African cichlids and rainbow fish?

[FishNewbie82912]

Can these be mixed in a 75 gallon tank? I have a new tank I’m creating and I have 2 rainbow that I have to add to the new tank. I plan to get a couple more but also wanted some cool looking cichlids. Can they mix?

 

[Wills]

Wouldnt recommend it - you would be better off looking at Central Americans

 

[Sgooosh]

Wouldnt recommend it - you would be better off looking at Central Americans

can i add some dwarf neon and maybe madagascan rainbowfish to all livebearer tank(has some catfish) or will the swordtails bully them

 

[Colin_T]

What sort of cichlids did you want to keep?
Which rainbowfish did you want to keep?

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

 

[Colin_T]

can i add some dwarf neon and maybe madagascan rainbowfish to all livebearer tank(has some catfish) or will the swordtails bully them

rainbowfish will be fine with livebearers, just deworm them all because livebearers are usually full of worms.

 

[Sgooosh]

rainbowfish will be fine with livebearers, just deworm them all because livebearers are usually full of worms.

oh dang... my snails will be very uncomfortablem only have one tank. im not sure if this is a joke lol. prazipro?

 

[Colin_T]

It's not a joke. Common livebearers are riddled with intestinal worms (usually Camallanus but sometimes tapeworm too). Rainbowfish can be infected with them as well, so it's a good idea to deworm the tank after you have all the fish, or deworm them in a quarantine tank before adding them to an established display tank.

Levamisole and Praziquantel should be fine with snails, but Flubendazole does kill snails.

If you have snails and are concerned, move them into a bucket of tank water while you treat the fish. Do a couple of 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 24-48 hours after treating the fish and the snails can go back in.

 

[FishNewbie82912]

What sort of cichlids did you want to keep?
Which rainbowfish did you want to keep?

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

I have a turquoise and boeseman rainbow. I wanted to get some of the peacock cichlids.

My last well test (2 years ago) listed hardness as 59mg/l. Ph 7.8. My ph of my tank is usually in that high 7 range.

 

[Sgooosh]

Levamisole and Praziquantel should be fine with snails, but Flubendazole does kill snails.

If you have snails and are concerned, move them into a bucket of tank water while you treat the fish. Do a couple of 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate 24-48 hours after treating the fish and the snails can go back in.

wait- the cories i got did not get wormed by the guppies... also i have sand... i think ill stick with cories and shrimp. thanks for the advice. my mystery snail was very unhappy when i treated my tank with api general cure...

 

[Colin_T]

wait- the cories i got did not get wormed by the guppies... also i have sand... i think ill stick with cories and shrimp. thanks for the advice. my mystery snail was very unhappy when i treated my tank with api general cure...

Your Cories probably have worms too but they would have caught them from the livebearers. Common livebearers like mollies, guppies, platies and swordtails always have worms when they come out of Asia. Anything that lives in the same tank as them usually gets worms too.

 

[Colin_T]

I have a turquoise and boeseman rainbow. I wanted to get some of the peacock cichlids.

My last well test (2 years ago) listed hardness as 59mg/l. Ph 7.8. My ph of my tank is usually in that high 7 range.

You need to check the GH again. 59mg/l (59ppm) is too soft for Rift Lake cichlids and most rainbowfish. Melanotaenia boesemani come from water with a GH above 300ppm.

Your pH (7.8) is fine for rainbowfish and peacock cichlids from Lake Malawi, but they need a GH over 250ppm and preferably around 300-350ppm.

If you have soft water, you will need to add some Rift Lake water conditioner to the water to increase the GH and KH. You can buy Rift Lake conditioner from most pet shops or online. They comprise mostly of calcium chloride, magnesium chloride and calcium & magnesium carbonate. They should have a few other minerals in too but they are the main ones.

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You can keep M. boesemani and M. lacustris with Aulonocara peacock cichlids if the water is suitable. Have a tank that is 4 foot or longer and they will be fine together.

Keep the rainbowfish in groups of at least 6 and have 1 male and 3 or 4 female peacocks if you want to breed the cichlids.

Make sure the rainbowfish get plenty of plant matter in their diet.

 

[FishNewbie82912]

You need to check the GH again. 59mg/l (59ppm) is too soft for Rift Lake cichlids and most rainbowfish. Melanotaenia boesemani come from water with a GH above 300ppm.

Your pH (7.8) is fine for rainbowfish and peacock cichlids from Lake Malawi, but they need a GH over 250ppm and preferably around 300-350ppm.

If you have soft water, you will need to add some Rift Lake water conditioner to the water to increase the GH and KH. You can buy Rift Lake conditioner from most pet shops or online. They comprise mostly of calcium chloride, magnesium chloride and calcium & magnesium carbonate. They should have a few other minerals in too but they are the main ones.

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You can keep M. boesemani and M. lacustris with Aulonocra peacock cichlids if the water is suitable. Have a tank that is 4 foot or longer and they will be fine together.

Keep the rainbowfish in groups of at least 6 and have 1 male and 3 or 4 female peacocks if you want to breed the cichlids.

Make sure the rainbowfish get plenty of plant matter in their diet.

Thank you! That’s so helpful!!