# my juvenile kenyis african mbunas.



## chriryan85 (Jul 4, 2013)

My kenyis are being chased relentless by my redtail shark will this change when they mature there in a 79 gallan. They havent been nipped but I didnt expect my redtail too dominate my juvenile kenyi cichlids because my sharks only a juvenile. Any thoughts . I'm not worried just thought it odd since red tails are semi aggressive and mildly territorial. I thought the kenyis would dominate my shark since kenyis are one of the more aggressive africans. My second question I have one male red tail juvenile one female kenyi cichlid juvenile one male kenyi juvenile. So two cichlids one redtail black Shark should I try putting in a couple bigger cichlids too keep my redtail in check. Like a slightly bigger kenyi juvenile.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

An adult male kenyi will put most fish in its place, but I've never tried them with sharks. If the shark gets all the food, the cichlids may not grow enough to keep up with him. 

But mbuna are not fish to keep in pairs. This usually ends in a dead female. You want either 1 male and many females or all males and each male is a different species and color from all the others.


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## chriryan85 (Jul 4, 2013)

They seem too be getting too the tropical flakes. The one female seems to be the one Getting chased mostly but the shark also chases the male they seem too all eating ok.


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## chriryan85 (Jul 4, 2013)

Can I do all females no males since I'm not breeding them because I removed the male kenyi.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

for starters , cyprinids such as the red tail shark really do not belong with rift lake species..they require different water parameters..but since you already have them together...
puts lots and lots of piles of rocks in the tank..that will give the cichlids lots of places to hide and feel secure..eventually the shark may get tired of chasing them and quit..


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## chriryan85 (Jul 4, 2013)

he has backed off and only chases what turns out to be a male baby ice blue mix thanks petsmart only once in a while.


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## chriryan85 (Jul 4, 2013)

no waunder he was so passive i collected some rocks from the canadian sheild just broken off lime stone etc and will wash very well under hot water and build a habitat in the tank for my ice blue.


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## chriryan85 (Jul 4, 2013)

im also getting some acei 1 male 4 females some electric labrochromis yellows 1 male 4 females. and some snow white cichlids 1 male 4 females. should go well with the ice blue mix since there all a bit more passive then most cichlids. also getting more ice blues for my mix.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

given that it is a 79 gallon tank , there is plenty of room for a good sized community of rifts...fill the tank about half way up with the limestone. this will give all of the fish lots of places to hide.and being able to hide makes them feel secure.when your fish feel secure ; they come out to play more often.
the best of luck with them.


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## chriryan85 (Jul 4, 2013)

Put my lime stone in my red tail loves it along with my ice blue juvenile . Still only have 1 cichlid .


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## chriryan85 (Jul 4, 2013)

Just a bit woorried about bio load I guess. Thats why I only have two fish.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

when i was keeping malawi cichlids i had them in 40 gallon longs...filled the tanks with rocks and had from 15-25 adult breeders in each..50% water changes weekly....undergravel filters and about 2" of limestone gravel....before each water change i would stir up the gravel and let the gunk settle on top and would then siphon it off...
when rift lake cichlids are overcrowded there is too much activity for any one fish to get beat up..large amounts of rockwork piled up like rubble provides lots of hiding places so the fish feel comfortable and come out more and show better color..if you look at some of the film take of their natural habitat you will see that the fish are pretty highly concentrated in those areas...
here are a couple of video links....notice the absence of plants..also notice feeding practices...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi4G-TidSSk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1pVBcamApo

there are a whole bunch of videos you can check out on youtube to learn more about these fantastic fish...


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## chriryan85 (Jul 4, 2013)

Well I baught a livinstoni and a milomo. They get along with my snow white socofoli and juvenile blue lab mix happs and mbunas getting along must be the pile of canadian sheild rocks I put in.


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## kay-bee (Dec 6, 2006)

chriryan85 said:


> Well I baught a livinstoni and a milomo. They get along with my snow white socofoli and juvenile blue lab mix happs and mbunas getting along must be the pile of canadian sheild rocks I put in.


Or it may also be their youth (I'm just under the assumption that they're not full grown, or did you purchase an 11" livingstonii?). 

Juvenile african cichlids (even unconventional mixes) usually get along in the beginning. It's when they mature and their aggression potential fully develops is when the trouble starts (and when it does it can occur literally overnight).


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## chriryan85 (Jul 4, 2013)

nope spoke too soon my red zebra mbuna rules the tank fights with my livinstoni all the time and has my yellow lab i just baught yesterday backed up behind the heater my lab gets a repreive when they sleep for the night. i expect when my electric blue friery gets older he will get aggressive and have a bit of fight back right now he takes it hoping he has a personality change and puts up more of a fight with the red zebra and livinstoni. but he is able too coexist with my zebra and the others. hopefully my zebra and livinstoni let my yellow lab juvenile hang out with the rest of the gang soon or i will remove one of them it will prob be the orange red zebra not getting rid of my livinstoni because his is just territory aggression he doesnt harass like my zebra and my yellow labs not the problem. like my lab turned my lights off at 11 pm the fish went too bed my yellow lab juvenile left the heater area and is sleeping in the rocks with the others lets see if they let him in the click tomorow.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i think you might want to start piling up a bunch more rocks so you can cut down on the aggression..


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## OhYesItsMe (Oct 1, 2011)

If you do an all female kenyi set up, the more dominant females become males from my experience.


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## chriryan85 (Jul 4, 2013)

my bumblebee comes tomorow hopefully that gives the lab the distraction it needs too integrate coexist not wooried about the bumblebee he will hold his own better then the lab.will collect more canadian sheild rocks.


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