ange - 2011-01-22 I have an 80 gallon tank (48 x36 x14) I would like to put a semi aggressive fish in there like the cichild. I don't want a lot but how many is good for this tank? And what other fish are suggested to go with? Do I get the cichlids first or other fish first?
kefentse brown - 2011-05-24 If it's not to late for the answer I would say with enough hiding places 25 for a good active mbuna tank. I have 16 mbunas a pleco and a cray fish and my fish are breeding in a 50 gallon. I feed them good also.
shpaintball - 2012-02-29 I have one kenyi and one calvus with a pair of wags and a checkered barb and a dwarf gourami. They all get along fine except the gourami and the kenyi. I think it's the color the kenyi hates him. Proof that they can be kept together note however they've been together almost nearly all since birth.
Arijit Sarkar - 2012-01-29 These fish born as female. When matured males become golden, and female remain silvery blueish. I had 10 of these, 4 male and 6 female. Male Kenyis are quiet aggressive. There should be only one dominant male With at least 4 Female in a group.
sarabjit - 2011-09-19 I had 8 kenyi cichlids but I have noticed from past 4 days that they have started getting very much aggressive to each other and killing each other. Now after 4days I'm left with only 3 cichlids as each day 1 or 2 of them dies because of their aggressiveness. Now I have 1 male and 2 female but worried that even they will be together or no. So anyone can suggest me what care should I take.
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Toby Jungle - 2011-09-19 I would read the article on the Kenyi Cichlids on Animal Word. Should be attached. Kenyi Cichlids are quite agressive and they are very teriitorial. They also get - up to 5 inches in length. Animal World recommends a 10 gallon tank for one and a 50 gallon tank if you have a male with several females. Many say that Animals/fish know what size they are going to be and will control the population to insure that some survive. It has been said that birds will go to having clutches (babies) every other year. Also said that fish will kill each other off to make sure there is room and habitat for those that are left. What size tank do you have?
gail - 2011-11-17 The male is most aggressive and will kill all, but, the female. You should be fine in the tank and now the male is a happy swimmer with his girls. Good luck.
Anonymous - 2012-01-13 Males will kill other males unless you have 6 to 7 females and males will only be super aggressive during breeding. You need to have lots of other cichlids and other fish in the tank so he does not single any one fish out and then kill him and then kill the next fish and so on you also need lots of rocks and hidding places
james - 2011-08-26 I have a 60 gallon reef tank and a mixture of mbuna. I have been studying the nature of cichlid behaviour for 2 1/2 years. What I have discovered is the aggressiveness of a cichlid is born from the very beginning at birth. Theses beautiful creatures, from the moment of birth fight for domminance over territories and constantly jockey for the best positions for survival. Whomever states that cichlids are not aggressive, well, really hasn't spent the time to really get to know there friends...... Cichlid are very interesting builders and excavationers as well. My male Kenyi is always moving gravel around plants(good thing there decor. plants), I do keep anacharis plants to help with there diet, anyway, if you have a clean tank with lots of rock and plants then from time to time you should notice pits and other hiding spots created by these creatures. for the most part cichlids are aggressive and if anyone, who has them as pets should take care and learn because even fish have distinct behavioral traits that makes each one different. In my conclusion, even though aggressive in nature, Mbuna are very doscile and fun to observe.
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Toby Jungle - 2011-08-26 Possibly - all things are slightly agressive and we learn to behave in order to get along. Kittens can be agressive and so can puppys. Birds when being hand fed or in the nest seem to be a little assertive as they are being fed. Given enough room, space, food, agression decreases. I had cichlids and they intitally seemed agressive to me - always chasing one another. Then just a short time passed and they formed pairs and built little hidey holes and had little hidey spots in the plants and decorations. They built little tunnels etc and all got along. Sometimes they would be a litttle protective of their areas but basically all got along. I thought it was more this is my turf kinda thing. I will say they are interesting to watch. Their behavior seem to be quite complex - especially the building.
quicky2g - 2011-01-18 I bred these in a 29 gallon a while back with 2 females and 1 male. I got rid of that tank before college and got a few after college but didn't have great success with them. I had 2 females after college. Their color wasn't exactly what I was looking for with the mix of the rest of my fish, and the 2 females were slightly too aggressive for the rest of my fish. They are very hardy and active but I wouldn't recommend these for beginners because of the aggression. I'm not a fan of the yellow males at all.
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Trisomy21 - 2011-05-26 Yeah I've got an adult male and he is pure evil. He's killed numerous of fellow mbuna, including females and other various fish. I've only had a couple fish stand up to him and carve out some territory in the 65 gallon. One being a Green Sunfish. I guess it depends on the fish, their attitudes vary.
Roxanne - 2010-12-31 I have a question... We have a fairly new tank and everything is great with the water and tank. We have 2 Kenyi and they were about the same size when we got them but one of them has grown almost twice the size of the other one. The small one keeps her color and stripes all the time but the large one turns almost white looking about half the time. If you feed him or play with him or her through the glass he immediately turns back to his blue with black stripes. I really don't know what to think. The water is perfect and if it were stress I would think he would not change back so easily. Could this be a male changing color? Our Kenyi haven't been very aggressive except for the plants... they love uprooting the plants.
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matthew - 2011-03-08 It sounds to me as if you have a convict male in there, when they aren't getting along with other fish or are underfed they usually go a whiteish colour with some blue/black stripes. The white on a convict is a sign of stress. Hope this helps.
marissa - 2011-04-10 My kenyi has been doing the same thing and I think it has been changing colour to yellow, being a male. Recently he doesn't even go back to the black stripes it's more like faded stripes.
Christopher White - 2009-04-02 I have a young pair of kenyi and they have a new batch of fry about every month and a half but the male is very happy to eat them all. And he was the same color as the female until the third batch of fry then he morphed into the yellow version. The morph took about two weeks for the morph to complete.
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marissa - 2011-04-10 How old and big was your male before he began to change yellow.... my female or at least I thought was a female, has been turning a rusty yellow color on the edges of her body. Do you think this is a male?
Jon - 2010-09-21 I agree, kenyi cichlids are not aggressive. I am keeping 4 kenyi cichlids with some angelfish in my 55 gallon tank and they get along great. I have had this set-up for a little over a year! The tank is very lively and is awesome!
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Glan - 2010-11-18 You are doing your fish a great disservice. Angel fish like soft/more acidic water & cichlids like hard/more alkaline water. Your single anecdotal evidence is hardly worth advising others on the aggressive nature when it's been well documented by far more people that these are definitely aggressive fish (as adults). Juveniles of any cichlids are rarely aggressive.
Avery - 2010-07-25 Wow I have a female Kenyi I stole from my neighbor because of lack of feeding, dirty tank etc.. anyway.. she is sooo NOT aggressive, was actually attacked by its tankmate and won't kill or eat guppies or any other type of fish in the tank.. it now lives with a red oscar and even the oscar is the dominant one in the tank! As far as eating algae, nope won't do, had to get an algae eater.
Easy to please as long as their requirements are met, the Kenyi Cichlid is a great fish for a first time Malawi tank!
I have an 80 gallon tank (48 x36 x14) I would like to put a semi aggressive fish in there like the cichild. I don't want a lot but how many is good for this tank? And what other fish are suggested to go with? Do I get the cichlids first or other fish first?
As a general rule, 1" of fish for every 1 gallon of water. Click here on how to stock your aquarium: http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/information/freshwater.htm#inhabitants
Cichlids tend to be aggressive fish and you most likely will only want to keep them with other cichlids or other aggressive fish. Here is a link to keeping cichlids:http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/cichlid/cichlids.htm
If it's not to late for the answer I would say with enough hiding places 25 for a good active mbuna tank. I have 16 mbunas a pleco and a cray fish and my fish are breeding in a 50 gallon. I feed them good also.
I have one kenyi and one calvus with a pair of wags and a checkered barb and a dwarf gourami. They all get along fine except the gourami and the kenyi. I think it's the color the kenyi hates him. Proof that they can be kept together note however they've been together almost nearly all since birth.
These fish born as female. When matured males become golden, and female remain silvery blueish. I had 10 of these, 4 male and 6 female. Male Kenyis are quiet aggressive. There should be only one dominant male With at least 4 Female in a group.
I had 8 kenyi cichlids but I have noticed from past 4 days that they have started getting very much aggressive to each other and killing each other. Now after 4days I'm left with only 3 cichlids as each day 1 or 2 of them dies because of their aggressiveness. Now I have 1 male and 2 female but worried that even they will be together or no. So anyone can suggest me what care should I take.
I would read the article on the Kenyi Cichlids on Animal Word. Should be attached. Kenyi Cichlids are quite agressive and they are very teriitorial. They also get - up to 5 inches in length. Animal World recommends a 10 gallon tank for one and a 50 gallon tank if you have
a male with several females. Many say that Animals/fish know what size they are going to be and will control the population to insure that some survive. It has been said that birds will go to having clutches (babies) every other year. Also said that fish will kill each other off to make sure there is room and habitat for those that are left. What size tank do you have?
The male is most aggressive and will kill all, but, the female. You should be fine in the tank and now the male is a happy swimmer with his girls. Good luck.
Males will kill other males unless you have 6 to 7 females and males will only be super aggressive during breeding. You need to have lots of other cichlids and other fish in the tank so he does not single any one fish out and then kill him and then kill the next fish and so on you also need lots of rocks and hidding places
I have a 60 gallon reef tank and a mixture of mbuna.
I have been studying the nature of cichlid behaviour for 2 1/2 years. What I have discovered is the aggressiveness of a cichlid is born from the very beginning at birth. Theses beautiful creatures, from the moment of birth fight for domminance over territories and constantly jockey for the best positions for survival. Whomever states that cichlids are not aggressive, well, really hasn't spent the time to really get to know there friends......
Cichlid are very interesting builders and excavationers as well. My male Kenyi is always moving gravel around plants(good thing there decor. plants), I do keep anacharis plants to help with there diet, anyway, if you have a clean tank with lots of rock and plants then from time to time you should notice pits and other hiding spots created by these creatures.
for the most part cichlids are aggressive and if anyone, who has them as pets should take care and learn because even fish have distinct behavioral traits that makes each one different. In my conclusion, even though aggressive in nature, Mbuna are very doscile and fun to observe.
Possibly - all things are slightly agressive and we learn to behave in order to get along. Kittens can be agressive and so can puppys. Birds when being hand fed or in the nest seem to be a little assertive as they are being fed. Given enough room, space, food, agression decreases. I had cichlids and they intitally seemed agressive to me - always chasing one another. Then just a short time passed and they formed pairs and built little hidey holes and had little hidey spots in the plants and decorations. They built little tunnels etc and all got along. Sometimes they would be a litttle protective of their areas but basically all got along. I thought it was more this is my turf kinda thing. I will say they are interesting to watch. Their behavior seem to be quite complex - especially the building.
I bred these in a 29 gallon a while back with 2 females and 1 male. I got rid of that tank before college and got a few after college but didn't have great success with them. I had 2 females after college. Their color wasn't exactly what I was looking for with the mix of the rest of my fish, and the 2 females were slightly too aggressive for the rest of my fish. They are very hardy and active but I wouldn't recommend these for beginners because of the aggression. I'm not a fan of the yellow males at all.
Yeah I've got an adult male and he is pure evil. He's killed numerous of fellow mbuna, including females and other various fish. I've only had a couple fish stand up to him and carve out some territory in the 65 gallon. One being a Green Sunfish. I guess it depends on the fish, their attitudes vary.
I have a question... We have a fairly new tank and everything is great with the water and tank. We have 2 Kenyi and they were about the same size when we got them but one of them has grown almost twice the size of the other one. The small one keeps her color and stripes all the time but the large one turns almost white looking about half the time. If you feed him or play with him or her through the glass he immediately turns back to his blue with black stripes. I really don't know what to think. The water is perfect and if it were stress I would think he would not change back so easily. Could this be a male changing color? Our Kenyi haven't been very aggressive except for the plants... they love uprooting the plants.
It sounds to me as if you have a convict male in there, when they aren't getting along with other fish or are underfed they usually go a whiteish colour with some blue/black stripes. The white on a convict is a sign of stress. Hope this helps.
My kenyi has been doing the same thing and I think it has been changing colour to yellow, being a male. Recently he doesn't even go back to the black stripes it's more like faded stripes.
I have a young pair of kenyi and they have a new batch of fry about every month and a half but the male is very happy to eat them all. And he was the same color as the female until the third batch of fry then he morphed into the yellow version. The morph took about two weeks for the morph to complete.
How old and big was your male before he began to change yellow.... my female or at least I thought was a female, has been turning a rusty yellow color on the edges of her body. Do you think this is a male?
I agree, kenyi cichlids are not aggressive. I am keeping 4 kenyi cichlids with some angelfish in my 55 gallon tank and they get along great. I have had this set-up for a little over a year! The tank is very lively and is awesome!
You are doing your fish a great disservice. Angel fish like soft/more acidic water & cichlids like hard/more alkaline water. Your single anecdotal evidence is hardly worth advising others on the aggressive nature when it's been well documented by far more people that these are definitely aggressive fish (as adults). Juveniles of any cichlids are rarely aggressive.
Wow I have a female Kenyi I stole from my neighbor because of lack of feeding, dirty tank etc.. anyway.. she is sooo NOT aggressive, was actually attacked by its tankmate and won't kill or eat guppies or any other type of fish in the tank.. it now lives with a red oscar and even the oscar is the dominant one in the tank! As far as eating algae, nope won't do, had to get an algae eater.