Animal Stories - Kenyi Cichlid


Animal-World Information about: Kenyi Cichlid

The Kenyi Cichlid is easy to please as long as its requirements are met, making it a great fish for a Malawi cichlid tank!
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andy - 2013-02-24
I have 3 male cichlids and 1 female (1 yellow lab cichlid, 1 red zebra,1kenyi, ) (1 female kenyi) i have a 55g tank .my female cichlid just gave birth to 25 baby fry. What I'm wondering is that how long till me fry get their color and stop being transparent?and how long till i can put the fry with the 3 males and the momma

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  • Jeremy Roche - 2013-02-24
    Should start getting color in  a couple weeks.   Really depends on tank setup and size.  The more hiding places the earlier you can try.  I would wait till an inch or so.

     
  • andy - 2013-02-27
    Its been about a month an the fry have only grow 3/4 not even an inch is that normal or too slow? You can see when the light his them u can see stripes but still clear
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Jonny Vance - 2012-12-04
As far as the aggression, I have a full grown jack Dempsey, 2 rainbow sharks, a bala shark, a tiger oscar molly cichlid, a pleco, a chinese algae water, and 6 australian rainbow fish in with my m and f Kenyi cichlids, and their 17 free (about 4 months old) and there is no aggression at all, they all get along fine, providing plenty of space to declare their own terrotory is the key, they will defend their territory but seldom pursue another fish into theirs.

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sha - 2012-05-28
Have a bunch of mixed cichlids and found 4 babies, is it possible for kenyi to breed with a talepia cichlid?

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  • Charlie Roche - 2012-05-29
    Yep.
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Shawn - 2012-07-02
Do you get albino kenyis?

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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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  • Anonymous - 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.
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Sid - 2012-09-23
I have a tank with a community of 36 kenyi cichlids. All are around 1-1.5 inches in length and seem to live peacefully with each other. Is there a possibility of future conflicts? I know at least 5 of them are males because they are yellowish in color as compared to the other bright blue females.

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  • Charlie Roche - 2012-09-23
    I believe you are going to run into some problems.  Rule of thumb is minimum 1 gallon usuable water for each inch your fish are going to be as adults.  50 gallon tank will maybe net you 40 gallons after you remove for plants, substrate, filter deocrations.  36 fish at 1  - 1/2 inches - you would need at least 55 gallons now - and they are not full grown.  The cichlids probably will stunt and not achive adult size - They will become agressive and conflicts will start.  I'd read the above Animal World article as they are strongly recommended 10 gallons for one male and 50 gallons for 1 male and 4 - 5 females.  In your situation - the strongest guy might survive but there is going to be problems with all. 
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Anonymous - 2012-07-09
I have a black Molly in a tank with a female kenyi . The kenyi doesn't seem to be aggressive and doesn't acknowlege the black Molly. I'm just wondering if I should be prepared for the Molly to be fish food.

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  • Jeremy Roche - 2012-07-10
    Never really know.  there is a good chance the molly will be Kenyi food one day though.
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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?

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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.

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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.

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