Mixing Cichlids

mark7616

potatoes
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i did ask in another post but was not answered and im looking on putting my order in tomorrow for my fish. Can i mix cichlids from different lakes in my tank as i like cichlids from lake malawi lake Tanganyika and lake Victoria is it possible to put these into one tank?
 
Now I'm a complete noob when it comes to cichlids - but I read somewhere it's not good to mix. I think it was on this forum. . . . . :S but I have no clue where.

I was completely useless huh?? :lol:
 
As a general rule you can't mix fish from different lakes although it is possible to mix some of the lake Victoria species with some of the lake Malawi fish.
I don't keep fish from either of the latter lakes though so you'd need someone else to say which could be tried.

It is also advisable to keep fish with similar food requirements together as often problems can be linked to incorrect diets.
 
It's best to look at it at a species by species basis, as there are many variables involved, even when mixing fish from the same lakes, and it's impossible to generalize. From tanganyika you could be thinking of the 14" long carnivorous Frontosa, or perhaps a 1" Carnivorous Multifasciatus, or do you mean the little herbivorous gobie or Tropheus, etc. etc.

If we're going with generalization then the safe answer is that it's best not to mix Tanganyikans with Malawis as they have very different behavioral and often diet traits and even if it works, that doesn't mean we're doing the best thing for them. Victorian Haps can, however, be safely mixed with Malawi Haps of similar temperment.
 
whose rules Hill??

In my 110 I have all 3 and there isnt a single problem

IF you take aggression into account, even feeding issues can be handled easily
 
Tank size is also important, now that it's mentioned - you can get away with lots in a 110 that you can't in a 40, and lots in a 200 that you can't in a 110.
 
i used to mix the lakes and i didnt have any more problems then before i mixed them, keeping african chiclids your always gonna get deaths and murders weather you mix the lakes or not, but you still need to choose your fish carfully no over aggressive malawis. as for the food just use a chiclid mix. frozen or dried. with african chiclids its better to over stock your tank then they become less territorial.
 

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