Why when there is so many cichlids of each area to stay with one locale.
Feeding and water ph/hg/kh as got to be a issue mixing.
Feeding and water ph/hg/kh as got to be a issue mixing.
Africans and SA/CA cichlids
- Thread starter Jake_Df
- Start date
True. I currently have a Jd and a jag in a tank with a handful of mbuna and its works pretty well. Only a temporary setup to avoid some spawning activity in other tanks, but the mbuna act just like any other dither/target. Small fast and tough.
Jag occasionally eats a tank mate but other than that, they seem to be fine. Lol.
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There really is two separate issues here, one is aesthetic and the other is will it work.
Whether you like them together or not is personal preference and everyone can answer that for themselves, the same combination that looks outlandish to one person may be just fine with someone else. Though I have to add that not a few who say don't mix fish from different parts of the world have various cyprinid sharks, barbs, loaches, danios, catfish, rainbowfish, tetras, anabantoids, etc. mixed with their cichlids, despite these other fish coming from different continents... In fact, according to the same reasoning you should never have any pleco in any African cichlid tank-- theoretically, if you enforce that aesthetic, it should look ridiculous to have a catfish from a South American river in a tank with rift lake cichlids from half the world away.
As far as will it work-- it's primarily a matter of what species you're talking about and whether they have compatible temperaments. It absolutely can be done with the right combinations of fish. Water is far less an issue than some make it out to be and food is less an issue than some make it out to be. In principle it's no different than mixing any new world or African cichlid with barbs or loaches or rainbowfish, or bala sharks, red tailed black sharks, rainbow sharks, etc., none of which come from the same places.
In the end, if it looks ok to you and the fish are compatible, then knock yourself out. If you don't like certain fish together, then you have every right to your own preferences. But, before being too critical, just make sure you don't have barbs, loaches, danios, sharks, gourami, etc. etc. in a tank with your cichlids, unless they're Indian or Asian cichlids.
I woke up this morning to my longest kept fish, a red zebra named boss one of my favorites, killed by my SA/CA I don't recommend it. It was a heart breaker to see him killed. I will never attempt the mix again.
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I guess I like having variety which is more important to me than pure aesthetics. I have a 220G male tank with mostly hap/peacock mix but I also have a 8" midas with a 14" male B. Frontosa and a single male tropheus dubois in there. Used to have a 10" male Jack Dempsey but he died of old age. The midas is the tank boss and chases the frontosa every now and then but over all there is hardly no aggression. There is the occasional chasing going on but that is normal for cichlids to chase one another.
You don't say which SA/CA species you have, but could just as easily happened by mixing the wrong SA or CA fish together. Or the red zebra could just as easily killed a more docile new world species. No matter where they come from you need to consider temperament, size, etc. when mixing fish.
