Cichlid compatability

[glolite]

OK I know I'm full of questions at the mo' but need advice for moving fish into a new tank please. Have been advised to move everything other than cichlids into my new 45g because the cichlids will eventually kill all the other fish, (is this true?) So I'm going to move all the loaches and sharky into new tank. Should I leave the plec in or move him too? Obviously this won't be happening until the new tank cycles.

 

[hankey]

I've heard that clown loaches are okay with some chiclids. I'm not familiar with all of yours. But I'm sure others can confirm if the loaches will be alright. Could the yellow ones be Labs?

I've seen irredescent sharks in with chiclids as a temporary place to live but it sounded like it wasn't a good idea, just until another home was ready.

I just posted a question in the thread below about neons if that helps.

I've probably got as many questions as yourself.

 

[glolite]

Thanks.
I think plec will be ok having read up on the net, but might move the loaches anyway. The lfs has offered to take the frontosa as he really does get bullied and he's about 8 inches long already. The lfs also reckons that if I keep the cichlids separate as a community they may well breed. Can't see it myself as they seem to hate each other.

 

[freddyk]

The lfs also reckons that if I keep the cichlids separate as a community they may well breed. Can't see it myself as they seem to hate each other.

Yup, that sounds like them all right, and regardless of what you do, if there are males and females in the tank they will breed. Mbuna make rabbits seem prude!

Oh, and a common plec should be just fine.

 

[Becca]

The images posted here were found from Google Searches and are not mine. They're used only for help identifying a species of Cichlid.


Ok, I'll try to answer your question regarding your 40g cichlid tank as best as I can.

First off - before you can identify whether or not your loaches are compatible, you'll need to identify precisely which species of Cichlid you have. While they're all aggresive fish, their levels of agression and tolerance of other fish drastically differ between them. So, let's first start by narrowing down what you have.

Cichlid wise - you have essentially only 4 cichlids. - a Frontosa, which you're certain of and the other 3, you're uncertain of.

Let's start with your blue cichlid. You think he might be a P. Elongatus or Demasoni. Without knowing what he looks like, the best I can do for you here is show you a couple of pictures of what the fish you think he might be look like...

Here's a Demasoni. Notice that he's not all blue, but Blue & Black:

Here's the Pseudotropheus Elongatus. Notice that while the two do look similar, there are still differences between them.

One of the biggest difference I can find between the two is the fin coloration - on the demasoni, from what I've seen, it's always black with a blue outline to it. On the elongatus, the overall look differs, but the color pattern tends to stay the same. The fin itself has yellow (some fish have more than others..) and it's trimmed with black and/or blue.

The other difference I've noticed is the shape of the body. It's hard to explain, but to me the Demasoni has a more "plump" and "even" look to him, from nose to fin. The Elongatus has a more "torpedo" shape.

Secondly, the yellow cichlids. Someone asked if they could be Yellow Labs, but Yellow Labs differ *greatly* from Tropheus Brichardi. In fact, I would have an easier time seeing a Bumblee confused with a Brichardi over the Yellow Lab.

The Tropheus Brichardi:

You don't have any other fish that you think this one might be listed, so I'll assume that you're pretty confident with this fish.

If you have any pictures you can post, I'm sure someone will be able to identify them easily and quickly for you. Even just a camera phone snapshot is better than nothing.

 

[Becca]

OK I know I'm full of questions at the mo' but need advice for moving fish into a new tank please. Have been advised to move everything other than cichlids into my new 45g because the cichlids will eventually kill all the other fish, (is this true?) So I'm going to move all the loaches and sharky into new tank. Should I leave the plec in or move him too? Obviously this won't be happening until the new tank cycles.

I wanted to break up the two topics I wanted to post, so here's my second topic - regarding compatibility - First off, until you're sure which fish you have, I'd hold off adding any more fish to your tank. Secondly, I'm by no means an expert - so please don't take anything I write here to be the absolute end-all, be-all of fish keeping...I'm simply relaying to you what my experiences in cichlids have been.

You mentioned that your Frontosa gets bullied. In a 40g tank with only 4 cichlids, I would say this is bound to happen. One of the most common mistakes I've seen & heard of with cichlids is understocking. I've found with each of my cichlid tanks that the best way to a pleasant environment is to overstock your tank. For instance, in my 75-Gallon, I have 23 Cichlids alone. For my tank, this works well - and the reason it works well is because Cichlids are *very* agressive fish. They have a pecking order, and each tank will always have one (or a few) bullies in it. If your bullies do *not* have enough "whimps" to pick on, they'll eventually stress out, and possibly kill off, your other fish.

While I don't think your 40G would be a good long-term tank for cichlids (most will get to be too large for your tank), I would migrate towards the idea of over-stocking it with juvies and baby cichlids and work towards obtaining a larger home for your community. Also, when you're adding your fish - don't add just one at a time, add about 3 or more at a time. And heavily feed your community before releasing the new fish. I've found that with my tank this helps to remove agression that would otherwise be concentrated on your new fish.

As I said before, I'm not an expert on cichlids, so please don't take this to be the end-all, be-all of fish keeping. I'm just relaying to you what I've found that works for me. I think your loaches and pleco will be fine; however, I'd concentrate more on a cichlid population, rather than loaches & plecos.

 

[glolite]

Thanks Becca, that was really helpful!
The blue cichlid isn't like the ones in the photo he's much paler with no black markings. I've posted some pics on members pics forum and also on another thread in this forum which Modernhamlet has kindly added the pic. Will try to post one of the blue cich later.

 

[modernhamlet]

A solid, pale blue colored mbuna is likely to be either a
cobalt zebra or a pseudotropheus socofoli. Hope that helps...

 

[glolite]

Brilliant! Thanks. I think from the eyes he's a cobalt blue