Tankmates ?

[kyboy]

Hi, just wanted to ask what do you think of theses combos for a 55g std footprint:

yellow labs 1m/3-4f
met. blue dolphin (giant demasoni) 1m/3-4f
met. callainos 1m/4f (thinking of cyno. sp. hara instead of cobalt, but blue bars on the 1 male)
or
yellow labs 1m/3-4f
met. blue dolphin (giant demasoni) 1m/3-4f
ps. flavus 1m/4f ( I know 2 yellows,but hoping the 1male flavus would be busy with 4 females)

Just asking because I already have some of each species(except cyno. sp. hara) & was going to get more to get 1m/4f ratio.
I'm a little concerned about met. blue dolphin's adult size, but they're on the lower end of the aggression scale;so I thought I could do a 1m/3f for them. I have 1 tank that is a Saulosi species tank, so I wanted to do something different with this tank(besides labs, acei & rusties). Would any combos work with proper m/f ratio? Thanks!

[Pam Chin]

Hi Kyboy,

I think those mixes are okay, however, it is difficult to breed multiple species in the same tank. You have a high chance of them cross breeding. I would encourage you to do a little larger groups, and then when you are ready to breed them, you should move them to a species only tank. Its great to grow out your groups together, they learn to tolerate each other better and they are not as aggressive towards each other, in larger groups. (6-12). It is the female that picks which male she wants to spawn with, and they do not always pick the right male. And multiple males in your groups are good, this will take a lot of aggression off your females.

Regarding Metriaclima are going to get bigger, and they get pushy, and like to hog food, nothing like the sweet Saulosi!!

Cichlid Power!
Pam