Mixing adults and babies?

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s010245

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Oct 29, 2012
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Philadelphia
So I'm starting my first African cichlid tank and its filtering now but will soon be ready for fish. I found a deal where I may be able to get some adult cichlids for free. Could I take some of these and mix them with some baby ones I buy myself, or will the big ones eat the small ones?


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How big are the baby ones? I have some 1.5 inch cichlids mixed with sizes all the way up to 4-5 inches and a clown knife and they seem to be fine. He gets bullied cause hes the smallest but nothing too bad.
 
i have fry about 1 inch in my 55 with some 5 inch haps/peacocks/mbunas and they're fine. just have hiding spots that only they can fit into and make sure your fish are well fed. but you never know how the bigger fish are gonna react. luckily my larger guys are pretty chill
 
Probably depends more on what type of fish the adults you'll be getting are. Some adult peacocks and most adult mbuna will probably tear some fins or maybe kill a few of the young ones. Adult haps it really depends on the species. Even the largest Copadichromis Azureus and Cyrtocara Moori will probably not bat an eye at the smaller fish as they are plankton eaters, while adults like Fryeri, venustus, livingstonii, and maybe VC-10 (common petsmart haps) are natural predators and will eat anything that fit in their mouths. Take a look at my emergency thread from monday of a 6+" Nimbochromis Fusco nearly swallowing whole a 2.5-3" Synodontis Petricola catfish.
 
s010245 said:
So I'm starting my first African cichlid tank and its filtering now but will soon be ready for fish. I found a deal where I may be able to get some adult cichlids for free. Could I take some of these and mix them with some baby ones I buy myself, or will the big ones eat the small ones?


Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
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There's no guarantee.
I had some small mbuna (fry that survived in the community tank). They seemed to be fine for months, even swimming in the open water.
One day, I saw a large peacock with a tail sticking out of his mouth. He had eaten one of the juvies.
You're going to have to decide if it's worth the risk or not.
When I first started, I would mix a lot .. but over time.. you start to wonder.. Hmm. I put 10 juvies in, now 3 months later, there's only 4. (no dead bodies ever found)
My fish are well fed too. Probably too well fed.
 
You would be taking a risk mixing them, however as long as there are a sufficient number of hiding places, and you're feeding the fish well, you should see a larger number of the fry survive. However, what I would do is since you're getting the adults for free, just go with them so you won't waste life.
 
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