Hello fish people! I'm new to the community and seeking guidance on what to do next. I'm hoping I can be given some grace and constructive advice on what to do because I want to give the fish good lives. I love animals, and want to keep them. I'm also a little afraid of what people are going to say based on the 5 minutes of research I've done, but I'm open to put in the effort to keep them!
I was legit randomly given two fish by students (which I am now finding are African cichlids) once they realized there were some abandoned fishtanks at school. I loosely said I would be open to having fish, but I had no idea ahead of time that they were going to show up one day and plop two fish in a tank with a whole set up.
As I'm sure you a guess just based on what I've written so far, it's not going well to say the least. Obviously, they hate each other (and the white/pinkish one gives me weird vibes lol).
What should I do?! I don't have a tank big enough to get 6-10. Ahh!! I think I might keep an eye out on the Buy Nothing Facebook group I'm in as I've seen people give away tanks before.
Posted by MurkyBasket4820
33 Comments
Much bigger tank is needed. 100gal minimum. They like hard water shouldn’t be kept in pairs really. I dont know much about cichlids but I know they need a huge tank with massive filtration and are heavy eaters.
They definitely need to be separated asap, even if it’s a 5 gallon bucket with a bubbler. He’ll kill the blue one. Is there a fish store nearby? Sometimes they’ll take fish off your hands. It’s likely two males, but sometimes cichlids are just super territorial.
This looks like a 10 gallon tank. I’m not sure of exact species, but these guys look like Rift Lake/African Cichlids.
They need a minimum of 55 gallons in a large colony setting with large piles of rock work to hide and stake out territory. These fish are extremely territorial and must be kept in an overstocked colony setting otherwise their aggression becomes too directed. Constant beating by a more dominant tank mate will eventually kill the weaker fish.
My recommendation is speaking to your students about why these fish aren’t suitable for this aquarium. If nothing larger is possible, I’d recommend trading these guys in at a local fish store in lieu of something better suited to this set up. A school of small tetras would be cool!
The will kill each other. Seriously
Oh no I have one of these
They need to be separated asap
The blue and black one is a msobo cichlid – I have them in a 75 gallon tank. They need a very high female to male ratio , like 7-1. I only have two males, one is a juvenile and likely scenario they’re going to go at it sooner than later
Unless your willing to suddenly drop hundreds or nearly a thousand on these fish, best if you just try and give this to a local fish store, preferably one that’s not own by a large scale company. Cichlids ate fish that either need a whole tank to themselves or a high mantience tank of like dozens of fish
Take them to a fish store and get a blue betta fish as a replacement.
Ever put two cats in a pillowcase? That’s what’s happening here.
I second giving these to a local fish store. You will need a huge tank, expensive filters, heaters, and much more to care for these asap and likely would need to rehome one of them anyways. Im not a cichlid expert, but they are going to kill the smaller one as it stands.
A better suited fish for a 10 gallon like that would be a few guppies or some shrimp and snails. It’s too small for most fish honestly.
If you can’t give them back, send them to a fish store, or rehome them immediately. I would separate them immediately. for a 1st cheep fix, you can buy a tank separation wall. https://www.amazon.com/fish-tank-separator/s?k=fish+tank+separator.
They either need a much larger tank or 2 separate tanks. I say rehome at least one of them. Cichlids can be aggressive so having a mixed community where you have more than one species is not likely either…. and having only one fish is cruel, IMO.
African cichlids are not a great choice for a 10 gallon. you’ll want fish that are much smaller. you’re limited to 1 inch of fish per gallon. so aggression aside, you’re already at max fish for this one tank!
If you just set this tank up your tank is going to go through the nitrogen cycle…. which can be deadly… https://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/features/how-to-cycle-a-fish-tank-the-complete-guide/
Call your local fish store and see if they will take them…. while their ask about fish that are good for a 10 gallon… and sure as shit don’t put 10 of them in there! That’s not going to end well!
You should take those to a local fish store and drop them off. You can’t keep them in a tank that size or in a small group.
Those are extremely aggressive fish. They fight over territory and right now see the tank as a single place to defend. You normally keep them in larger tanks with lots of hiding spots so each fish can claim a hole as its own.
They need to go to a fish store
Unless you are willing to drop a few hundred dollars on a larger tank I’d take them to a local fish store this tank is too small for even one of them
that poor fish, cant catch a break an just chill without the other one attacking it 🙁
Everyone’s right they need to go to a fish store. But stick some type of divider in between them for the time being. The blue one will be dead within a couple hours if not.
Put a temporary wall until you can rehome them, cichlids needs massive tank and lots and lots of big rock to hide in the holes and cracks.
Edit: if you have more questions, i will be happy to try and answer them, i have a 120 gallons full of peacock cichlids. I think the pink onwe might be a Mbuna cichlids.
Mbuna are more aggressive than peacock. We usually dont mix them because if they mate, chances are a couple of fish will die.
It’s not gonna end well… maybe keep one and trade the other at a pet store.
Rehome them find somebody with a tank. They will kill eachother as this is whats happening.
Putting this comment here as well, hope you see it op – do make sure if you decide to pursue fish after this debacle – you get the ok at the school for even having tanks, they can be an insurance issue
Need to separate them or you’re coming back on Monday with 1, maybe 2, dead fish. A bucket with lid should suffice for one of them
they dont belong there.
Oh no….
After getting rid of the dead fish, donate the other one to a local fish store..
Waaaayyyyy too small of a tank
Jesus christ those are cichlids man
I do not know how old your students are, but please set a boundary with them like while the fish are appreciated, caring for life requires planning, so you can’t just dump fish here without discussing it first. It’s like saying you’re open to getting married someday and the listener just moving-in to your place without a discussion. There was a lot of assuming and it doesn’t seem your students are on the same page regarding expectations or respecting life. You don’t want a repeat of this predicament. If they’re young, this might be a good opportunity to teach researching skills
Edit: Otherwise, they’re bound to walk allover you and leave you panicked and scrambling again
African cichlids are territorial and aggressive.
They need a much larger tank, 8pH water and lots of hides/caves. Don’t bother with plants, they’ll get destroyed.
This current setup will have a dead fish soon.
They desperately need to be separated if you have a divider. Or at least put a couple of flower pots or something similar in it where they might be able to hide/claim an area.
Then it’s tank and accessories shopping. Minimum tank size for two of these is 40 gallon, ideally 55. I’d read up on keeping African cichlids as well.
Good luck.
Get ahold of a local pet store and see if they will take them. That tank is way to small for 2 of that type of fish.
Just take one of the fish to a local fish store and surrender it, the other one will be fine
Cichlids are dicks 😅 our fat guy ate his cichlid friend (we were told and even googled that they can be tanked together), and when he ate his friend he ate the other community fish the store told us we could house together. Mango lived a long, and alone yet happy, life until he got swim bladder. Anyway, op, separate them babies 😅
Need to put something in the tank to halve it and keep them apart asap. They need to be in larger groups with lots of sight line breaks to disperse aggression. So yeah, bigger tank, more decor and more fish total. For now, keep them apart. Probably best off just taking them in tj a fish store and getting 6-7 small tetra type. Damn kids!
These are some of the worst fish you could have been gifted.
I do not recognize the white one, but like the other people already said the blue one is a Malawi cichlid. They do need large tanks, with lots of fish, and need more water changes compared to more average aquariums. It will take up a lot of space, time, and money. I think these are even easy to breed, so you will also have to deal with young fish all the time.
Not sure the other is Malawi or not, but you might need an equal large, time consuming, money sink to keep that fish.
And yes they will fight till one is left. What you see here is highly aggressive behavior. It’s why you have to keep Malawi tanks overstocked, it’s to prevent this as much as possible.
Try to trade these fish for something else at the store. What you have now is a very small tank, and there are not a lot of species you can keep in it (without being cruel). There are lots of interesting looking shrimp for sale, and they show very interesting behavior as well! It might be especially interesting for your students, as most people are familiar with goldfish and exotic fish, but shrimp is more uncommon as a pet and animal to study. Many shrimp species don’t need a lot to thrive either, so it seems ideal for what you have and your situation!
Once you have more experience, and are sure you are interested in the aquarium hobby, perhaps one day you can come back to Malawi cichlids? They sure are beautiful fish and make interesting tanks to look at, but you need some experience to keep them. If you keep the fish you are sure to further harm them, and they will live a short miserable life. It would be frustrating for yourself as well, as this is not a nice introduction to an otherwise rewarding hobby.
It’s also a great opportunity to teach your students about different animal species, pets in general… And a lesson for them to learn that animals do not make great gifts. Life is valuable, even fish. And to take good care of them takes responsibility. It also takes time, effort, and money. Preparation. All great lessons for your students to learn. Even more so if you act like a role model, step up and see this is the wrong kind of gift to get and you can’t give these fish what they need, and return them to the store as they deserve a better life than just being a thoughtless gift.
Cichlid aren’t a good beginner fish they are known as semi aggressive, some commenters suggested to try and see if a fish store will give you some as a trade, I suggest fancy guppy, if you mix the colorful males with a few females you get a genetics experiment that shows how genes are passed down, sometimes guppys will have 200 babies their first time and most will be similar to parent male.