Long story short, I got a call from my LFS about two fish that they dont have room for. a 3.5 inch blackbelt cichlid and a 4 - 4.5 inch JD. Currently I have the 2 8 inch Os, 5.5 JD, 5.5 catfish, 4 inch pleco and the clawed frog. Will I be over loading the tank by adding the BB and JD?

Well typlically yes but with excellent filtration and a proper water change schedule you might be able to get away with it. The other thing to consider is the aggression. Adding Cichlids to tanks with larger established Cichlids can be tricky......Just have a place aside for any potential problems.

Not much more to add to that.

WYite

Thanks for the info MC, and wyite.

I didnt get to check them out very well or get many answers. The only info I got was the guy couldnt keep them anymore. I did get to see the tank mates, they were some kind of African. They were all bright lemon yellow with yellow tinted, transparent fins with the anal fin had these different size body colored dots on them. There were 9 of them, all about 3 - 3.25 inches long with these really pointed faces. Very cool looking fish.

Besides being skinny and have some nipped and torn fins the Blackbelt and Jack dempsey are in good shape. I took a few pics so you all could checkem out.



I rearranged the tank and gave them a little krill treat right befor snapping these pics. It took a few minutes for the Jack to join in but the BB showed no fear. I am surprised at how bold that little guy is. I had planned on giving them each one piece each, but after stealing two from the Os and one from the original JB, he ended up with four. Hes a quick little piggie! Ill get some updated pics posted later.

Nice the BB is in bad shape but the JD is not too bad at all. Good colors on the JD...looks like a Male.

You think the BB is looking bad MC? Dose he look unhealthy? When I got him home I didnt see any scrapes or missing scales. He was a real dark gray, but he has lighted up a lot since. Any suggestions or advice you can give me to help get him back in tip top shape would be truly Appreciated! Thanks in advance for you help. Ed

Well he is mostly skinny and not that colorful...He is showing potential. I think extra water changes...a good quality pellet food and some TLC will have him a goos shape quick. A little melafix probablly wont hurt.

Thanks for the help MC!

Anytime!

Totally on what MC said. I'm not familiar with the Black Belts, (tho they may be called something else down here) but a little good food and water changes and he should clean up nicely.

Add some melafix, kosher salt and do some waterchanges and the BB should be fine.

Nice looking fish. The black belt looks like his fins are a little torn up and like MC said not at full color yet. It's probably sill stressed and will color up after some TLC.