[kris_leonardi]

hi, I haven't done much with my fresh water tank in a while and I was thinking of getting 2 african cichlids, I have only 1 molly in and I was wondering would it be ok with them if I left it in the tank, or should I remove it? thank you!

 

[Fishboydanny1]

2 things...

1. 2 is a bad number for any cichlid, even pairs (the need to displace their aggression). what this means is that the dominant fish will bully the other and make it miserable. if you get more (6 or more is best, but you can get away with 4 total) the aggression of the dominant fish will be spread amung the other fish, and each fish will not get as much of a beating. with labidochromis, instead of one miserable "buddy," you'll have multiple, happier fish.

2. as babies, africans make great partners to young and adult mollies because they have their own levels of the aquarium, and baby cichlids tend to be less aggresive than adults. but, when they do grow up, the molly will become a target and probably killed. you may get lucky and they'll stick to chasing their own species, like me, but i dont reccomend it.

I wish you good luck, but i have one question: how big is the tank?

 

[kris_leonardi]

thank you very much!
the tank I plan on getting them in is 20 gal. is that ok for them?

 

[Fishboydanny1]

that may be alittle small, but you could do it if there are plenty of places to hide and if you only have one male. a bigger tank would reduce the aggression too