so they would not be able to go together. what about auratus cichlids with malawi cichlids. my LFS said that severums would be good with malawi cichlids
If my local fish shop gave me advice like that then I would never return. The water conditions are very different and as above either the American or African cichlids will suffer due to the water difference.
As has already been said, the differences in requirements between SA/CA and African cichlids is too great for those fish to be kept together. I would be very, very wary of taking advice from an lfs that would tell you otherwise and I`d stay away from an lfs like that too
The auratus is very aggressive and it`s usually very experienced African fish keepers who will even contemplate having auratus in their tanks, even then it`s a difficult addition to any tank