I am a newbie here. And I have Like a million questions. I belong to several forums but I was told that this is the best one there is by a fellow I met at a local pet shop. I have had a 30 gal that I have had setup for about 3 years now and I have had 2 jelly beans 1 male 1 female in it for 2 1/2 yrs 2 chinese alrea eaters ones a giant. Then about 1 1/2 yrs I add to blood parrots that were from Walmart as were the Jelly beans they were missing fins they were splotchy and black looking and SMALL. But now everyones all grown up and ofcourse the 30 gal is way to small so I bought 55 gal that got me on a fish kick so now I bought a 45 gal and have a 5 gal a 20 gal and a friend just gave me a tank I gotta go pick up. Sos the problem is I had gone to the fish store and they had tols me that I vcould put like 20 cichlids in the 55 then another told me more like 10 so I decided to go with 8. I came home with two convicts, then a few days later 2 chinese alge eaters and then 2 jewel cichlids that I was told were paradise cichlids the a few days ago I brought home 2 pretty but mean paradise graumis. Thats probley spelled wrong. Anyways my convicts immediatly began to have issues one was chasing the other to death in the 55 gal. And my parrots I have not moved from the 30 gal yet cause they laid a massive bunch of eggs. So I went to a diff lfs and meat a great man who did help me out and I left with two feamle convicts and when I came home I paired the lovers up and all seems to be doing well at this point except my male Jelly bean in the 55 gal with the wifey has gone nutts and is chasing everyone he has turned into the devil I swear!!! Even the wifey is not allowed to swim he sticks his gills out and chases everyone away. Should I put him in a tank by his self... Where should everyone go?

Wow ok were to start? Lets start with the number of fish. The only time I suggest stocking a 55g tank with 20 cichlids or 10 for that matter would be if I was setting up an African cichlid tank. Most africans will not grow any larger than 8" (African keepers correct me if I'm wrong.) and with keeping Africans overstocking is key to keep aggression down. CA/SA (Centrial and South American) cichlids are WAY more aggressive and can get well over 12". I have 2 oscars that are over 14" and they have a 55g all to them selfs. The only time I'd stock a 55g with 10 or more CA/SA cichlids would be with Discus or dwarf cichlids.

Now with your convicts. What do you plan to do with all the fry once your con's start breeding? The first time my cons spawned they had 50 fry, two weeks later they spawned again and they had 100 lets just say before I split them up I think I had well over 300 fry swimming in my tank. Out of that batch I kept 2 females which I had for 2 years before a bad case of velvit wiped out half of my tank.

With your male Jelly bean I'd remove him from the tank. It sounds like he's giving the whole tank a bunch of undo stress and stress weaken your fishes immune system making them more susceptible to illness.

Gouramis in my opinion can be a hit or miss. I had 3 mean Gouramis before I adopted the nice one I currently have.

I forgot to mention not to mix African Cichlids with CA/SA cichlids. Not only are the CA/SA more aggressive they live in a much lower pH than Africans.

From reading your post I can see that your new to the hobby and can say your in the right forum. There are members that have over 30 years of experince here and are willing to share there knowledge with everyone. Unlike some forums you wont be flamed by other members for asking beginner questions. We're all nice people who love to help each other out.

I'd approach it a little different than Mike to start. Convicts and parrots in the 55 with one CAE if the CAE is 5" or more, jewels in the 30, and paradise fish in the 20. The convicts can handle themselves and so can the CAE, that may temper the male parrot's aggression. If the Male parrot continues, isolate him in the 45. Think that wraps up yer current stock.

Most of the Africans commonly sold stay below 8", but don't assume that they will. Research before ya buy, a fair number of African species can get larger than 8". Lake Malawi mbuna are the only fish I really suggest over-stocking with, and not to the extent of 20 in a 55 gallon. 12 or so max in a 55, IME.

I don't advocate mixing African and CA or SA species. As Mike stated, water paramaters are different, especially for SA. SA cichlids generally come from softer, more acidic waters. Quite a few CA cichlids actually do come from hard water, but behaviorally don't mix well with Rift Lake cichlids. West African riverine cichlids are more similar in water needs and behavior to CA/SA cichlids than to the Rift Valley cichlids.

That said, more and more commonly sold species of cichlids from any continent are commercially bred in the U.S., SE Asia and other countries and will do fine in average water conditions (medium hardness and neutral pH). And I have seen tanks that successfully mixed cichlids from various continents without major problems.

WYite

Well I got here a little late but wyite has it covered pretty well, I agree with what he has said. Mike also has some valid points...The only thing I disagree with is that IME African Mbuna are more territorial/aggressive than most CA/SA Cichlids for the most part. Most Central and South Americans get bigger than most Africans in general. Without getting too far off subject, I would like to add that Most African Cichlids are not really for beginner fish keepers mainly for their aggression, stocking etc. They are hardy and colorful and that is why a lot of people get them usually without researching what they are getting into.

Anyway I like wyomingite's stock list and I would also advise to try this out and you may just see your fish keeping skills rise up and you can ease some stress on yourself. I am still curious who referred you here...It is great we have folks out there beating the street and getting FWM name out there. That is my 2 cents and that is all I have for now.

Yes I forgot about the more commonly sold species. I was thinking more along the lines of Wild's to F1's.

MC when I stated that CA/SA were more aggressive than Africans I was thinking of the Parachromis species. I do not know how aggressive Mbuna can get but I know the Parachromis are nasty.

You guys put it a little differently than me but I agree with ya.

Before I found a home for 'em all I had good luck with keeping a lone female Nimbochromis venustus with some similarly sized Acara with no aggression issues. Not that I'm a fan of mixing continents, just a combo that I had work for me.

Wyite's breakdown is spot on. The only thing I'd add is that if breeding does get out of hand, you can add an apple snail or two or a pleco as they're experts at making eggs disappear. Plecos do get fairly large though so that is something to keep in mind.

Yup thats a million alright these guys have pretty well covered most all of what you asked and i know what "I" could do with a bunch of convict babies, cause i keep North American Natives, which could solve that problem for me . I guess i would only say that, in the future, its always best to do some homework before your tanks are full of fish and these problems start jumping out at you. That statement is in hindsight because about 30 or more years ago when i first started in this hobby, fish forums, or home computers were not around generally speaking, i made exactly the same mistakes you made. So welcome to the club:)

I too have made the same mistake. Kacie feel free to ask a million more questions so we can help you avoid any mistakes.

:NTS:

I see everyone jump right in to help you out kacie.

When we were talking at Pet Source I know you were kinda hesitant to join anouther forum but like I mentioned, this is truly a different type of forum, everyone here is friendly and helpful. I really think you are going to like it here! Hope the lady cons are doing well. Ed

Everyone is doing well. I have most of them aggresers split up now and the tanks for the most part are peaceful besodes the occas.. u crossed my invisi line issue The convicts are paired in seperate tanks already making nest, but I already bought snails. I am kinda sad though my profile pic is the #1 aggreser and now he is in a tank 30 gal just him and an algea eater any ideas what I can do for him shoul I try a diff girl friend for him????