African Butterfly Fish With Cichlids

[baker360360]

Could I put an African butterfly fish with African cichlids ( tanganyika )?

The top half of my tank is very empty,

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

It might work, but it would depend on factors including...
Size of ABF
Size of the cichlids
Aggression level of the cichlids
 
ABF, like most of the "African oddball" setup fish, need chilled out tankmates that are also not pigs at food time. My 3-year old female now lives in my 6-footer along with...
4 Leopard Bushfish
1 Distichous fasciolatus
1 Synodontis cf. budgetti (only adopted ~2 months ago, going to have to keep my eye on this one, as it happily flips upside down to surface feed)
1 African Brown Knife Fish
1 Synodontis notata (a pretty chilled specimen, they can be a bit fiesty)
3 Synodontis brichardi
4 Euchilichthys spp.
1 Chrysichthys ornatus (only just over half adult size at ~12cm SL, could be a real hazard in the future)
1 Auchenoglanis spp. (the only place it does not feed is at the surface)
1 Steatocranus casuarius (for a male, a very placid chap)
 
If you want something for the upper water, depending upon tank size and cichlids, rainbowfish could work if you want something from outside the lake (apparently).

 

[baker360360]

It might work, but it would depend on factors including...
Size of ABF
Size of the cichlids
Aggression level of the cichlids
 
ABF, like most of the "African oddball" setup fish, need chilled out tankmates that are also not pigs at food time. My 3-year old female now lives in my 6-footer along with...
4 Leopard Bushfish
1 Distichous fasciolatus
1 Synodontis cf. budgetti (only adopted ~2 months ago, going to have to keep my eye on this one, as it happily flips upside down to surface feed)
1 African Brown Knife Fish
1 Synodontis notata (a pretty chilled specimen, they can be a bit fiesty)
3 Synodontis brichardi
4 Euchilichthys spp.
1 Chrysichthys ornatus (only just over half adult size at ~12cm SL, could be a real hazard in the future)
1 Auchenoglanis spp. (the only place it does not feed is at the surface)
1 Steatocranus casuarius (for a male, a very placid chap)
 
If you want something for the upper water, depending upon tank size and cichlids, rainbowfish could work if you want something from outside the lake (apparently).

Wanted to keep it african.

As for my fish the cyps leptosoma are chilled the rest stay at the bottom and the only fish that's a bit of a bully is the Julie's but never venture to the top not even at feeding time.

Also would Butterfly fish be a problem for my snails?

 

[Tongue_Flicker]

I think your julies will be in trouble if you mix Abf with them.

Lovely fish however and i plan to get a couple myself

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

 

Wanted to keep it african.

As for my fish the cyps leptosoma are chilled the rest stay at the bottom and the only fish that's a bit of a bully is the Julie's but never venture to the top not even at feeding time.

Also would Butterfly fish be a problem for my snails?
 

ABF have huge trapdoor mouths, my 3-year old even at ~6.5cm SL would have a go at try to swallow any fish that would fit in her close to 2cm wide mouth, so I if you ever get baby Cyprichromis that will be history if they venture near the ABF, possibly even your older specimens.
 
ABF do not like active midwater fish, it can unsettle them quite badly. Also, their trailing long pectoral fin rays are a nippy temptation for ther fish, again this really upsets them.
 
ABF ordinarily stick to the water surface including feeding, so unless a suitable sized snail floated right in front of them, they would be safe.
 
Are you using plain tap water for your Tanganyikans, or are you remineralising RO water? ABF do better in softer water and need it to breed, but they are pretty adaptable (like most African oddballs) to typical UK tap water hardness like the gH 13 we have on the south coast. However, if you are boosting hardness for your rift lake fish to something like ~gH 20, I would be relunctant to try this combo at all before looking at other factors.