cichlid confusion

[skye4jc]

NOTE: i have also posted this in the "African Cichlid" section.

I have always been told that cichlids, whether african or other, should not be kept with any other fish... in other words, cichlid tanks are for cichlids only, and any other tropical fish should live elsewhere. is this true, or are thier instances where cichlids can live with other types of fish? if so, how do you determine these rare instances? (whats the secret?)

and one more thing... you cant mix african cichlids with south american ones can you? if so, why exactly is that??

thanks for clarifying...

Skye

 

[CFC]

When keeping Cichlids it all comes down to how aggressive the species is, some of the more mildly tempered Cichlids such as Appistogramma species can be kept in communities of non Cichlid fish without problems. It is a good idea that unless you really know how a Cichlids temperment is that you dont mix them with non Cichlid fish.

 

[BlueIce]

Most people I know that have cichlids also have some type of dither fish.Barbs,tetras, some even use swordtails in with fish like firemouth.

I have successfully kept african in with sa/ca.No issues and even spawning going on. But it all depends on the cichlids you have.

Choose a cichlid and someone can tell you specifically what can and can not go well.

 

[Ben]

yes it all depends on the cichlid

i.e a Dovii....shouldnt be kept with other fish unless the other fish are bigger then it and the tank is huge

or as stated an apistogramma or a ram can be kept with most community fish.

so it all depends really

DD

 

[parker313]

Right - you shouldn't mix African cichlids with New Worlds. The main reason for that is that they need VERY different water. New Worlds like soft, low pH water and Africans like hard, high pH water. The exception to that is some of the river Africans like kribs or jewels. If kept with the right New Worlds, it can be done b/c their water is much softer than the African lake cichlids.

 

[StarOrbs]

Firemouths would be the best choice for mixing fish assuming you are not going to add neons. I believe there are the hardiest of the NW chiclids of course I could be wrong.

 

[Ben]

New Worlds like soft, low pH water and Africans like hard, high pH water.

i agree with the hardness,softness but if you do some research you will find most mbuna species have the same PH leel range as most new world cichlids do

DD

 

[lucky62]

NOTE: i have also posted this in the "African Cichlid" section.

I have always been told that cichlids, whether african or other, should not be kept with any other fish... in other words, cichlid tanks are for cichlids only, and any other tropical fish should live elsewhere. is this true, or are thier instances where cichlids can live with other types of fish? if so, how do you determine these rare instances? (whats the secret?)

and one more thing... you cant mix african cichlids with south american ones can you? if so, why exactly is that??  

thanks for clarifying...

Skye  

There are so many species of cichlid , varying in size from around 2" to over 2' , and a whole bunch in between .
Some can be holy terrors and some can be like pansies [ big and small ].


Some will not tolerate another fish at all in the tank , some do just fine in a community set up .

You just can't generalize cichlids .



I would not recommend putting African lake cichlids with new worlds , there have been reasons stated for this in both of your threads [ new world / African forums asking this question ] and I agree , social habits and dietary needs are the biggest problems I would see , It has been done .


There are many west African river cichlids that do well with some new worlds , and are similar in behavior , simlar environment to them as well [ Kribs , jewels , thomasis ..more ] .Kribs and thomasis will work in a community tank with various species of fish .

Aside from Apistos there are other dwarf cichlids , some being , Nannacara , laetacara and papiliochromis and these would be o.k in a community .Apistos are most likley the biggest group of dwarf cichlids , and even a few species may be to delicate for a community set up .

The question is , what kind of community are you looking to achieve ?


The best thing to do is find out what cichlids most interest you , find out , how big ? what they eat ? temperment ? will you have to do something special to the water in order to keep them ? you may or may not have an aquarium big enough .

Asking here will get you a varied response to questions about a particular fish , because fish can be I.M.E , can be different as people sometimes , and not act in the general manner as some may think .

But asking here is the best advice I can give you .

 

[fufanu360]

[/QUOTE]You just can't generalize cichlids .

EXACTLY!!! that is what i wanted to say

 

[freddyk]

New Worlds like soft, low pH water and Africans like hard, high pH water.

Now where did that myth-busters thread go?

 

[Jason_S]

well I don't know about a myth-busters thread, but most Central american cichlids will do fine in harder water with high ph. in nature the water in many central american countries (mexico for example) can be as hard and alkaline as the water in lake malawi. ph usually ranges from 7.2 to 8.2 in most central american countries therefore most CA species will do fine in these ranges. south american cichlids on the other hand usually do come from softer, more neutral to acidic waters but again there are exceptions. A. festae for example lives near the coast in Ecuador and Colombia and can be found in waters ranging up to 8.0 ph and rather hard. in fact festae may often venture into brackish and sometimes even marine waters but only for a short time.

You just can't generalize cichlids .

I agree with this 1000%. the statements I made above are generalized and not correct for every central and south american species. I was merely pointing out that not all New world cichlids prefer soft, acidic water.

 

[skye4jc]

wow, you guys totally rock. B) its so nice to be able to finally get answers to some of the more common questions i get where i work at my LFS. many customers ask this kinda stuff, and i hate giving half a** answers - i'd rather tell them i dont know, than tell them the wrong thing. but this sure helps!! i have cut and paste every answer to a word doc that i will save on my comp and compilate into a good pkg of info... then study it, till i know what the heck i'm talking about!

any other advise you wanna give an LFS worker about this stuff?? im all ears! i appreciate you all immensely.

thanks again ( but if you got more to say... keep it coming... )

 

[CFC]

The main reason for not keeping New Worlds and African rift valley species together is dietry requirements. African Mbuna Cichlids need a vegetable based diet of algea, lettuce, spinnach etc with only very occasional feedings of a higher protein food like shrimp, Africans should NEVER be given bloodworms as it can result in a condition called bloat which is often fatal. New World Cichlids need a diet that is higher in protein with foods like earthworms, crickets, shrimp/prawn and mussel being offered regularly. In a mixed set up there is no way of stopping the Africans from gorging themselves on the higher protein food but if just vegetable fare is offered the New Worlds would suffer.

 

[Jason_S]

Sky, for a little more info on New World cichlids you might try reading this write-up. B)

 

[Ben]

i would like to also point out that africans like to swim between all the rocks and NWs like to establish a territory so i dont think an african would like to be chased all day long by other fish.

DD