Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok well my jack dempsey died a week ago due to the fact of him not eating its sad but i have to move on so now im thinking of getting a african cichlid well the only thing petsmart is selling here in my area is auratus and kenyi cihclid and ive been reading that both fish are very aggressive so im asking is whos nicer between the 2? and the fish fish i have right now is a pleco.

Really ACs shouldnt be in anything smaller then a 55 gl cuz they get to big around 6- 7 inches and with not much room to get away from each other so you will have lots of fights on your hands. Also they need lots of caves made out of rocks to hide which you wont really be able to do in a 30 gl. If you do it make sure you have about 2 males and rest females so it cuts back on the fighting. Also they shouldnt be in with any fish other then ACs cuz they hunt in groups and they will work togehter to hunt down and kill anything that isnt them.I have a 90 gl which I keep and breed ACs and I have tried plecos and sure enough they didnt last a day no matter what size they were. Now all ACs are mean but the Yellow Labs are nicer then most which might be your best bet cuz the dont get as big.

Hope this helps and good luck.

oh ok cool thanks well do you know anything bout kenyi or anybody else know anything about kenyi and i think i can pull out a cave for auratus just hoping they wont kill my pleco though but yeah still thinking if i want kenyi or ac

I am a African Cichlid Breeder and raise many species of Cichlids including, Electric Blue Johanni, Red Terror, Auratis, Chipokees and Kenyi. I generally keep the less aggressive in one tank and the semi-aggressive and non aggresssive fish in another tank. When it comes to the "Non-Aggressive" you may find they are territorial, but not aggressive. The Auratis is a highly aggressive and territorial fish, but each fish varys depending on personallity, but generally they are this way. Now Kenyi
cichlid are usually not as aggressive and easy to keep with other fish of the same size. Luckily both these fish are compatible with Pleco and are both from Lake Malawi, But as a reminder never mix fish from Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika. If your looking for a less aggressive fish go with the Kenyi. A 30 Gallon tank is big enough for a full grown Kenyi, They only get about 7 inches tops so as a rule of thumb I always tell people 2 Gallons of water for every 1 inch of full grown fish so thats only 14 gallons being used. You could probably even get 2 of the Kenyi if you want.

Hope this helps.

CRH96 - Aquarium Hobbiest