Mbuna compatability

Splinter492

Would a rubber lip pleco be okay in a malawi tank its got 2 kenyi 1 acei 1 yellow lab and its a 29G

mollies

Im not sure on the pleco. Not trying to be mean but your tank is way to small for 4 cichlids. Ecspecially kenyi's, they are more agresive mbuna's. If you were to do 2 yellow lab's you would be ok...... Sorry to be the bearer of bad news...... If your planing on up grading you may be fine if the fish are still small. An you plane on geting them switched to a bigger tank with in a few months.... We would be glad to help you with any concerns you may have. Some one else will chim in on the rubber lip pleco.

Kelso

I'm assuming since this is a cichlid tank, you pH is above 8.0, right? I would not advise any pleco then because they prefer a pH of 7.0 or lower. Granted they are adaptable, but I would not recommend it.

bettababy

I also would not suggest a pleco in any African cichlid tank, but especially not a rubber lip. My first question is why would one be needed? African cichlids are heavy vegetarians and will pick at and eat most types of algae that would grow in their tank. Beyond that, algae removal should be done manually with a blade tool or razor blade.

If the tank water is in good standing, most algae species wouldn't become an issue to start with. If your wish to add the pleco is to maintain the tank, the first thing I would do is check water params for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH, and phosphate, and the second thing I would check would be the lighting, both amount of light (wattage) and length of light cycle in a 24 hr period, and also age of bulbs. Aquarium light bulbs should be changed out at least 1 - 2 times/yr, depending on the type of lighting it is.

Hope this helps.

Splinter492

i guess i wont do the pleco but the cichlids seem perfectly fine in the tank i have so far. I am in the process of getting a 55G tank though.

mollies

How big are they? The kenyi's will get up to 5 to 6 inch and are to agresive for the tank size. The yellow lab and acei will get up to 5 inchs again to big for the tank size. They would love it if you got the 55 gallon. lol
They could also suffer from stunt growth in a smaller tank.

rrcoolj

If I had a nickle for every time i've heard that line lol. It's like with people. You put 10 differnt babys in a room they will do fine. But once they hit around 10-12 years old you run into problems. They will seem fine for now but your kenyi will most likely kill everything in the tank. I would take Mollies advice and get a bigger tank for your fishies.

Splinter492

mmkay the kenyi's are about an inch and a half long. i got them from my LPS for like 3 dollars cuz they were all fry and there were like 150 of them.

rrcoolj

Yea once they hit 2-3in long all hell will break loose.

Splinter492

i hope not but its probably gonna happen iv got an emergency 10G tank just incase somethin does happen and i dont have the 55G up yet.