graduation...fry style lol

[cichlidchic]

at what size is it safe to graduate fry to the big tank? I have 6 Red empress fry in my 55 growout tank, and they are about an inch and a half to 2 inches (2 are a little over 2 inches) i also have 4 frontosa fry that are about an inch to inch and a half (lost two, one from each trip, bummer...) my largest fish is leaving this weekend, he's right at 5 inches. next in line are about a dozen that are between 3 and 4 inches, the rest are about 2-3 inches. lots of hiding places.

any opinions?

[Zulaab]

Malawi cichlids depending on what they are can be bullies and you will need a nearly mature fish before you want to put them in a new (for the fry) tank. Make sure there are plenty of hiding spots for them to goto. A rearrangement of the tank is always good to do when you add them because everyone will not know where to go and this will stop the fish from running after each other for a short while and this will allow the new guys time to find a hiding spot for their lives.
I usually dont allow in a mature tank anything less than about a 2.5" fish into the tank because there is a chance they will be chased down and killed :(

Second -- I dont like to mix Malawi and Tanganyika fish together because they no matter who they are have different needs. Most of the Malawi sold today fall into three catagories. 1. Mbuna -- rock dwellers who will stake out rock formations and will chase anything that comes near away. 2. Haps, open tank fish who for the most part are piscovores which means you need rock formations to hide the smaller fish. 3. Peacocks, who lives in between, and for the most part are sand sifters, but prefer the rocks for safety. In a Malawi tank you want a good amount of rock work in there and then most of them will get along, but because of how you make the rock-work work for a Malawi you stop most Tanganyika from being settled.. Most of them need open areas to swim, which calls for less rock work, potentially to the point where your mbuna's will fight to much and you are going to be in trouble.
Fronts are deep sea fish, ie low light, Malawi are for the most part surface fish who wants a TON of light to be happy.. Fronts are fish that honestly as they grow up need their own 125 or bigger tank. Fronts should really be kept in a species only tank.

Can you tell us what fish you have in the 140 because this will tell us better what your solution is. Do you have adult Fronts in the 140 right now who got you the fry ? or did you buy fry that you are growing out ? Please remember Front Fry reach adult size in about 2-2.5 yrs but they will not be mature to mate until 36-40 months time frame. A full grown Front is between 7-10" in size and some males will reach 12+

Hope this helps !
Jesper

[cichlidchic]

ok, i'll try my best to answer this one at a time.

The tank is a 7 foot long 140 gallon tank with a ton of rockwork. HOWEVER, the rockwork is all along the back and bottom, to allow front open water space. the lights are bright, but on both ends of the tank with an 8 inch gap in the middle to provide a shadowy dark spot with lots of holes and hiding places. I'm working on the lights...

the fronts that are fry i bought separately, and eventually will have their own tank, i have a total of 4 fry and 1 2 and a half inch one. so i have a long ways to go before technically needing a species only tank for their size, at which time i'll have an 80 for them. (ultimate game plan is a burundi only tank, but they are way small right now).

the fish in the tank is a mix and hodgepodge of all 3 lakes at the moment. I'm working on getting breeding tanks for the 2 pure bred sets of victorians i just bought, so the vic's will be out in about 3 months. the peacocks and haps are a mix, mostly male, i have a red pair, a blue w/yellow blaze pair, a johnstoni solo hybrid single, a ob peacock single, and 2 breeding sets of jewels, with one extra female lol, about 2 dozen mbunas between 2 and 4 inches ( my only 5 incher is leaving this weekend), a front, a brichardi, a couple obliqs. and a syn catfish. Oh, and 2 spotted african leaf fish (climbing perch) (freaking cool fish lol) the average length of fish is 3 inches with a couple 4s and a few 2s. these guys will be the smallest fish in the tank, but they are the biggest in the 55 growout, and i'm concerned that they will begin bullying my other fry. they are getting territorial, and it concerns me.

I planned on overhauling the tank when i put them and the fron juvies in, because i bought a bunch more rock, and was planning on just re-aquascaping the whole tank to prevent bullies, and i'm kinda ecclectic in the tank's appearance. I'd like it to be more idunno...flowwy? like to flow better i guess? anyhoo, thats where i'm at. it has holey rock, tufa caves, several clay pots, a bunch of slate and a ton of plants, some rainbow slate and rock caves, and some base rock. Adding more base rock that my father in law gave me, it's really cool and has fossils stickin out of it.


hope that paints a better picture. if not, i'll take pix and upload them later today.