Mixing African cichlids with Central American Cichlids?

[littlewolfpaw]

Well I made the mistake of getting 4 cichlids that are african and one Central American. There one cobalt, one electric blue johanni, 2 Kribensis, and then the convict cichlid. What are the consequences or this mix? Is it a bad thing? Iv had all these fish except the kribs for about two months now and the only problems Iv seen is the convict gets chased by the cobalt but no damage done. It only happens every once and awhile too. The convict is growing like a week too so I think hes healthy. Can some one shed some light on this issue
Heres some pics of them all.

 

[alexmuw]

In my experience, Kribs don't do well with higher aggressive mbunas (ie: Red Zebra etc). The convict should be ok (as long as the water requirements fall within the needed parameters). I have a black convict that I inherited from my brother, that does well in my African tank (ph 8, medium hardiness; comes straight from the tap that way).

However, don't expect the convict to be the king of the tank. In terms of size, Africans are more aggressive than American cichlids. So, as far as the colbalt chasing the convict, that would be expected; and I would also expect it to get worse with age.

 

[Pittbull]

Do not add anymore Convict's to this tank if you obtain a pair you will see how aggressive they truly are and yes they will punk the crap out of Africans in a mating / guarding fry situation.. The Kribs probably will not make it..

 

[littlewolfpaw]

Do not add anymore Convict's to this tank if you obtain a pair you will see how aggressive they truly are and yes they will punk the crap out of Africans in a mating / guarding fry situation.. The Kribs probably will not make it..

Sad, I hope they do make it. I havent seen any of the fish chasing them anymore so Im hoping for the best. I acually did buy another convict one day, I had it in the tank for less then ten minutes. The original convict would have killed him if I would have kept it in there. I brought it back to the pet store and said you can have him back I havent seen any damage to the convict yet from the cobalt so hes fast enough to evade him so far.

 

[fox3]

I've read where cobalts can get mean but our two males mind their own business. We do have two dominant male zebras in there with them so that might be the case.

The johanni on the other hand can turn out to be a problem. We have one in an aggressive mbuna and hap tank. It is the smallest in our tank at around 4 - 5 inches but has an attitude that is just plain mean. The only fish that can give him a go for his money is our m. auratus and when they go at it the whole tank is on alert.

If I could catch that runt it would be off of my stocklist.

 

[D-WALT]

btw its a female convict, but i hope the mix works out..

 

[stewnew]

yeah thos kribs are probly goners

 

[Cichlaholics Anonymous]

I'd get those kribs out of there as they will most likely not survive longterm with the aggressive tankmates. As for the convict, as long as the mbunas get their preferred diet there shouldn't be too many other conflicts with the convicts (at least when it comes to pH etc.)

 

[littlewolfpaw]

So If my Kribs dont survive, which I really hope they do, I think they just might since the johanni isnt chasing anymore, what would be a good cichlid to put in with my aggressive brutes. The worst one is definatly the Johanni. So much anger in one little fish.

 

[gt1009]

I've mixed cons, JD's, and Salvini with various africans.