Call them noobs, or call them crazy but i've read from a few aquarists that they have kept or keep certain African cichlids with certain Central and/or South American Cichlids!!!!!
First thought that came to mind was "Wow, how do these people keep their water at a ph to satisfy both the African and American cichlids!!!!!!!!"
And surprisingly their is harmony!!!!*laughingc
Now i know with cichlids it's a crapshoot every time, but what does everyone think...... lol (BS or not BS?)
i've provided some aquarists experiences to prove my odd observation
About a Blue Cobalt Cichlid: "I have had my Cobalt for about 5 years now, he is currently about 15 cm long. He is definately the dominant fish in my tank. His tankmates are a little unusual - a Green Terror, a Jaguar cichlid, a Jack Dempsey, a Pink Convict couple, an Electric Blue Alhi, a Jurupari, a Pike Cichlid, a Rainbow Cichlid, a Flying Fox, a 2 Striated Botia, a spotted Raphael catfish, a Red Emperess, a Yoyo loach, and a freshwater lionfish. Despite this odd mix, there is little or no aggression whatsoever between any of my fish. But they all get out of the Cobalts way when he comes around".
About a Kenyi: "This was my very first African cichlid. After a few weeks, I wondered why the color changed. Now I know he is male and just by chance, I got a female later on. My male is a beautiful bright yellow with gray stripes. He also has a turquoise lines in his fins. Tankmates include a pair of Yellow Labs, an albino pseudotropheus, and a pair of Jack Dempseys. And I have a pleco and black shark to take care of the cleaning."
About a Nimbochromis livingstonii: "Army" is what me and my roomates called him. A semi-aggressive cichlid when put in my 380 liter cichlid tank with Lombardois, Johanni, Auratus, Red Terrors, Brichardi, Frontosa, and some other Malawi african cichlids. Eats plants, flakes, and its favorite - brine shrimp".
About a Brichardi: "I have four of these Brichardi fish in my tank living with some blue rams, bumblebee Gobi's, and a Pictus cat. They are easy to take care of and really easy to breed. I really didn't do anything special to breed them. I just put a pair in my tank with the other fish and a few months later there were about twenty fry swimming around near the parents. The parents are real good and protective. So I will recommend them to any one, from the beginners to the experts"
About a Convict Cichlid: "Have a pair of Convicts that live in a tank with a Green Terror and a Blue variety of African Chiclid. Although the convicts are aggressive, they never challenge the Green Terror even though he is very peaceful and not much bigger than them. The Blue African loves to pick a fight and if not for the fact that there are 2 convicts, he would rule the tank even though he is half their size and about a third of the Green Terror. I find that if you introduce the convicts after other cichlids have settled in the tank, they are not that aggressive. A beautiful addition to any tank".
Another Convict experience: "I started with two small Convicts (3-4 cm) in a 40 liter tank with a pair of True Red Zebras (5 cm) and the male Convict was lucky to survive. I had to borrow two more (5-8 cm) from a friend as reinforcements for him. It did not help much, the Zebras still hunt him. If the Convicts stay in a group they can keep the Zebras at bay and the Zebras never mess with the biggest (8 cm) Convict. The Convicts may be bad fish but at least this time they have more than met their match with these Zebras"
Another Convict experience: My breeding pair of convicts will tend their fry for 1-2 months if I leave the fry in there with them. The male is a very large (12-14 cm) pink convict, and the female is the striped black and white variety (10 cm). The babies always grow faster if the parents tend them. I usually give them away at about 2 months, or feed them to our oscar (in another tank). I have to be careful and not add new fish when they are spawning or raising their young, or they will kill it. They commandeer at least a third of my tank. They are in a tank with other cichlids: a bumble bee cichlid, two 20 cm plecostomus, 2 powder blue gouramis, 1 kissing gourami, an algae eater, 2 fire mouth cichlids, 4 kuhli loaches, and 3 misc cichlids (10-15 cm). They are fun to watch as they stand off the other fish, not losing any of their young!
First thought that came to mind was "Wow, how do these people keep their water at a ph to satisfy both the African and American cichlids!!!!!!!!"
And surprisingly their is harmony!!!!*laughingc
Now i know with cichlids it's a crapshoot every time, but what does everyone think...... lol (BS or not BS?)
i've provided some aquarists experiences to prove my odd observation
About a Blue Cobalt Cichlid: "I have had my Cobalt for about 5 years now, he is currently about 15 cm long. He is definately the dominant fish in my tank. His tankmates are a little unusual - a Green Terror, a Jaguar cichlid, a Jack Dempsey, a Pink Convict couple, an Electric Blue Alhi, a Jurupari, a Pike Cichlid, a Rainbow Cichlid, a Flying Fox, a 2 Striated Botia, a spotted Raphael catfish, a Red Emperess, a Yoyo loach, and a freshwater lionfish. Despite this odd mix, there is little or no aggression whatsoever between any of my fish. But they all get out of the Cobalts way when he comes around".
About a Kenyi: "This was my very first African cichlid. After a few weeks, I wondered why the color changed. Now I know he is male and just by chance, I got a female later on. My male is a beautiful bright yellow with gray stripes. He also has a turquoise lines in his fins. Tankmates include a pair of Yellow Labs, an albino pseudotropheus, and a pair of Jack Dempseys. And I have a pleco and black shark to take care of the cleaning."
About a Nimbochromis livingstonii: "Army" is what me and my roomates called him. A semi-aggressive cichlid when put in my 380 liter cichlid tank with Lombardois, Johanni, Auratus, Red Terrors, Brichardi, Frontosa, and some other Malawi african cichlids. Eats plants, flakes, and its favorite - brine shrimp".
About a Brichardi: "I have four of these Brichardi fish in my tank living with some blue rams, bumblebee Gobi's, and a Pictus cat. They are easy to take care of and really easy to breed. I really didn't do anything special to breed them. I just put a pair in my tank with the other fish and a few months later there were about twenty fry swimming around near the parents. The parents are real good and protective. So I will recommend them to any one, from the beginners to the experts"
About a Convict Cichlid: "Have a pair of Convicts that live in a tank with a Green Terror and a Blue variety of African Chiclid. Although the convicts are aggressive, they never challenge the Green Terror even though he is very peaceful and not much bigger than them. The Blue African loves to pick a fight and if not for the fact that there are 2 convicts, he would rule the tank even though he is half their size and about a third of the Green Terror. I find that if you introduce the convicts after other cichlids have settled in the tank, they are not that aggressive. A beautiful addition to any tank".
Another Convict experience: "I started with two small Convicts (3-4 cm) in a 40 liter tank with a pair of True Red Zebras (5 cm) and the male Convict was lucky to survive. I had to borrow two more (5-8 cm) from a friend as reinforcements for him. It did not help much, the Zebras still hunt him. If the Convicts stay in a group they can keep the Zebras at bay and the Zebras never mess with the biggest (8 cm) Convict. The Convicts may be bad fish but at least this time they have more than met their match with these Zebras"
Another Convict experience: My breeding pair of convicts will tend their fry for 1-2 months if I leave the fry in there with them. The male is a very large (12-14 cm) pink convict, and the female is the striped black and white variety (10 cm). The babies always grow faster if the parents tend them. I usually give them away at about 2 months, or feed them to our oscar (in another tank). I have to be careful and not add new fish when they are spawning or raising their young, or they will kill it. They commandeer at least a third of my tank. They are in a tank with other cichlids: a bumble bee cichlid, two 20 cm plecostomus, 2 powder blue gouramis, 1 kissing gourami, an algae eater, 2 fire mouth cichlids, 4 kuhli loaches, and 3 misc cichlids (10-15 cm). They are fun to watch as they stand off the other fish, not losing any of their young!
