# keeping 1 cichlid (male or female)



## corE3105 (Jan 26, 2011)

Are African Cichlids fine by themselves, or maybe with a few catfish? I know it's recommended to keep 1 male with 3 or 4 females, but I don't want them to breed. Would it be ok to have just 1 male or 1 female instead? I'm thinking about getting a couple female Electric Blue Johannis, since they're quite pretty as compared to most female cichlids I've seen. Do they go crazy without a male around? If I got 1 male, would he be more aggressive without the females?


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

If the 10 gallon in your sig is your tank, forget those fish. They really need a tank with a 3 foot base. They are too aggressive and active for a small tank.


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## corE3105 (Jan 26, 2011)

navigator black said:


> If the 10 gallon in your sig is your tank, forget those fish. They really need a tank with a 3 foot base. They are too aggressive and active for a small tank.


The 10g round tank is not for the cichlids, the 20g long tank is. I know a lot of people might think that is also too small, but that's not what I'm posting here for. So if anyone has advice specific to the actual questions I have, it would be much appreciated.


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## patch1984 (Oct 3, 2012)

I keep a Red Jewel Cichlid with 3 network catfish and they leave each other alone and get on just fine. I haven't sexed the cilchlid yet.
It will eat anything small than itself and I do hear that they can attack fish their own size.
We have a 12 gallon tank.
I don't know if that answers your question.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

One is fine on its own, but you should heed advice given as they need a 3 ft tank at least. with 2 even of the same sex you will run into aggression problems and not enough room to hide from it.

And Patch your situation is a disaster in the making. Hope your doing water changes every other day.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

Lake Malawi cichlids are fine kept in singles or small groups in large enough tanks.They will hide all the time since they are social fish. That's the answer to your question.
Melanochromis johanni may match your curtains, but they won't match your tank as one of the more aggressive mbuna. Females will be as aggressive as many males. 
There are many African cichlids that will do fine in a 20 long, but since you didn't ask about them, I'll leave you to look them up. A hint - none of them are mbuna.


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## patch1984 (Oct 3, 2012)

susankat said:


> And Patch your situation is a disaster in the making. Hope your doing water changes every other day.


Oh no! Don't say that...! My girlfriend pressured me in to buying it without looking it up when we saw it in the shop. She said it was "pretty" and like a fool I agreed.
It did kill all the tetras we had in there at which point I said "I told you so" but it's been fine since. We've had it since at least 3 months though.

We water change weekly 30% normally and we have lots of plants and a piece of bogwood for hiding places.

Do you expect something terrible will happen?


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Patch to begin with the tank is too small for the jewel to set up its own territory. The fish will get 5 inches given the room. In too small of a tank it will end up killing everything in the tank. And the poor cories will disappear soon enough.

Best bet is to get a 40 gal for the cichlid and keep the cats in the 12 gal.


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## graybot (Apr 24, 2011)

There isn't an african cichlid that will work long term in a 20g. It may survive, but it won't be interesting to watch or care for, as it was said before, because the main appeal of these cichlids are their vibrant colors and active social life. Without other cichlids to interact with your solitary cichlid won't show their full color. If you truly stick with one african cichlid (which I doubt will actually happen. you will want more.) remember that it will eventually grow to 5-6 inches long and will require a larger tank or suffer serious health issues.

If you don't want to purchase a sufficient tank, think about a bolivian ram for your 20g. You could even have a pair, if they get along. Other dwarf cichlids may work also.


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## graybot (Apr 24, 2011)

also, if you are looking to make a "biotope" tank, it is important to note that anubias and african cichlids are not from the same biotope. Anubias is native to west african streams and rivers, and mbuna (the african cichlids you are considering) come from lake malawi in the east. The only aquarium plant I know of that exist in the mbuna's native environment are vals.


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## patch1984 (Oct 3, 2012)

susankat said:


> Patch to begin with the tank is too small for the jewel to set up its own territory. The fish will get 5 inches given the room. In too small of a tank it will end up killing everything in the tank. And the poor cories will disappear soon enough.
> 
> Best bet is to get a 40 gal for the cichlid and keep the cats in the 12 gal.


We will have to consider parting with it as we don't have the space for a larger tank.
Thanks for the warning and the words of advice.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

You can go with shell dwellers in a 20 long - the dwarfs of lake Tanganyika. I know of no Malawi for a tank that small.
There are lots of West Africans that would love a 20 long, but the lake fish are generally too big.


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