Andinoacara tank?

[Deadeye]

So andinoacara cichlids are some of my favorites. Personality and colors seem really good with them, and for the brief time I have had a green terror and eba I very much enjoyed them.
I would love to see multiple species of andinoacara (specifically rivulatus, pulcher, stalsbergi, and coerupunctatus (butchered that)) cohabbed in a tank.
Is it possible to mix the species, or does aggression very way to much between ones like the stalsbergi and blue acara? What tank size would be needed for this to work?
Like always, thanks for the help and knowledge!

 

[C. Breeze]

I can set you up with Coeru around September or thereabouts. Everyone once ina while TUIC will have wild latifrons. You know black tuna has stalsbergi. I got some from him.

I don’t mix them but especially the Coeru just aren’t around so I don’t want to deal with any BS hybrids or aggression issues.

 

[C. Breeze]

I’d think a tank with species of geophagus and a species of andinoacara would be where it’s at
I also keep coming back to apistograma
As a possibility but I don’t want to test it with the A Barlowi I have now as they are F0 wild fish and I don’t want to chance them.

 

[Deadeye]

I can set you up with Coeru around September or thereabouts. Everyone once ina while TUIC will have wild latifrons. You know black tuna has stalsbergi. I got some from him.

I don’t mix them but especially the Coeru just aren’t around so I don’t want to deal with any BS hybrids or aggression issues.

Thanks for the offer! I don’t have any tank space now, this is one of those ideas that probably won’t happen for a few years.
I figured hybridization would be an issue in such a setting. Maybe I could try to get all males or just cull all offspring.

 

[duanes]

About 2-3 years ago, I got about a dozen. wild caught A. coerleopunctatus, and at maturity a pair formed.
The Alpha male killed all the other males and some females, he left his female mate, and 3 other females in a 185 gal tank (the other females are generally relegated to upper corners, hidden in plant cover).
If you have a 300- 500 gal tank it may work, but anything smaller, at some point, probably the largest male (of what ever Andinoacara) would systematically take out all others it sees as competition .
There are reasons you hardly ever see even 2 of the same genus of most cichlids together in the large space available in waters in nature.
So consider the confines of a tank.
If you want to keep different Andinoacara species, a separate tank for each species would be the way to go.
You could have a couple 50 gallon tanks, they would work for smaller species like pulcher, and latifrons.
The others will need much larger tanks.
One other thing to consider is keeping the integrity of each species, and by combining them, that integrity can be compromised with hybridizatio.

 

[ryansmith83]

I definitely wouldn't try keeping them all together. For instance, I can't imagine stalsbergi would do well with things like latifrons, coeruleopunctatus, etc. Also, it's been shown that pulcher and rivulatus will hybridize, so it could lead to a mess.

 

[jjohnwm]

...One other thing to consider is keeping the integrity of each species, and by combining them, that integrity can be compromised with hybridization....

...it's been shown that pulcher and rivulatus will hybridize, so it could lead to a mess...

This is a significant concern, a valid warning. Sadly, for every keeper concerned with the problems this creates, we seem to have a dozen who can't wait to create some new hybrid just for something to do. Then their goofy creations are sold, traded or given away and continue to propagate, to the point where actually getting a pure wild-type specimen of many types of fish is difficult or impossible.

Not pointing the accusatory finger at you, Deadeye , just a general comment.

 

[Toiletcar]

This is a significant concern, a valid warning. Sadly, for every keeper concerned with the problems this creates, we seem to have a dozen who can't wait to create some new hybrid just for something to do. Then their goofy creations are sold, traded or given away and continue to propagate, to the point where actually getting a pure wild-type specimen of many types of fish is difficult or impossible.

Not pointing the accusatory finger at you, Deadeye , just a general comment.

This is what has happened to livebarers. It’s a shame.
when it comes to mixing different species of the same genus, hybridization is a risk w/ most except some thorichthys because different species of the same genus can be found together. For some reason they don’t hybridize or it’s not common. I have found this to be true so far in the aquarium which I was worried about initially because aquarium behavior is different.
A big reason I wouldn’t mix is because unlike thorichthys, their aggression levels are all different. Water requirements might be different too.

 

[duanes]

Not pointing the accusatory finger at you, Deadeye , just a general comment.

Becoming enamored by a certain genus, and wanting to combine those species of that genus is normal.
I see aquarist obviously loving Parachromis, or Vieja and thinking a tank of many species combined would be great
But that is not common or the way it works well in nature (especially in new world cichlids).
When two species of a genus end up in the same small area thru some geologic event, the one that most fits into the survival of the fittest mode of the area , or can make use of that certain terrain, water type or trophic availability, usually edges the other out. (by making the other extinct, or less common, hybridizing over millennia)
So in the confines of a tank, putting two or more of a genus together is usually a recipe for conflict,
And when combining large species like Parachromis or Vieja (larger Andinoacara), just having enough space alone is bad enough, not considering all the other factors.
For me the only cichlid communities that have worked long term, are in large tanks, where species with differences, like trophic preferences put them less at odds. These communities combine species that look quite different from one another.
In fact communities of cichlids with non-cichlids often work best, like a current tank of Andinoacara with similar size Roeboides Tetras



For me, only cichlids with diverse needs seem to work copasetically long term, like a tank I kept many years of Paratilapia and Paretroplus from Madagascar.

Or a tank of southern S Americans, like Uruguayan pikes, Gymnogeophagus and Australoheros



Note how different all appear from each other, indicating a lack of natural competitiveness, feeding styles etc etc
But even then, it only worked in my large enough enclosures.

 

[Deadeye]

Thank you for the tips everyone! I certainly don’t want to create problems by keeping them together.
Looks like a lot of 125s in the future ?