I have a 20 long fish tank with 6 african cichlids(babies), i plan on moving them...

[icats]

...when they grow, is this ok? All of the african cichlids are very small, i made sure when i got them, as well as the pleco's, and i plan on moving them to a 55 gallon when they start to get bigger, will being in a 20 long stunt their growth or anything?

 

[Kristy]

For right now it should me okay as long as your male to female ratio is okay, you have six so no more than 2 males... and they have enough hiding spaces... But they should be in a bigger tank as soon as possible I'd set up the 55 gallon and start cycling it now so it would be ready for them as soon as possible. About the plecos I'm not sure if this is always the case but my cichlids were very aggressive towards and nipped his tail quite a bit and I removed my cichlids to there own tank and put my pleco with 4 danios, 2 black tetras, and 2 zebra barbs and they seem pretty happy now.

 

[Ghapy]

Growth won't be the issue, aggression will. When they grow these cichlids get much more aggressive, and in smaller tanks even more so. If you havea 55 gallon tank, there is no reason not to move them now.

It is also better to move them now because you can add more africans while they are still young so they can grow up together and get along better. Also because a 20 is cramped and inhibits activity - these fish are very, very active.

You do understand, I hope, that "african cichlids" covers a lot of different fish, and not all - in fact most, are not compatible. Choose species wisely, research them, and remember that what works when they are juveniles will not necessarily work when they grow. there are better and worse ways to go about stocking these guys - randomly choosing various species without looking into it is the worst way.