Obviously there are always exceptions to all rules and there are never any absolutes. But then and again the fact that there is a rule to draw exceptions from indicates that we are talking about generalisms and over all effects. Have I seen and kept fish in circumstances that broke the rules? Of course. Few fish keepers who have had a variety of fish and been curious or experimented have not.
This does not change the fact that telling a novice fish keeper that Red Zebras are far more aggressive than Auratus is absolutely stupid and shows the fact that the folks dishing that crap out know nothing about Malawi Mbuna Cichlids.
As for Mr. Dugan's comments, anything is possible, but the fact is that since my danios swim rings around the Auratus and every other cichlid in the tank, my worry on the possibility is marginal at best. Secondly using barbs and danios as "break fish" is a technique successfully employed by European keepers for some time. A school of fast swimers racing through a very long tank tends to break the focus of fish squabbling over smaller territories within the tank. Lastly, even IF they did get munched, I am out a few dollars for the loss. Not a huge issue.
As for compatability, I have kept certain Africans in community tanks. It is well known among those in the know for example that Brichardi will readily adjust their temperment to match ANY tank. You can keep them with aggressive Africans and they will hold their own. You can also keep them with Angelfish and tetras and they will stake out a small territory and leave the rest of a community tank alone. But again this is a rule rather than an exception. If we are talking exceptions, I have kept two betta males together in a 20 gallon tank with a large community of other tropicals and several females without any major conflicts or hassles. I have kept Julies in Killifish tanks. Gouramis in with cichlids, etc. There are always exceptions. But let's not go there. Let's give good general advice where general advice is sought rather than listing off the fish that are exceptions to the norm.
Given that this is what the original poster was asking for again, the comments OTHER than Scotty's were a bunch of crap! I see that some of the folks on here post just to up their count of posts with nothing of real consequence to contribute! We should all know this!
- Erik -
