Ive adopted a Bumble Bee Cichlid... HELP

[ChuckInTx]

I was given a 20 Gallon Tank, fully furnished and an extra Marineland filter (new), stan, hood n light, water pre, that was nice, and of course the Bumblebee Cichlid. he tells me that the fish eats like a beast, so he or she is healthy ( I haven't seen em yet I pick em up Thursday) I've had Oscars in the past n that's about as close as I've gotten to a bumblebee. any help or advice would be great. #1 I know 40 gal or bigger but anything else? I'm not so sure what to expect, I know I could go on line n read all kinds of stuff but do I really trust that.... no not really. Id rather get advice from a source I trust.....You guys! hehehe Oh yeah  I got it all FREE too. I went to physical Therapy and I always talk about my fish and were I get my things from. Well my Therapist asked me if I had room for one more fish...... Of course I said yes HAHAHA. Anyway he messaged me today and sent me pictures of everything......would you believe its almost new.  he wants to get with me on Thursday and Ill bring em home. so all the advice is welcome and thank you all in advance. Many Blessings and please stay safe.

Chuck 

[shkote]

My Bumblebee cichlid is the most outgoing and friendly fish in my Mbuna tank, which is not really typical from everything I've researched and seen with Crabros. It can be a bit of a coin toss on which end of the spectrum they are temperment wise.  Mine changes colors quite often, like a mood ring. Sometimes I look in the tank and he's almost completely yellow, then I toss him some food and he's got bright bold stripes. They can also go completely black and camouflage themselves when in aggression mode, though I've never seen mine do it. If you plan on getting a bigger tank and adding more, keep in mind that Bumblebees can be extremely aggressive and have the reputation of being terrors. They've got pretty big personalities.  I feed mine Sera granugreen pellets and Xtreme spirulina flakes and sometimes krill flakes and he is a little piggy. 

[ChuckInTx]

1 minute ago, Lynze said:

My Bumblebee cichlid is the most outgoing and friendly fish in my Mbuna tank, which is not really typical from everything I've researched and seen with Crabros. It can be a bit of a coin toss on which end of the spectrum they are temperment wise.  Mine changes colors quite often, like a mood ring. Sometimes I look in the tank and he's almost completely yellow, then I toss him some food and he's got bright bold stripes. They can also go completely black and camouflage themselves when in aggression mode, though I've never seen mine do it. If you plan on getting a bigger tank and adding more, keep in mind that Bumblebees can be extremely aggressive and have the reputation of being terrors. They've got pretty big personalities.  I feed mine Sera granugreen pellets and Xtreme spirulina flakes and sometimes krill flakes and he is a little piggy. 

well hey Thanks for the advice, I didn't want the fish goin just any were and he trusted me enough to take care of the fish. I'm a sucker for a animal or fish in need of a home LOL I got enough Tanks as it is, my Girl is about to shoot me HAHAHA.  I'm a huge fan of Xtreme foods as well. 

[Streetwise]

@Lynze, can you please share a video of your outgoing Bumblebee?

[shkote]

@ChuckInTx I think you'll enjoy your new fish and I'm sure you'll give it a great home! Post lots of pictures and updates when it's all settled. It's a nice little setup!

@Streetwise I don't do videos, I wouldn't even know how. But there's "Bee's" grumpy face

[Streetwise]

Great photo. One does not simply swim into Mordor.

[ChuckInTx]

Just now, Lynze said:

@ChuckInTx I think you'll enjoy your new fish and I'm sure you'll give it a great home! Post lots of pictures and updates when it's all settled. It's a nice little setup!

@Streetwise I don't do videos, I wouldn't even know how. But there's "Bee's" grumpy face

you bet I"ll post some once I get him all set up.  I cant wait  Im pretty excited. should be an interesting adventure

[shkote]

@Streetwise maybe one of these days you can tutor me on the video thing. 😄

@ChuckInTx I'm excited for you! I actually got my Bumblebee for free too. 🙂Saw a guy selling a 10 gallon tank setup with a Bumblebee, red zebra, blue zebra, OB zebra and Yellow Lab, a common pleco, and a bristlenose pleco. I talked him into just giving me the fish and selling his tank empty. He agreed to it and rehomed the common pleco, the BN died before I could pick them up, but he gave me the rest. 

[ChuckInTx]

1 minute ago, Lynze said:

@Streetwise maybe one of these days you can tutor me on the video thing. 😄

@ChuckInTx I'm excited for you! I actually got my Bumblebee for free too. 🙂Saw a guy selling a 10 gallon tank setup with a Bumblebee, red zebra, blue zebra, OB zebra and Yellow Lab, a common pleco, and a bristlenose pleco. I talked him into just giving me the fish and selling his tank empty. He agreed to it and rehomed the common pleco, the BN died before I could pick them up, but he gave me the rest. 

Wow that's awesome. So here's a question for you. What to use for a clean up crew? Cory cats ? Snails? I'm trying to plan ahead and have stuff all ready. I have Cory's and snails. I know Shrimp are out of the question. I couldn't do that to my shrimp any way. I do believe he'll be all by himself a while until I get a 55 or bigger. and I think I want to go with a more natural tank wish a sand substrate with some hard scape n plants.

[shkote]

I don't use a clean up crew in my Mbuna tank. I do a lot of water changes on their tank though. I've never had any issues with algae though I'm sure they'd eat it before I noticed. I don't use plants in that tank (they'd probably eat those too) so lighting is pretty minimal.  I'd be afraid to try Cories with African cichlids. I've read that Mbuna tend to go for eyes on plecos, but since I've never personally kept them with them, I can't confirm. A lot of people keep Synodontis cats with Mbuna and I've read some loaches work well with them. I'm afraid I'm not much help on this one. Clean water and a sponge has been my only clean up crew with this bunch. I'm sure there are some other Mbuna keepers that have experience with tankmates and cleaners here though. 

When you do either upgrade the tank, or add sand and hardscape, consider utilizing egg crate on the bottom if you haven't already thought about it. They love sand and will move around large or heavy hardscape with their constant digging.  

[ChuckInTx]

3 hours ago, Lynze said:

I don't use a clean up crew in my Mbuna tank. I do a lot of water changes on their tank though. I've never had any issues with algae though I'm sure they'd eat it before I noticed. I don't use plants in that tank (they'd probably eat those too) so lighting is pretty minimal.  I'd be afraid to try Cories with African cichlids. I've read that Mbuna tend to go for eyes on plecos, but since I've never personally kept them with them, I can't confirm. A lot of people keep Synodontis cats with Mbuna and I've read some loaches work well with them. I'm afraid I'm not much help on this one. Clean water and a sponge has been my only clean up crew with this bunch. I'm sure there are some other Mbuna keepers that have experience with tankmates and cleaners here though. 

When you do either upgrade the tank, or add sand and hardscape, consider utilizing egg crate on the bottom if you haven't already thought about it. They love sand and will move around large or heavy hardscape with their constant digging.  

well thank you again, the Only Cichlid I've ever had was a pair of Oscars back when I was in the Army.  to bad I was deployed for most of that time but I did give them to a civilian friend of mine when I PCSed (change of duty station) they lived another 8 years with him and they were HUGE hahaha.  You mentioned egg crate, what did you mean? 

[shkote]

Egg crate plastic panels like these, lining the bottom of the tank. Then hardscape on top of the egg crate, and filled in with sand. Just a thought if you plan on using some large rocks. Helps protect your glass and keeps your cichlids from being able to redecorate. 

Thank you for your service!

[ChuckInTx]

were can I get that egg crate stuff? that's a good Idea. I've been reading a bit too they love to dig it seems.  I stil ltrust people here more than just any joe shmoo on the internet.  thank you for that btw, I did 18 years in the Army when I got out. it was the best 18 years of my life to be honest.  I did it all for good people like yourself. I sure do miss it though .

[shkote]

I got mine from Menards, but I think most big box home improvement/ hardware stores have them.  I still like to put a couple inches of pool filter sand (also from Menards) past the egg crate so they can dig wherever they want.  They just can't rearrange anything. 

If you still want to try plants,  the Aquarium Co-OP easy planters are great for cichlid tanks.  As much as they love to dig,  planting directly in substrate with them is nearly impossible.  That way they aren't constantly digging up your plants.  Whether or not they treat it like a salad bar may be a different issue to tackle. 

[Nataku]

You can purchase egg crate from home depot or lowes, usually near the lighting aisle. And yes it does work as a nice way to help keep cichlids from knocking the rocks into the glass bottom of a tank, or moving so much sand that they clear a space all the way down to bare glass.

Synodontis catfish are the 'biotope appropriate' choice for bottom dwellers/clean up crew. There's many species of them though, so do your research about what you're  getting. Synodontis eupterus? Get quite large (8", though some individus have been recorded over 10"!) and are rather territorial their own/similar catfish species, so they aren't a schooling fish. More of a neat bottom centerpiece sort.  Synodontis lucipinnis or synodontis petricola? Stay much smaller at around 3.5" to 4.5" and are a schooling type. Honest the s. Lucipinnis remind me of a smaller, African version of a pictus if you've ever had them. The synodontis will eat leftover food/pellets that make it to the bottom, but aren't good algae cleaners. But mbuna tend to pick at algae on their own anyhow...

Non Lake Malawi clean up options? Plecos are an option, just get ones big enough that they can stand up to getting bumped around by cichlids. I've seen people make clowns and bristlenose work, but also seen the meanest of cichlids take their eyes and peck their fins to pieces. Cactus plecos, blue phantoms, tigers and queen arabesque are all options I know locals have kept in their big cichlid tanks. But be aware some of those are more carnivorous than others, so do your research into specific species. 

Botia loaches are also sometimes kept in cichlid tanks as clean up for uneaten food. Larger botia are the go to since anything small like a dwarf chain would just get eaten like a corydoras. Redtail botia, berdmorei tiger loaches, yoyo loaches and kubotai (angelicus) loaches are all good options as they get to a decent size and are fiesty enough on their own to work out with cichlids. Just be sure to provide enough hiding spots for them to scoot away to when they've  had enough of the cichlids.

[ChuckInTx]

On 12/2/2020 at 6:37 PM, Nataku said:

You can purchase egg crate from home depot or lowes, usually near the lighting aisle. And yes it does work as a nice way to help keep cichlids from knocking the rocks into the glass bottom of a tank, or moving so much sand that they clear a space all the way down to bare glass.

Synodontis catfish are the 'biotope appropriate' choice for bottom dwellers/clean up crew. There's many species of them though, so do your research about what you're  getting. Synodontis eupterus? Get quite large (8", though some individus have been recorded over 10"!) and are rather territorial their own/similar catfish species, so they aren't a schooling fish. More of a neat bottom centerpiece sort.  Synodontis lucipinnis or synodontis petricola? Stay much smaller at around 3.5" to 4.5" and are a schooling type. Honest the s. Lucipinnis remind me of a smaller, African version of a pictus if you've ever had them. The synodontis will eat leftover food/pellets that make it to the bottom, but aren't good algae cleaners. But mbuna tend to pick at algae on their own anyhow...

Non Lake Malawi clean up options? Plecos are an option, just get ones big enough that they can stand up to getting bumped around by cichlids. I've seen people make clowns and bristlenose work, but also seen the meanest of cichlids take their eyes and peck their fins to pieces. Cactus plecos, blue phantoms, tigers and queen arabesque are all options I know locals have kept in their big cichlid tanks. But be aware some of those are more carnivorous than others, so do your research into specific species. 

Botia loaches are also sometimes kept in cichlid tanks as clean up for uneaten food. Larger botia are the go to since anything small like a dwarf chain would just get eaten like a corydoras. Redtail botia, berdmorei tiger loaches, yoyo loaches and kubotai (angelicus) loaches are all good options as they get to a decent size and are fiesty enough on their own to work out with cichlids. Just be sure to provide enough hiding spots for them to scoot away to when they've  had enough of the cichlids.

thank you so much for the advice, I do have a couple of Yo Yo's but they are small yet and now that I get this bruiser home.... he'd take em out fast! I see why he only had him in this tank alone  LOL he's a brute!