Newbie owner.

[nakabaka]

So, I'm new here, and signed up because I have a situation that may or may not be a problem. I picked up a baby Kenyi because I wanted a fish that could hold its own against my 6", fully grown, male, Common Map turtle. Yes, I am aware they are an African species; yes, I am aware they are very aggressive (the whole turtle and fish combo needs the fish to be), and yes, I am aware they need roomy water and filtration. I am aware that many have been advised on here to add more Mbunas to their large tanks. I currently have a 150 gph canister on my turtle's tank, with roughly 15g of water at the moment in a 40g breeder (please don't pipe at me for the moderate water amount as Maps require more of a weeded shoreline setup with hidey holes, rather than a 10-gallon-per-inch, deep-end setup that Sliders need). Yes, I am aware that Kenyis are a rockfish, and require lots of hiding spaces; I do have many in there not only for his hiding leisure, but also so my Map can stand and poke his head out while being surrounded by his plants.

Now for the problem: I bought a <keyword> BABY Kenyi this evening.

Turns out, though it already clearly can hold its own and is (thankfully, for the sake of food) dominating the feeders in the tank (I add feeders as they are taken by the turtle, which isn't often). 15g of water in a 40g breeder has the water line at 5.5-6" deep, and I understand these guys like to be in the deep end. Though it has already set up shop in the end where I drop the foods for the turtle, it and the feeders, and picked its favorite plant, I'm not sure if the sheer size of the footprint of the tank compared to ITS size is a good thing given it is only about 1-1.5" long at the moment. I do understand that it will need a larger tank later on, and its aggression towards the feeders in the tank is not really a concern of mine as they are there as food anyway and are even not very often added. I plan to upgrade the turtle's tank to the longer footprint of a 55g, and am in the process of building various ledges throughout the length to maximize the total length of the tank for the turtle's more shallow preference while giving more water for that dilution effect. I understand these Mbuna need a 50g minimum if housed with others, which I do not plan to do.

So I guess my question is two-fold: 1.) Is the tank I have it in now good enough or too large for this Mbuna's current size, and 2.) Would the 55g later on with roughly 40 gallons of water be large enough for the solo Kenyi? With its aggression, I can't see why housing it with others would be good, so adding more wouldn't really be something I plan to do (plus it isn't really meant as a fish setup, but rather a dual-species). Since its a mid to bottom dweller, I figure the ledges would also help separate the turtle from the fish later on, creating a quasi-complicated-but-not-really setup.

Oh, and yes, some of the hiding spots are those hollow stones, and I have 3 air stones in the water for the turtle's need.

[Fisharefriends]

I tried to put a turtle in with my cichlids at one point. After 5 days I was forced to take him back to the pet store. If the turtle can catch the fish, the fish will be eaten. Turtles are natural predators to fish, and being that you already feed your turtle live fish, it's even more likely your cichlid will be eaten. The turtle I had took a chunk out of one of my cichlids tail fin and it took me about a month to get him fully healed.