Pretty Peckotlia Compatability

[Sandtiger]

I am restocking my tank once again! I have an idea for stocking, and I want to make sure it will work.
I want to have a pretty peckotlia (also known as a clown pleco) as a tank-mate for a single jewel cichlid. My question is ( a classic), will it work?
If it dosen't, are there any recomendations? I want either the jewel cichlid or the clown pleco, so if there are any fish that'll go with either one of them, let me know.

Cheers!

 

[bandito41]

Clown Plecos are quite peaceful. You will have no problems with it. I am unsure about the jewel cichlid. The jewel cichlid might harass the clown pleco.

 

[wayne]

My experince with jewel cichlids is that to get any sort of colour in them involves some pretty high aggression levels. I don't see this working all that well , unless you canget a pretty dopey jewel cichlid.

Bear in mind to get the really bright colours involved a pair of jewels

 

[Sandtiger]

Are there any plecos that I can keep with a jewel cichlid? Besides a Common Plec?

 

[wayne]

How big is the tank. If it's not big, an you get a nasty jewel, you might struggle to get anything to go in with it.
I know most Hemichromis (jewel's) sold in the trade now are not what they're described as (bimaculatus), they're something else, a bit mellower (probably lialeffi). However there are bimaculatus being distributed again, and they are terribly aggressive, so peoples experiences with these will be quite variable.

 

[Sandtiger]

I got a 20 gallon, I'm not even sure if that'll work for a jewel cichlid.

Another question, where are Jewel Cichlids from?

 

[Fishckabibble]

they are african chiclids and VERY VERY agressive especially when spawning, im getting rid of mine due to the fact i cannot place any other fish in with them, because they are a breeding pair and even more agressive than usual. i would suggest you keep the jewel by itself and dont bother introducing anything else with it, from what i have researched on these fish as soon as they estabilsh themselves in a tank anything else that gets introduced will get killed due to territorial disputes.

 

[wayne]

West Africa, niger delta, congo basin I think. Soft, acid water as opposed to the hard, alkaline water associate with the african rift lakes

 

[Sandtiger]

I'm really determined to keep a bottem-feeder with the fish I have (as long as thyey're compatable) and I was on LiveAquaria and I saw a chart that said that I could keep a pleco with, as they said, misc. african cichlid, whic I assume means jewel cichlid. Might a commen pleco, or some other "living armored tanks" be alright with one of them, as long as they can put up with a cichlid?
And the workers at my LFS say that I can keep a pleco with a jewel cichlid, just thought I'd add that.

 

[wayne]

Jewel cichlids DON'T fall in the bucket 'misc. African cichlids'. That usually refers to cheap mbuna and other cichlids from the african rift lakes. If you read the sticky at the top around 'problems mixing african/non african cichlids', jewels and other river dwelling west african cichlids have aggression behaviour patterns similar to those of New World cichlids. They are defensive around a specific location to allcomers, including plecs. They also have far different water chemistry needs.

As to what your lfs says, well it depends if they're any good or not. I cannot tell if a plec will do well with a jewel, I would tend to think not, but for a couple of reasons aggression levels in shop bought jewels are very, very vaiable.