# Troublesome Kenyi's



## Pandapop (Dec 29, 2009)

Okay, so, a while ago I made a post trying to figure out what my four little "Mixed African" cichlid's were (ended up being 3 Maylandia lombardoi, and 1 Melanochromis auratus). The bf and I have only kept 2 of the Maylandia lombardoi "Kenyi" cichlids, which are now a full inch larger than they were a few months ago, making them 2 inches as of today.

Originally we had them in our 55g community tank, but as they got bigger, they began to torture and harass our other peaceful fish (mostly the guppies, platies and loaches). So we had to move them. Right now they're in a 10g by themselves, soon to be upgraded to a 20g High over the weekend.

These are vicious little sh!ts, but that's a lot of space in the 20g (until they get larger, anyway) that I'd like to put some other fish in. I'm looking for any bottom-feeders that might get well along enough with the cichlids. Some loaches aren't going to work, because the brats made a game out of "chase the kuhli" in our 55g. Oto's weren't working, either. They'd attack/bonk the oto's off their perches on the plants or glass walls, and chase them into hiding.

The cichlids are too small and too young to have formed a 'breeding' pair, and they haven't actually established a territory... they had free roam of the entire 55g, and just bothered everyone in it (oddly enough, they would NOT go near the Bolivian rams, clown loaches and rosy barbs). They didn't always follow each other and gang up on another fish though, sometimes they went their own way.

My LFS doesn't have much of a selection -- normally just Oto's, Cories, Siamese/Golden algae eaters, kuhli's, clowns, skunk botias (almost considering a few of these). So I'd do my shopping online, probably. Where there's more to choose from.

Does anyone own one or two of these little buggers? The Kenyi's, I mean. What other fish do you have in with them? What might you suggest I add?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I have 6 in a 55 (used to be 8, but 2 are in hospital tanks with chewed fins )full of rocks. IMO, thats about the smallest tank for adults. No other fish. You can keep them with other Malawi fish and maybe some Victorians, but you'd need a big tank. I do think 2 are more likely to hurt other fish and each other than a larger group. I think 10-15 in 90 or a 120 would be ideal. The males are most aggressive, but even females will dig a hole, and defend it against all comers. If you don't see a 4 ft long tank in your future, you may as well save yourself some grief and trade them in now.


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## Pandapop (Dec 29, 2009)

Oh, I'm definitely going to get a MUCH larger tank for them when they're older/bigger. They're actually not _quite_ 2 inches, but I like to round them off at about that length. The 20g is only temporary (as was the 10g). But they're messy eaters, and that's why I was wondering if I could put in some time of bottom-feeder.

My female seems to be way more aggressive than the male, though. In fact, she kind of bullies him around a bit, when she feels he's stepping out of line.


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## kay-bee (Dec 6, 2006)

Metriaclima lombardoi/'kenyi' are one of the most aggressive mbuna species in the hobby and are most compatible in aggressive mbuna tanks. I personally wouldn't keep kenyi's in anything smaller than a 75 or 90gal. 

On a* mbuna *aggression scale of 1 to 5 (with 5 being the most aggressive) they rate a 4 or 5, and since this is a mbuna scale of aggression, a rating of 1 would be still be aggressive in the context of what's normally observed in tropical community tanks. As you have discovered, they are not suited for community tanks, but at 2" your juvenile kenyi's still *haven't really displayed genuine 'kenyi' aggression behavior yet*.

When mbuna's are kept in small quantity (less than 8) and in small tanks (less than 55gal or 48" tank as a general minimum) their aggression is amplified. 

They also do not 'pair' up (as they are polygamous or 'harem' breeders), so even if you have 1 of each gender one will eventually *kill* the other in a 20gal, which can happen before they attain full maturity/full size (as they grow their aggression correspondingly ramps up). Getting a larger tank when they're larger may be too late.

Are they both in juvenile pattern (blue with black tiger stripes) or are any of them showing signs of male dimorphism? (males undergo a color transformation as they mature, and become solid yellow-orange in color sometimes with faint stripes).

Any type of bottom feeder should be placed in the tank first. A semi-aggressive african catfish such as a synodontis eupterus/euptera are typically well-suited in correctly stocked mbuna tanks. 

In this case, due to the territorial nature of this species, small tank and small numbers of fish (2 kenyi +1 possible bottom feeder) I would not recommend adding any other fish except more mbuna's. 

If your goal isn't to create a correctly stocked mbuna set up (55gal+ plus 10+ more mbuna's) then you might want to return them.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

IMO they are less aggressive than melanochromis, P. elongatus or socolofi. You usually have time to fish out a chewed fish alive if you pay attention.

People do keep them with armored plecos even though the plecos come from different water on the far side of the world. 

There shouldn't be any uneaten food hitting the bottom. Feed a veggie-based slow-sinking small pellet.

Go for the bigger tanks sooner, look at them every day for wounds, have spare tank on standby.


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## Pandapop (Dec 29, 2009)

Wow. I knew this guys were aggressive, but I didn't realize they were _that_ bad... good lord. Well, the bf and I keep a close eye on ALL of our fish (usually stopping by to look at the tanks once every other hour, except when asleep), and so far, neither Kenyi has any wounds or nipped fins. They're both extremely healthy and active, and notorious eaters (just messy... they 'dive' through the food as it's put into the tank).

One is a solid yellow, the other a bluish color with darker blue vertical stripes. They've both been that way since we got them, a few months back. At just barely 1/2 inch, the yellow one was the same color when bought as it is now. I don't think it's matured yet? It came from a tank of mixed cichlid's that were all the same size. Petsmart was where I got them. The employee there said they'd just gotten them in, and they were all 'babies'. Although I know to only take a chain pet store employee's words with a grain of salt, they WERE extremely small.

They seem happy enough in their now 20g... plenty of hiding places, but also enough open space. They're already eating, too. 

Now even though I say they aren't very aggressive (if at all) towards each other now, I DO take into consideration that they may end up being more than a hand full later on. If and when that's the case, and I can't properly place them into an aquarium of an appropriate size, I will consider re-homing them... or even just returning them to the pet store. But I guess for now I'll just watch closely and see how things go.

I decided against adding any tank-mates, though. They seem happy enough with just the two of them, and I don't want to put another fish through any unneeded stress...


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## kay-bee (Dec 6, 2006)

Pandapop said:


> ...At just barely 1/2 inch, the yellow one was the same color when bought as it is now. I don't think it's matured yet?...


Can you post an updated photo of the yellow one. 
(Fish #1 in this thread)
http://www.fishforums.com/forum/cichlids/30431-mbuna-mixed-cichlids.html

Male kenyi's should still be blue and striped at barely one-half inch and probably at 2" as well.

It kind of looks like a juvenile Metriaclima msobo but it might be something else (either other species or hybrid).


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## Pandapop (Dec 29, 2009)

I almost think it's actually a yellow lab... at Petsmart, the mixed cichlids were in a tank right beside a tank of yellow labs. There was a Kenyi cichlid in the YL tank, and I had the employee there grab it for me. It's possible a YL snuck into the mixed tank...

I'm going to snap a picture tonight. Hopefully I can get a good shot of the little bugger.


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## Hansolo (Sep 10, 2010)

I used to have 8 of the kenyi in my 160 and found out the largest female called the shots. I had 6 female and 2 males. They spawned once but all the fry got ate. I did have BN plecos in with them as well as an L-204 and a clown pleco. The kenyi never bothered the plecos but the tank is huge. I ended up giving them all away when I realized that there was no chance of keeping anything but Africans with them. They stressed every fish to the point of death in a matter of a few days. I thought semi aggressive fish would be able to hold there own but no way. Get rid of them unless its all you plan on keeping in tank. All I could keep with them were plecos. Good luck


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