Nov 29, 2019)

yes, the problem is one Tret is trying to kill the other. I had him in time out for a week to see if that would help. I placed him back in today and he went back to the same old behavior. I think I am going to have to take him back to the store. With just the one in the tank, everything was fine.


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## SouthNarc (Nov 29, 2019)

I ended up taking him back to the store. I hated to do it but its better for my tank.


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