Comments on mixing Africans with South Americans?

[Rivers2k]

Looks good as is don't mess with it. I agree its not good to mix but disagree for the reason of water perimeters. Water has nothing to do with. None of your fish have seen wild conditions and have only known the region of the water the farm is in. SA/CA and old worlds speak a different language so when one would show colors saying I am submitting others will take those change in colors as aggression. New world go face to face when challenging and run away when they don't want to challenge africans keep chasing as part of the challenge.

I will mix some non less aggressive Africans and new worlds but I dont see it working in your current setup. Like I said before you have a beautiful set up don't mess with it.

 

[Heretik]

While i dont agree with mixing lakes i know lots of folks have had success when doing it.

As far as chemistry is concerned the only time that could possibly present a problem is if they are wild caught. My f1 Z Rock's were kept in the same water parameters as their parents/collection point. Therefore i maintain the same parameters in my tank, so mixing would not be a good idea imo.

Like mentioned it is also worth noting that you will likely encounter aggression issues as the fish mature. You have some decent sized haps an the fronts will grow to be massive for that size tank. I would recommend that you eventually remove the venustus, fronts, eye biter and replace them with peacocks/haps in the 6" range.

I'm not sure about the Dempsey but the convict may be able to hold its own against the constant chasing of the afticans.

Good looking fish and gl with your stocking choices


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[BasicallyBane]

Thanks Justin for the advice! I appreciate it. I'll plan on leaving them be and not jump the gun on impulsive acting with changing things.


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[BasicallyBane]

Also, how can I try and prevent the chasing? The front is alpha, empress second. No one else seems to show much aggression. The eye biter is very mellow..
They all will seem chill and not chase but then someone gets bored and starts it up.

What works so far is making my light bar cycle with a sunny day clouds setting. It changes the lights like clouds going past the sun and wen its on their aggression seems to lower
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[ehh]

Also, how can I try and prevent the chasing?

By keeping only one fish in the tank. Welcome to keeping cichlids.




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[Heretik]

By keeping only one fish in the tank. Welcome to keeping cichlids.




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Very very true...LOL!

Its always a hit and miss and often requires much time to achieve the proper balance in the tank. The chasing is inevitable....my harem has been together for 3 years and the females still get into a pissing contest once in a while.


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[Rivers2k]

By keeping only one fish in the tank. Welcome to keeping cichlids.

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Yep. Thats why I don't keep africans anymore. My central americans do very little chasing but I am careful on stock selection purposely avoiding the more aggressive types. I have found with most african, except many Tangs, it is in there nature to chase.

 

[mudbuttjones]

I've made some mistakes when I first started keeping cichlids. Ive got a couple fish from 3 years ago in my 75g that probably "shouldn't" be in there. But all is well.

My tap water is hard and alkaline so ive never messed with it, besides a large portion of my stock was bred in my basement anyway.

I had an african leaf fish in a 40b havily planted community tank. He started harassing and killing other fish in the tank. He was large about 4" and I didn't know what to do with him. I was working 2 jobs at the time and couldn't get to the lfs to drop him off. I decided to throw him in with the African cichlids. It was a roll of the dice but better than killing him outright. He's been fine in there for about 6 months. Nobody bothers him. He keeps to him self. He feeds with the "swarm" of cichlids splashing water everywhere.

Long story short - theres things you shouldn't do, sometimes they work. Sometimes they don't. If it works dont mess with it. Trial and error is the only way to tell. Keep an eye on them. Have a backup plan to temporarily rehome the fish if things don't work out.

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[BasicallyBane]

Haha yeah all fish are different, they have different characters for all of them. Thanks for the advice guys! I've noticed so far that over stocking seems to helps tons with aggression. Almost like the fish give up on defending their spot.



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[ehh]

Haha yeah all fish are different, they have different characters for all of them. Thanks for the advice guys! I've noticed so far that over stocking seems to helps tons with aggression. Almost like the fish give up on defending their spot.



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That works ok with Africans. Toss a Salvini in there and you'll see a fish defend its territory to the death. Usually the death of the other fish lol.


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