Cyprichromis Stocking?

Q&A About Lake Tanganyika Cichlids

Moderator: Pam Chin

Post Reply
Fish Guy
Posts: 79
Joined: Fri May 07, 2004 10:44 am
Location: Newfoundland

Cyprichromis Stocking?

Post by Fish Guy »

Just wondering what would be a good number for stocking a 55g with Cyps? Most likely they would be Cyprichromis leptosoma. This setup would a species tank only as well. I am very interested in keeping this fish as I have never really kept an open water cichlid.
matthew penney
Pam Chin
Site Admin
Posts: 1798
Joined: Sat Nov 29, 2003 9:11 am
Location: California, USA
Contact:

Re: Cyprichromis Stocking?

Post by Pam Chin »

Hey Fish Guy,

You can try to do some Cyps in a 55 gallon tank, it would be okay maybe to grow them up some, but as a long term tank, I don't think it is big enough. The males can claim a virtual territory that will be larger then you would think. The secret is a much larger tank 100+ and a large group. In smaller tanks you usually experince the elimination of females that are constantly chased and abused, it is only a matter of time before you end up with all males. Other fish will help lessen some of the aggression, but I have seen pretty mean Cyps. They like to kill each other first and then they work on the dithers.

This open water fish needs to be in larger groups, a minimum of 12, I would say 24 is better.

Cichlid Power!
Pam
Cichlid Power!
Pam

Cichlid Room Companion
Best Cichlid Site Ever
http://www.cichlidae.com
Post Reply