# of small malawi's in a 29 Gallon tank

[little_rudd]

How many small Malawi's can go safely in a 29 Gallon tank?

[Mbuniac]

I voted for 6-10, but it really depends on which fish you have. I had 8 mbuna in a 29 until I got my 125. If you go with mbuna, give them plenty of hiding places. AND DON'T GET NO DANG KENYI OR AURATUS!
IMHO, Sam

[MalawiMayhem]

Really depends on the species, and whether you want to crowd or not...because if you do, you can go beyond 10, with the right selection of species...

Good Luck :)

MM

[merlyn2221]

Both the previous posts are accurate. It truly depends on their size and aggressiveness.

You could probably house a good amount of electric yellows in there comfortably if there is the right ratio of males to females.

Don't forget to look at how big they will grow to and consider that while stocking the tank.


Oh yeah, and don't forget to use the gallon per inch of fish thing too.

[SGypsyMermaid]

Originally posted by merlyn2221
Both the previous posts are accurate. It truly depends on their size and aggressiveness.

You could probably house a good amount of electric yellows in there comfortably if there is the right ratio of males to females.

Don't forget to look at how big they will grow to and consider that while stocking the tank.


Oh yeah, and don't forget to use the gallon per inch of fish thing too.

merlyn...i think that that gallon per inch of fish rule only works with small fish like livebearers and tetras because with the larger fish, you have to consider the height and the thickness of the body also--so it doesn't really work for them.

[merlyn2221]

Hey, you're back!!!:dance:

True indeed, should have clarified that. :oops:

[Frontosa29]

depends on species....filtration...and willingness to do rediculously frequent water changes...:dance:

[jennigypsy]

I also voted 6-10, but I'd lean on the 6ish side maybe...
everything said above I think sounds like great advice! You do need to consider the full grown size of the fish you get..they're usually younger & will grow. DO REGULAR WATER CHANGES. :)

[Matt V]

i voted 6-10 too. but that's assuming you follow several of the commandments - most important being know thy species and change thy water more than once every 7 days.

[luvcich]

I have a 29g that currently houses 7 fish 4 of them are just fry, 1 polit subadult male and the rest are saulosi subadults.....they have plenty of room, and lots of places to hide...these fish all stay about 3-4 inches full grown, the fry will be going to a new home once big enough, i might get a couple females for my polit when they are gone......but so far so good......I started out with just one male polit and wanted him to be tank king so he would be colored up all the time.......it has worked great.....so hopefully they will continue to get along :)

[disposablehero]

Originally posted by merlyn2221

Oh yeah, and don't forget to use the gallon per inch of fish thing too.

Although its widely accepted, I feel this is a grossly inaccurate way of measuring capacity. I have my own method, which you can do several variants of but I will demonstrate a simple one:

Multiply the volume of your tank in gallons by 1.5
Next, for each fish, multiply its length in inches by the square root of its length in inches. ie 9 inches=9*3=27

So for example, an 120 gallon tank could hold:

180 1 inch fishes
22-23 4 inch fishes
12 6 inch fishes
6-7 9 inch fishes
5 11 inch fishes
4 14 inch fishes
3 16 inch fishes

While some of the numbers may appear odd, keep this in mind. 1 of the six inch fishes should weigh about the same as all 180 of the one inch fishes, if their builds are similar. This is one of the reasons why Oscars and Goldfish are often referred to as "messy" fish, requiring more than average space. They aren't messy, just big.

[StructureGuy]

Originally posted by disposablehero
This is one of the reasons why Oscars and Goldfish are often referred to as "messy" fish, requiring more than average space. They aren't messy, just big.

Oscars are definitely very messy eaters.

Kevin

[SGypsyMermaid]

Originally posted by StructureGuy
Oscars are definitely very messy eaters.

Kevin

"chew 'n spew"--seedy(i think):razz:

[Seedy]

Ok....Here is a question....Does anyone have a 29 gallon currently full of adult Mbuna....

anyone?

BTW....I voted 1-3...

[Seedy]

I keep looking at some 6inch acci, yellow labs, polit, and L. Fuellbornei in the show tank at the local LFS....Then I go home and look at my 30 gallon tank....I just CAN NOT see that sized fish in this sized tank...I know I've said differently in the past...but........

[Seedy]

Originally posted by MalawiMayhem
Really depends on the species, and whether you want to crowd or not...because if you do, you can go beyond 10, with the right selection of species...

Good Luck :)

MM

Can you elaborate on that MM?

[Jaws]

I also say 1-3 fish in a 29g unless they are young. I would'nt put 6-10 shellies in a 29g.

[Woot]

I only have one 29 gallon setup for Malawis, its a species only tank for my Cynotilapia Afra "Jalo reef". I have 3 males and 10+ females and juvis from a different source growing. I think there is about 15 total, but then again I have been thinning out males so could be less by now. 29 gallons are not a good layout IMO, I like the 30 gallon's longer size much better. I would try to avoid too many males and different species. I would shoot for 1 male and 6-8 females if possible and just go for a species tank. This would have to be a less aggressive species as well, or you could run into problems. Afra aren't the most docile Mbuna, but they are working out well so far. They are very prolific, so they must be pretty happy.

I use a AC300 and HOT Magnum for filteration.

[Woot]

Originally posted by Seedy
Ok....Here is a question....Does anyone have a 29 gallon currently full of adult Mbuna....

anyone?

BTW....I voted 1-3...

I do, species only colony of Cynotilapia Afra "Jalo reef"

There is about 15 of them total, 3 males and mostly females. A very prolific setup, and not too bad on aggression. I have had to thin out males as they became more dominant. I raised an original group up of fry from a local breeder, and also got a group from the LFS that put in an Old world order. I have one dominant male (from the breeder) and one male from the Old world order. Hopefully they will both spawn and I can get some well diversified genetics. The tank is very prolific, and I have probably stripped 500 fry or so already over the past year or so. I have only lost one subdominant male the whole time. If I remember right.

There is also a pair of bristlenose in with them.

Here is a pic of my setup, kind old though.
http://orbital.home.mchsi.com/tank4.htm

This isn't to say a simliar setup would go as well, raise them from a younger size up all together and things go better usually. Avoid bigger and aggressive species.

[redavenger]

In my 29 g I have 3 acei, one yellow lab with a messed up eye and one aggressive peacock that need time out from the 55g.

[RustyNut]

People who are voting more than 10 are kdding themselves if we are talking ADULT mbuna.... even if they are all the same species, I doubt you could have more than one male.... it would be hard to imagine 8 fish in a 29g.

[Solace]

Guess I'm doing something wrong having a breeding group of Labeotropheus trewavasae, Cynotilapia afra (Cobue) and Pseudotropheus polit's in a 29. 18 adults and ohhhhh 15-25 juvi/fry. *SHRUG* Oh and that's with basically no filtration....

[Solace]

Ok I admit it they aren't fully grown adults, but they are breeding like rats.... does that count? :D

[SGypsyMermaid]

bad, solace, bad, bad, bad!

[Solace]

Lemme scrape the algae off the front glass and take a pic for ya. The filter is one of those very small filters running about as much flow as a mouse standing on a glass taking a wizz over the side.




It is stuffed FULL of java moss. OH I forgot to even mention the 9 Juli Ornatus in there... uhhh and NO HEATER!


*SPANK*

[tarralb]

I have 3 polit's in my 29 (1 m, 2f), a hap. red tail, and a small female venustus (I plan on taking her to the petstore soon). I also have around 10 1 inch fry in there. All is well except my male polit is slightly more aggressive towards his females than he was in my 75...but in my 75 he was getting eaten alive by my Johanni

[SGypsyMermaid]

i would fill the tank almost to the water line with rocks to give the females places to escape him.

[ofarevolution31]

I voted 1-5 fish in there. I am thinking of a common malawi cichlid which will reach about 4 or 5 inches. I think a fish that gets much bigger in that size tank will be to big.

[hawker]

i have a 30 uk gallon tank, it was primarily goin to be a breeding tank for my polit colony, but now it contains 15f1 polit, 1 wild male polit(unrelated, wild isnt parent of the f1s), 1 pair aulonacara stuartgrant cobue, 1 pair elongatus chewere, 4 yellow labs ( 1male 3 female) 6 petricola, and 4 anacistrus. so it is very packed, i have some pics on my camera if i can find it! it is very colourfull, very active, and even the peacocks get along.

[DarrenMnaples]

solice wheres the pics
i didnt vote because i am still new to this and i have asked this question be for and i was told NONE well mabey some breeding labs 4 mabey 5 tops .... but all in all rusty is right you have to think about a dult sizes......i am still working on my 29 right know i have 4 red zebras,3 i dont know blue fish(1 solid blue,1 blue black strip,and i think 1 light blue and then 3 other mixed ) but all are juvies and the red zebras will be moving to my 55 soon.....

[LuckyCricketMafia]

I voted 1-5; But I don't think I would put any more than 3 adult cichlids in a 29 gal with a ton of rocks. But I can undertand why someone would, a 29 gal. looks big if all your used to is a 10 gal tank. And all those cute little cichlids petmart/petco/walmart sells look like they could live forever in a 29 gal. I have a very limited selection of fish stores where I am and all I had seen was smaller cichlids, as soon as I saw how big some cichlids can get, I filled my 29 gal up with community fish. I think if you are a beginner you underestimate the size and agression level of these fish.

[Theo]

I voted for 1-5.

Provided of course the filtration in place is for only 30G, and the tank is full of rocks and hiding places.

And provided we are talking dwarf Mbunas (afras, demasonis, etc.)

[P-Did]

I keep looking at some 6inch acci, yellow labs, polit, and L. Fuellbornei in the show tank at the local LFS....Then I go home and look at my 30 gallon tank....I just CAN NOT see that sized fish in this sized tank...I know I've said differently in the past...but........

I agree with you there. But it takes forever to get labs that big, especially the females. I tend to underfeed my fish to begin with (bloat paranoia), so some of my 3 year old labs are still around 3 inches.

So if you bought the fish as fry, and underfed the fish a bit to prevent rapid growth, I think you could get up to 2 years of a relatively peaceful tank in a 30-gal-long before it would be time to upgrade to the 4 foot tank. And once they get a big as you're taking about, in maybe serveral years, I would get nothing smaller than a 6 foot tank for them.

[DarrenMnaples]

currently i have 12 demasoni , 2 kuboti botia's and 1 rubber lip pleco in my 29 all are babies; i am hoping too get a 38 gallon in the next couple of months but so far all is well ( its only been a little over a month and all demasoni are still babies) no deaths yet and no major fightining

Here are a quick pic :)



http://img374.imageshack.us/img374/3617/dscn1461ep4.jpg

[synacle1]

I've got a 29 setup right now that I'm preparing to overstock with 10-12.

I used to use it as a hospital tank for my 75g saltwater reef before I broke that down.

The tank itself is 29 gallons, however theres a 20g high tank underneath it in the stand which is plumbed to the 29 through the overflow. I've got a whisper 40, and a fluval 304 down there filtering all teh water through the 20. In order to keep the crap from resting on the bottom of the main tank I went ahead and placed a Seio powerhead behind some rocks on the bottom of the tank too.

Although the tank's gonna seem overcrowded, theres actually over 50 gallons of water in the system with enough filtration for 100 gallons.

My thoughts were since I had all this crap from the reef system, why not put it ALL to use? As long as you use a system similiar to what I'm doing and stick with lesser aggressive species, you can make it work.

[P-Did]

Although the tank's gonna seem overcrowded, theres actually over 50 gallons of water in the system with enough filtration for 100 gallons.

With mbuna, water quality will be the least of your worries. It's all about floor space, as that's what they kill eacother over. But if you get them when they're really small, you might be able to get 1.5 years before needing to upgrade.

[tom_kelvin]

idont no much about this so i voted 6-10 but reading these comments has been very interesting and led me to start liking cichlids to thanks guys

[DarrenMnaples]

thats true all of my demasoi are around 1 inch except 1 .... so far no troubles :). And i am looking to up grade next summer

[Hershey]

I have ten male cichlids currently in a 29 gallon. I am hoping for an upgrade for x-mas, though. Think 55gallon, maybe 75 gallon.
But for now all of my fish get along. I have an Electric Blue (about 4in) a multi-colored O.B. Peacock (about 4.5 in), A Sunshine peacock (4in), a Deep Sea Hap (4 in) , a Jewel (2 in), An Ice blue zebra (2.5 in) and albino zebra (2.5in), red zebra (3in) blueberry zebra (3in), A yellow one (3.0in) I am not sure about but is shaped like the blueberry zebra and red zebra.

I will add a pic of as many as I can get in a shot.

I also have a 20 gallon tank with a family of Electic blues. 1 male and 3 females.

I know the mixture is unorthodox but it has worked for me. I don't have to much fighting (at least I don't have fish getting banged up..... too much)

Hershey:jaw:

[RustyNut]

That is because the haps are much milder tempered but large enough to easily hold the mbuna at bay plus your so overcrowded that nobody is being singled out.... trust me, peace won't last forever.

[tchill93x]

I'm so confused - I have a 29 gal with 3 bumblebees and was told they need to be in a 55 or 75 gal - and you are all talking 6-10 fish - what kind? 1"?

[RustyNut]

Don't be confused..... the advice given you was good.

Some people just insist on trying things without a lot of chance for success.....

[tchill93x]

So what can I put in a 29 gal rectangle tank? It sounds like a lot of people use it for smaller fish and then move them to a bigger tank- I don't have a bigger one. So I have this beautiful 29 gal almost ready for fish. What are my options? Someone suggested shell-dwellers but I already have the bumblebees and jewels - that would limit my moving fish from tank to tank, plus I'm just getting the hang of these fish. Is there anything I can get from the lfs (I've never done mailorder)? Everyone seems to have labs....?

Theresa

*10 g. misc tetras, tiger barbs, red-tail shark and a monster snail
*28/29? g. bowtank - 3 bumblebees - one 5", two 1.5"
*20 g. rectange - 3 jewels - one 2.5" and two 1" and a 5" Platydoras costatus, and 1 small snail
*29 g. rectangle - empty, but ready!
*10 g. hex empty and bringing to work

[RustyNut]

Your Bumble Bees and Jewels will outgrow the tank you have now!

[messer aquariums]

i had 4 yellow labs and two petricolas in a 29 gal..the alfa male intimidated 2 of the other labs to death..they wouldnt eat..he didnt mess with the petricolas and he seemed to not mind one of the labs...i had plenty of rocks and everything..i guess it all depends on the attitudes of your fish..remember labs are usually laid back..i now have a 55 gal with socolofis and labs with those two petricolas..that alfa male isnt the alfa male any longer..lol

[Dewdrop]

I really wouldn't advise anything smaller than a 55g. tank for mbuna. I wanted to do a species tank of Neolamp. brichardi and a 29g. tank was recommended as a good size for it so now that's what I have with 4 young brichardis in it waiting for them to grow some and form a pair. If I had it to do over over I would have got the 30g. (more footprint) for the same price.

[RustyNut]

agreed

[Cichlid breeder 92]

I have 6 Yellow Labs in my 29G tank... (5 actually now... one just died randomally.)
Very minimal aggression. And I've had the female holding a few times.
I think she aborts though... It's always about 17 days she gets rid of them.
Maybe it's just the fact she's still young...?

[poseidons minions]

i wouldnt keep cichlids in a 30 gallon its to small for ne malawi to thrive

[Cichlid breeder 92]

Like my last post. I have 2 Labs and 3 Red Zebras. (I just found out about the Zebras.)
(Long story, go find my post about what happened.)
They're doing great and they're breeding.
So I'll have to respectfully disagree. :D

[Mr.Mbuna]

i have to agree with seedy considering i have a 29 gallon tank and been struggling to get the right single species to work in it..

and the most accurate answer would have to be 6-10 if they reach adult you and your lucky enough to have only 1 male you may still end up with 6 in the tank happily

but if they start gettin aggressive and you notice more than 1 male your going to have a dead stressed female or a dead male from sparring.


the only possibly way to have more than 6 mbuna in that small of footprint is to have 1 male and - 5-6 females to spread the agression and im going to emphasize this for anyone that wants to learn from my mistakes. IT MUST BE SINGLE SPECIES!!!!!

just thaught id add to the already great answers previously

[Cichlid breeder 92]

I had some adult Labs and Zebras together in a 29.
2 Labs and 3 Zebras. No problems whatsoever.
I just had to get rid of them becuase they kept breeding and I didnt have the room. lol.

[TwistedSister]

Call me crazy, but I have a 37 gallon with 3 mbuna, 2 small haps, and 3 peacocks that all get along happily. However they do require a large water change once a week, and have a ton of rock to hide in, so pretty much each fish has his/her own "personal space"-I've had this tank with these fish together for a year+ now

[RustyNut]

OK, you're crazy. Come back in three years and let's see if everyone is still happy... of course it can work for you if you're really providing enough space for all, it just that 1+ years isn't really long term to me when it comes to dealing with fish that typically live 7-10 years or more.

[MikeLowe372]

I would say as a grow out tank, its fine. But most people will get the fish they want anyways without listening to everyone. Stick with 6-10, smaller one. Electric Yellows work good. Over filter the tank a lot, 7-10 times more than your tank size an hour. So with a 29, about 250-300 gallons per hour. Lots of water changes frequently, maybe twice a week. Would recommend at least a 55.

Just my 2 cents

[urbanherbalist]

I started out with about 9 fish in a 30 gallon and knew that I would have to upgrade. It never occurred to me that 'yellow labs' can grow up to 6 inches until I saw them in a 'donation' tank at Pets Inc.

On the other hand, I've had really good success at keeping a group of 6-8 Johanni's in a 29 gallon. *shrug*