Im, as said before, getting a 55-85 (not sure yet) in early July. And im wondering what cichlids can go with which and which absolutely shouldnt go together. I have 4 fish that were sold as "african cichlids", 2 of which i am positive they are africans, two im not sure about. I think, personally, Briccardi (sp?) are beautoiful and would like some in as well, perhaps to breed them. Any suggestions?
Cichlid compatibility?
- Thread starter Slacker
- Start date
hello. your african cichlids are likely various mbuna species, which are very territorial for the most part, depending on the species. do you have any pics? or do you know species names?
your "african cichlids" , especially if they were labelled "assorted" are likely various zebra hybrids, and are not usually TOO aggressive. the species to avoid for community mbuna tanks:
-melanochromis auratus
-maylandia lombardoi (kenyi)
-pseudotropheus demasoni
all of these are too territorial, they try to breed with everything (kenyi), or will kill off members of their own species with great haste (demasoni)
species that are pretty peaceful and make nice community mbuna:
labidochromis caeruleus (electric yellows)
Rusties
Pseudo... acei
zebras
any of the labeotropheus are great
most pseudos arent bad
now, the bad news...... neolamprologus brichardi are VERY aggressive towards other fish.
i had some of these guys in a 125 tanganyikan setup and they were just impossible to keep with tankmates. it sucks, because they are beautiful and are colonial breeders, which is quite a sight. they are EASY to breed though....and reproduce in numbers VERY high.
just keep in mind that your mbuna are rock dwellers and need a lot of cover to stake out territories and hide. they also are mostly vegetarian (except for the labidochromis genus) and appreciate some spirulina flakes and such in their diet. HTH
M
your "african cichlids" , especially if they were labelled "assorted" are likely various zebra hybrids, and are not usually TOO aggressive. the species to avoid for community mbuna tanks:
-melanochromis auratus
-maylandia lombardoi (kenyi)
-pseudotropheus demasoni
all of these are too territorial, they try to breed with everything (kenyi), or will kill off members of their own species with great haste (demasoni)
species that are pretty peaceful and make nice community mbuna:
labidochromis caeruleus (electric yellows)
Rusties
Pseudo... acei
zebras
any of the labeotropheus are great
most pseudos arent bad
now, the bad news...... neolamprologus brichardi are VERY aggressive towards other fish.
i had some of these guys in a 125 tanganyikan setup and they were just impossible to keep with tankmates. it sucks, because they are beautiful and are colonial breeders, which is quite a sight. they are EASY to breed though....and reproduce in numbers VERY high.just keep in mind that your mbuna are rock dwellers and need a lot of cover to stake out territories and hide. they also are mostly vegetarian (except for the labidochromis genus) and appreciate some spirulina flakes and such in their diet. HTH
M
Ive learned my fish love rocks. Theyre currently living cramped in 2 ten gallons. I know thats very small but i had no choice at the moment. As I said, early july. Its too bad about brichardi. I saw one tonight and absolutely loved it. How do they get those tanks at the LFS to look so peaceful with all those cichlids?!
Would you like a description of my cichlids until i get a scanned pic or four?
Would you like a description of my cichlids until i get a scanned pic or four?
actually, i would say it depends on the species when you say that they do better in large numbers, as demansoni IME are an example of a fish that does NOT do well in large numbers.
colonial breeding fish like the brichardi are fish that have somewhat of a hierarchy of duties amongst the fish.
you have the main breeding pair, older brothers and sisters that take care of the younger ones, the little ones, etc. this is very cool to do in your tank, but unfortunately brichardi are fiercly territorial and intolerant of other species.
if you get some pics up i should be able to tell you what species you have, as well as others who have kept mbuna here.
M
colonial breeding fish like the brichardi are fish that have somewhat of a hierarchy of duties amongst the fish.
you have the main breeding pair, older brothers and sisters that take care of the younger ones, the little ones, etc. this is very cool to do in your tank, but unfortunately brichardi are fiercly territorial and intolerant of other species.
if you get some pics up i should be able to tell you what species you have, as well as others who have kept mbuna here.
M
um, well i disagree with managuense alot as far as demasoni go, demasoni should be kept only in groups of 12 or more (like tropheus) do to their extreme agressiveness toward conspecifics, i have seen a group of 6 demasoni that onyl lasted a week at which point there was only 1 left, in small groups the agression is targeted on a small few so the abuse is much worse, brichardi spawn in pairs, they are agressive when breeding to anything else in the tank, brichardi are not harem brooders as said above, they form pairs for life and will attack any others, pictures or descriptions would be great help in identifying your fish, if they came from an assorted african tank then they are most likely mbunas, they will need a 55gallon or large fairly soon depending on water quality, temp and what you feed, also be sure not to feed high protein foods, i feed mine spirulina flakes, 1/2 veggie 1/2 spirulina flakes, and once a week one feeding of brine shrimp
hey Soulfish--i did not say "harem" breeders (like auratus) --but "colonial" breeders. these are 2 completely different things, and brichardi ARE a colonial breeder. it sounds like you didnt really read my post.
i also read and was told to keep demasoni in large groups to keep aggression at a minimum....i did this several months ago in a 125 with no luck. i had 10 juveniles, plenty of granitic rockwork, etc. and i still ended up pulling bodies out on a weekly basis .
if you do a search on cichlid-forums on "demasoni aggression" you will see tons of posts to support this, and very few against it.
i think that the best way to do demasoni is to only keep ONE, and i will never advise someone to keep these guys for a community set-up.
M
i also read and was told to keep demasoni in large groups to keep aggression at a minimum....i did this several months ago in a 125 with no luck. i had 10 juveniles, plenty of granitic rockwork, etc. and i still ended up pulling bodies out on a weekly basis
.if you do a search on cichlid-forums on "demasoni aggression" you will see tons of posts to support this, and very few against it.
i think that the best way to do demasoni is to only keep ONE, and i will never advise someone to keep these guys for a community set-up.
M
ok well brichardi are pair forming and will be agressive against any others, and i practically live at cichlid-forums thats where i have learned everything i know about demasoni and i have never heared anyone say small groups, 1 would be ok but people usually keep to breed and would like to have groups not just a single species, and i would also advise against keeping them in a community setup best way to keep demasoni is 12+ in a large 120+gallon tank with lots of rockwork, i dont want to ruin this thread and start a flame war im just saying what ive learned and been told
www.gcca.net--this site BARELY touches on it, and is not very accurate or reputable, --i just found it on a google search.
www.tomgriffin.com/aquamag/brichardi.html---also not a great site, but mentions it in the 7th paragraph
www.cichlidae.com/tanks/t025.html ---1st paragraph--very good cichlid site.
also, i will get back to you on this, but i have a book at my buddy's place called "cichlids of lake tanganyika" which describes it ... but i cant think of the author's name now.
in most sites it is mentioned as "not only parents, but older siblings take part in the rearing of the fry" etc. etc., which is colonial breeding in common terms.
i apologize for the extremely poor citations, but hopefully these will at least suffice for now.
M
www.tomgriffin.com/aquamag/brichardi.html---also not a great site, but mentions it in the 7th paragraph
www.cichlidae.com/tanks/t025.html ---1st paragraph--very good cichlid site.
also, i will get back to you on this, but i have a book at my buddy's place called "cichlids of lake tanganyika" which describes it ... but i cant think of the author's name now.
in most sites it is mentioned as "not only parents, but older siblings take part in the rearing of the fry" etc. etc., which is colonial breeding in common terms.
i apologize for the extremely poor citations, but hopefully these will at least suffice for now.
M
i would join you, but i cant .
i sort of had a falling out with another member who decided that personal attacks and cursing were ok but my "opinons" and such were not.
this person trashed me on a personal level for 4-5 posts, so i finally decided to fight back.... at which point they silenced me on a permanent basis .
i will never get into this disscussion here, so dont worry. personal attacks would never fall within my own morals.
M
.i sort of had a falling out with another member who decided that personal attacks and cursing were ok but my "opinons" and such were not.
this person trashed me on a personal level for 4-5 posts, so i finally decided to fight back.... at which point they silenced me on a permanent basis
. i will never get into this disscussion here, so dont worry. personal attacks would never fall within my own morals.
M
they were just doing their job, and i didnt blame them....heck i guess i may have done the same thing.
i just would have liked to see the OTHER guy get booted as well....but that's the way it works. no biggie--i still belong to 3 other forums (not including this one) where no one has ever had a problem with me
i think it was just kind of a weird situation.....i still dont fully understand why this person became so angry..
M
i just would have liked to see the OTHER guy get booted as well....but that's the way it works. no biggie--i still belong to 3 other forums (not including this one) where no one has ever had a problem with me
i think it was just kind of a weird situation.....i still dont fully understand why this person became so angry..
M