# Help with Giraffe Cichlids ?



## asherbonnie (Sep 11, 2012)

Im pretty new to owning big fish, *** had small tropical tanks with communal fish. *** recently gotten an 80Gallon tank and decided I would put in some cichlids. I went to the fish shop yesterday and was looking at all the cichlids there, the man there was showing me all these fish that grew to between 5-6'' and I assumed that all of them were all that size.

I ended up coming home with 4 Giraffe cichlids and then decided to google to learn more about them. I now know that they will actually grow to 10" and I cant have more than 1 male in the tank, they are only agressive to other Giraffes and they will eat anything smaller than 4'' once full grown because they hunt other cichlids in the wild.

The giraffes I have now are about 2'' and I dont know if you can tell if they are male or female that young or not but they all have the markings and are white on top and yellow on the bottom.

I really wanted to get some other cichlids though like some red jewels and some electric yellows but if I keep the giraffes im not sure if I can get others? Ill probably only keep 2 of the giraffes because they get so large anyway but can anyone help me with other cichlids I could put into a tank with the giraffes? 
Since they are only small now will it be better if I get other cichlids now while they cant eat them yet?


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

What are the dimensions of your tank? (then we can talk about stocking)

In all probability you are best getting rid of the Giraffes and starting with fish you will be able to keep in the tank. You could keep a female in your tank, but I wouldn't recommend a male.


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## asherbonnie (Sep 11, 2012)

The dimentions are Length 125cm, Width 50cm, and Depth 50cm. 
I was thinking of just keeping a female but whats the minimum size of other cichlids I could keep in with her?


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

asherbonnie said:


> The dimentions are Length 125cm, Width 50cm, and Depth 50cm.
> I was thinking of just keeping a female but whats the minimum size of other cichlids I could keep in with her?


The females typically don't get much over 7-8", so anything that grows to 3"+ will be fine with her. Basically I'd avoid dwarfs like demasoni and saulosi, but otherwise you should be fine.


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## asherbonnie (Sep 11, 2012)

Okay, thanks for advice

Cheers, Asher


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## dwebkombi (Aug 8, 2012)

asherbonnie said:


> The dimentions are Length 125cm, Width 50cm, and Depth 50cm.


I think you will find those dimentions equate to 100g. :fish:


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## KGTropicals (Sep 11, 2012)

Venustus (Giraffes) do get big for Africans, In my experience though they aren't as aggressive as people make them out to be. I bought an 8" male from a friend who said he had to get rid of the fish because it was beating up everyone else in the tank. I put him in an all male 150 gallon tank with about 40 others, mbunas and peacocks and he never put so much as a scratch on any of my other fish. In fact I am now using him as my breeder male (He's actually the fish in my avatar) with 10 females in the tank and he has never hurt anyone.
In my 150 gal all male show tank I have 4 Venustus males with all different types of malawis and they dont bother anyone other then the normal chasing around that africans do. I guess it just all depends on your set up, how many fish you have with them and how many places the other fish (and the vinnys) have to hide. 4 Vinnys should be fine in a 100 gal, just put alot of fish in there with them (chaos theory) and keep an eye on things.
I hope this helps!!


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## asherbonnie (Sep 11, 2012)

dwebkombi said:


> asherbonnie said:
> 
> 
> > The dimentions are Length 125cm, Width 50cm, and Depth 50cm.
> ...


125 x 50 x 50 = 313. 313L converted to US Gallons = 82.36842105263159

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/calculator.php - Have a go at it .


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## dwebkombi (Aug 8, 2012)

asherbonnie said:


> dwebkombi said:
> 
> 
> > asherbonnie said:
> ...


Wow! my maths is really bad this morning  ... I stand corrected


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

KGTropicals said:


> 4 Vinnys should be fine in a 100 gal, just put alot of fish in there with them (chaos theory) and keep an eye on things.
> I hope this helps!!


Well, it isn't a 100 gallon, but an 80 gallon, and a 4ft long one at that. Dimensions is more important than volume anyway, and while venestus are certainly fine in a 6ft tank, I wouldn't recommend them in a 4ft tank, particularly for someone rather new to the hobby.


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## asherbonnie (Sep 11, 2012)

KGTropicals I think the all male tank sounds like a good idea and looks great! I dont think ill go for it just get, maybe get a bit of practice with a regular cichlid tank but I might just have another tank if one of them is a male because they are just so beautiful and then maybe start pputting in other males with them.

I had a look at your link and you have some very beautiful fish! I especially love the peacocks.


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## KGTropicals (Sep 11, 2012)

Thanks for the kind words about my tanks!! 
I'm not a baby step person, (start with something easy and move up to bigger and better things). I'm more of a "throw em to the wolves" person. I know it doesn't work for everyone, its just the way I am.


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