What are " Assorted Cichlids "?

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Pyramid_Party

Pyramid_Party

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Aug 6, 2008
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Monterey, CA
I been seeing these cichlids labeled " Assorted Cichlids " for a long time. Everytime I go to a fish store I see these, and I even seen an MFK Vendor selling them 1 time. I always was curious about them, but it didnt really matter too much to me about what they were, so I never bothered to find out.


When I go to a fish store, I walk to the aggressive fish sections, I see Oscars, Red Devils, Jack Dempseys etc, and then I come to a tank that has cichlids labeled "Assorted Cichlids".


Why dont they have a proper name? What kinda cichlids are they?

They look alright, have good colors etc. Theyre cheap too only around $1.99 usually. I just am curious why they are labeled that name and what species they are and why they are sold like that.
 
Assorted cichlids are mostly mbunas of Lake Malawi combined altogether. Many of these cichlids however are hybrids hence they are called assorted.;)
 
Many stores do put hybrids in these tanks but most of the shops where i live simply dont have the tankspace to display them individually so while they are small and basicly peaceful keep multi species of fish in the same tank, they are usually the same size and same price so on the label they have to put assorted rather than individual species labels. I asked and saw one shop getting deliveries from a supplier once and the fish were all arriving individually sorted then the shop put all the bags of fish into one tank. I have found many pure species in these tanks but you should do a bit of research before you select any fish from that type of setup. Learn what the different species are supposed to look like so you can spot any hybrids etc...
 
Thanks guys, this makes alot of sense. I just always wondered why they were called that. I actually looked up some info after this and got some good info about them. They seem cool, they say they all mostly get along and when you buy them, to buy a group. And they dont get too big either.
 
petland here has an "assorted african" tank.. the babies are yellow labs, TONS of red zebras, demasonis, a few venustus (THOSE owners will be in for a fun surprise when the venustus starts eating the mbuna), and mel. auratus. just your run of the mill cheap africans..

i was surprised to see my petstore had 5 compressiceps (eye biters) in yesterday.. if i had a huge tank i would have bought them all.. i love those guys..
 
just because they are all in the same tank as assorted, after some time in a new tank and growth occurs, getting a long does not always happen...lol... and often may died in those tanks at those shops too. They pull them all day and in the morning. I use to work at a pretty good LFS and that is what they did. Often fish farms will have tons of species in one pond and they let them breed. Often they breed with their kind, and other times they don't... just a mixed pond/tub they pull them from... Great if you are just wanting color and not planning on breeding or passing the fish on...
 
Agreed.
 
agree with mike on this-just because you see that they are all together in one tank doesnt mean when they grow and sexually mature that they are compatible.. thats why i brought up the Venustus-i learned it the hard way.
 
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