fongyfong Posted May 27, 2008 Share Posted May 27, 2008 ive been to certian aquarium stores and notice they mix some south americans with lake malawi does anyone here do that and how does it go? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moliro Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Yeah I have back in the day when I first started keeping cichlids. You go to the store every week and buy something that you think is cool (not really knowing anything about it). So 5 years later I still had a m/f jack dempsey as well as m/f convict cichlids with a mass of Tanganyikans and Malawi in a 230 gallon. The Dempsey's did fine but didn't breed while the convicts bred every month and I kept them in there because they were just providing another source of food for everyone else. So yeah it's doable and they will survive but just like mixing any fish from different environments, the water parameters are different as well. So you can't keep all the fish happy with their preferred optimal water condition. Nowadays I wouldn't recommend it, but that's just from personal experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fongyfong Posted May 28, 2008 Author Share Posted May 28, 2008 yeah thats what i was worried about the different water parameters, i think i should stay away from it what PH levels did yew keep them at? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakes Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 I once acquired a male electric blue and had no option but to place him in a mixed American tank. It was initially a temporary solution but my wife loved his colours so there he stayed for several years without any problems at all. Temperament-wise he mixed well with the Americans. It’s not something i would ever recommend and certainly would not even attempt it with wild-caught fish. However with common varieties that have been bred successively over many generations in plain tap water i believe it is possible to achieve a balance in water parameters that is acceptable, though perhaps not optimal, for all. One of the main reasons that i’m not so keen on it these days is that, now that i am more informed about the origins of aquarium fish, such combinations simply don’t look ‘natural’ to me, and don’t have the same appeal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fongyfong Posted May 28, 2008 Author Share Posted May 28, 2008 I once acquired a male electric blue and had no option but to place him in a mixed American tank. It was initially a temporary solution but my wife loved his colours so there he stayed for several years without any problems at all. Temperament-wise he mixed well with the Americans. It’s not something i would ever recommend and certainly would not even attempt it with wild-caught fish. However with common varieties that have been bred successively over many generations in plain tap water i believe it is possible to achieve a balance in water parameters that is acceptable, though perhaps not optimal, for all. One of the main reasons that i’m not so keen on it these days is that, now that i am more informed about the origins of aquarium fish, such combinations simply don’t look ‘natural’ to me, and don’t have the same appeal. did the blue ever fight? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 I hate this ignorant all new world cichlids like soft water thing I feel like I have to mention it every time there is one of these threads. Central Americans actually prefer hard water close to malawi perameters so in theory stuff like convicts, red devils, texas, dempseys etc will go fine in a malawi perameter tank... tho they may kill a few malawis in the process, so no real loss then Even some of the South Americans will be fine (those coming from similar water conditions to the centrals) it is pretty much only amazon basin fish that are from absurdly soft water. However in general I don't like mixing biotopes either & don't think it should be a "done thing". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oakes Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 did the blue ever fight? Nothing excessive. He was close to the largest fish in the tank but he didn’t try to dominate the tank but neither did he allow others to bully him. In line with Ash’s comments i agree on the need to consider whether the SA’s you refer to are very particular about soft water requirements or are more akin to centrals. Mine were centrals, apart from a blue acara & severum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frontosa Andrew Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 I agree with Oakes' comment that mixed tanks just don't look natural. I guess most commonly kept species (most mbuna, N.Brichardi, Fronts, RD's, JD's etc etc) have been declimatized to the water conditions they originally came from, so theoretically just about anything goes (although tang spawn size and sex balance may be affected). Having said that, I'm a big believer in biotopically accurate tanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Yeah, I can vouch for Andrew being anal about being as biotopically correct as possible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fongyfong Posted May 30, 2008 Author Share Posted May 30, 2008 Yeah, I can vouch for Andrew being anal about being as biotopically correct as possible thanks guys for ur help setting up my 6 footer and just think im gonna leave it as malawi and maybe later on if i get bored re change the whole tank to southamerican Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudjimba Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 Good choice, change to all Americans, you'll enjoy them.... aren't Africans just a food supply for 'real' fish anyway........sorry just joking. cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frontosa Andrew Posted June 4, 2008 Share Posted June 4, 2008 Cheers Ash, I'll take that as a compliment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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