# Giving Up on Chiclids!



## Freerider (Nov 8, 2006)

Here is my tank
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/aquascaping/35241-new-planted-tanganyikan.html

I just bought 3 syndo cats this Friday and completely relandscaped my tank. I added the new fish and sold the Julie in an effort to get the fish to stop fighting.
Well things arent any better, the Neolamprologus brichardi is now constantly attacking the new syndo cats and it hasent stopped for the last 3 days. I just cant stand by while my $9.99 sydno cats get the crap kicked out of them. They are just hidding on my Aquaclear quickfilter attachment all day while Neolamprologus brichardi swims by just to attack them even though his spot is on the other side of the tank. I am thinking about dividing a 10 gallon tank for them and throwing the Neolamprologus brichardi and the Altolamprologus calvus on each side of the 10 gallon and moving its current inhabitants into the 35 g which are 3 yoyo loaches and a pearl gourami (sp).
Will the syndo cats and yoyo loaches get along?
Will the 2 chiclids be ok in a 10 gallon divided tank?


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## toddnbecka (Sep 20, 2006)

Brichardi are best kept in a species tank, I'd recommend 36" minimum for a pair and resulting fry. The calvus shouldn't be a problem with other fish, they're generally pretty shy, only aggressive toward other calvus.
Check out cichlid-forum.com for more info on Tanganykian species.


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

I've kept some wild Birchardi in a 2ft tank with Multifasciatus and both species bred prolifically.

I'd put the divider in not quite halfway and put the bric on the smaller side. After a while he/she should hopefully give up on chasing the catfish, or at least put up with them. I agree that a 3ft would be better, but it may work in this tank.

Again it might just persecute the cats anyway!!!
They should be fine with other fish. Which species of syno have you got?


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## Freerider (Nov 8, 2006)

So i took the Neolamprologus brichardi and the Altolamprologus calvus out of the tank and into my 10 gallon tank with a divider between the two. I moved the yoyo loaches and gourami into the 35g with the danios, syno and brevis.
I hope Alto calvus makes the move safely as he is just lying on the bottom with little to no colour, while the Brichardi is swiming all around his new side of the tank. I think this experiment demonstrated to me that i need a tank longer than 30" for a chiclid tank. I always thought it was going to work fine in a 35 gallon tank with alot of dither fish but now i have learned that i have a soft stomach for fish to fish abuse. I just couldnt handle the constant fighting. I have kept Kribs, Angels, and Rams in this size tank and even bred the kribs and angels but Tang chiclids are little buggers that really like to fight for fairly large territories. Lesson Learned.


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

Yes, one has to be much more careful with mixing species and tank size with African Cichlids. There aren't that many African Cichlids that can be housed in smallish tanks.

The site referred to above, http://www.cichlid-forum.com/index.php, has excellent info on Cichlids in general and African Cichlids in particular, including species compatibility.


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## Freerider (Nov 8, 2006)

Laith, thanks for the tip i actually got my stocking recommendations from that site. 
Ed: you seem to know alot about chiclids, will my Neolamprologus brichardi and Altolamprologus calvus be ok in the 10 gallon by themselves? I put a divider in but within a few hours the Calvus had squeezed over to the other side. They are only about 1 inch long right now. I took the divider out and things seem to be fine so far, but am i just going to have to put the divider back in? Any thoughts about what i can do with these two fish?


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

I've never kept calvus, but my wild brichardi pair and multifasciatus were in a 12 gallon tank and were fine and both bred.
From what I have heard from people who have kept them, calvus tend to keep to themselves and other fish seem to leave them alone too. If everything's alright so far I'd leave it, just keep an eye on things. Things may change as they grow, you can always put the divider back in if there are problems. That's the fun with cichlids, you never know exactly what's going to happen!!! My Nanochromis sabinae totally surprised me yesterday by breeding when they've only been in the tank for just over a week!


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## Freerider (Nov 8, 2006)

I put the calvus back into the 35 after the brichardi constantly attacked him. Now hes is doing just fine with the fish in the 35 beause he was the last one in the tank. So the Brichardi has the 10 all by himself (or herself). I though about introducing it back to the 35 but everything is going great in that tank since the fish juggle so i will probally leave things as they are now.


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