Are these ok together?

[Chad08]

I just got these fish yesterday: Sunshine Peacock (Aulonocara baenschi), Red Zebra Cichlid (Pseudotropheus estherae), Jewel Cichlid (Hemichromis bimaculatus), and one other that I'm not sure about. My tank is a 55 gallon with a penguin 330 on it right now and I planned to add more filtration. I found that the Jewel Cichlid is from a different area. Also can I add more fish? The guy at the lfs told me I could have 8 african cichlids in my 55 at max. I was thinking more what do u guy think? Thanks for any advice.

 

[Ferris]

That mixture is not great. The Estherae is an Mbuna from lake Malawi (very aggressive), the aulonacara is from Malawi but they don't normally mix well with Mbuna. The Jewel comes from northwest and central africa and are best kept in a species tank.

You have a nice size tank which would suit an Mbuna community well, they are better kept overstocked because of their aggression. 15 or so would be fine in a 55 gal. The Aulonacara and the jewel could work but I doubt it and its certainly a risk.

 

[petey Z]

the jewel cichlids are very aggresive just to warn you.

 

[Mobern]

I suggest you take all your fish back except for your Red Zebra. Then you can get 4 more Red Zebras (make sure the male:female ratio is 1:4). Then get 5 Ps. Socolofi as they are a great blue Mbuna (1:4 m:f ratio). Then get 5 Electric Yellow Labs (aka Lab. caeruleus--1:4 m:f ratio).

how's that sound?

Mobern

Make sure to have lots of rockin your tank.

 

[Chad08]

So the peacock and red zebra is ok together? When u said get 5 Ps did u mean get 5 peacocks? The red zebra and peacock are my favorite of the 4 fish I bought. I also have a 37 gallon (tall) I could put a couple in. What do u guys think...I haven got the 37 going yet though. And I heard longer tanks are better than taller tanks with african cichlids. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Ferris]

The peacock and the red zebra are not ok together in all probability, they do not normally do well together. Th 5 P's refers to 5 Pseudotropheus Socolofi which was an alternative suggestion. In a 55 gal you can either have Aulonacara (Peacocks) or Mbuna like the red zebra, both together is not good.

African's do better in long tanks because they normally stay near the bottom of the tank, therefore a tall tank is of no benefit to them. The jewel is a problem in that if you keep him/her there is not much else you can put them with, apart from other jewels.

A 37 gal tank (even if tall) is still a fair sized tank, you could keep a few Peacocks in there and use your 55 gal for Mbuna (red zebras, socolofi etc). That way you could keep your 2 favourites. that should work ok.

Do some research before deciding though, both species are aggressive and can be difficult to keep (although very rewarding).

 

[tank212]

I agree with Ferris on the jewel not being able to be kept in the same tank with the others. But I have a 55 gal with a mix of mbuna and peacocks and they get along fine. Although they're not with very agressive mbuna except for a labeotropheus fulleborni and a albino zebra there still has been no conflicts.

 

[Ferris]

Peacocks and Mbuna certainly can work but more often than not the Peacocks cannot cope with the aggressive nature of Mbuna and if they can cope, its not much fun for them. The more aggressive Mbuna species like the Estherae are not good with Aulonacara.

 

[Chad08]

Thanks for the advice. Well I guess that shows the guys at Petsmart didn't know much about african cichlids. I'm more familiar with south american cichlids. I'm new to africans but I think I'm going to like them almost as the south american cichlids. Thanks again!!!

 

[freddyk]

Chad, here is some reading material for you (and others), from a very reliable website. Also check out the pinned mbuna topic:

http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/lakes_east_africa.php
http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/compatability.php
http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/haps_vs_mbuna.php
http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/peacocks.php
http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/species_profiles.php
http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/feeding_list.php

 

[G_Sharky]

How big is the peacock If it is bigger than the zebra then it might work for now, can't guarantee it when the zebra reach adulthood....I've heard some people being successful mixing mbuna with peacocks and haps, but on these cases the majority of the tank species are peacocks and haps....I have 1 mbuna in my tank which is a ps. demasoni and it's behaving good so far...I think in my case i could keep him even when he's fully grown cause he wont get too big and the rest of my fish would be a lot bigger than him and could fend for theirselves....JMO.....

 

[Angry_Platy]

I keep Yellow labs, Cyrtocara, Peacocks and Pseudos together. They all co exist very well together with a RTBS and clown loaches.

The peacocks fight with each other but leave other fish alone. The Cyrtocara play fight but nothing major. And the yellow labs chase each other from one end of the tank to the other.

 

[Ferris]

I keep Yellow labs, Cyrtocara, Peacocks and Pseudos together. They all co exist very well together with a RTBS and clown loaches.

Hi Angry_Platy,

How does your RTBS get on with the Pseudos? I'm amazed at that combination, What Pseudo's do you have if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Chad08]

My peacock and zebra are both about 2 inches.

 

[Angry_Platy]

How does your RTBS get on with the Pseudos? I'm amazed at that combination, What Pseudo's do you have if you don't mind me asking?

My RTBS gets along well with all the fish. He pretty much keeps to himself, foraging around and all. They leave him alone, he leaves them alone.

I have 5 Pseudo acei (the yellow tail and finnned ones)



Yes, I know. People have told me that I have a weird tank mixture, but they are all great together.