Lake Malawi cichlids and non-cichlids
- Thread starter Rafini
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I kept them with placidochromis. a few deep water haps and 12 Milomo's
Really laid back tank
For me, it Is a purist thing. I've thought about adding loaches to my tank (it is a peacock and hap tank) because I think my girls would like them. But... it's like putting spoons in the fork drawer. Or making a PowerPoint where the edges don't line up straight and the pictures aren't centered. It just grinds on my latent OCD.
I've also thought about adding some sardine cichlids from lake tanganyika. I think my OCD would be alright with that, but not a Front for some reason.
A small school of synadontis cats would fit - and be interesting - but still doesn't feel quite right.
Ah well, the tank is mostly full already anyway
I've also thought about adding some sardine cichlids from lake tanganyika. I think my OCD would be alright with that, but not a Front for some reason.
A small school of synadontis cats would fit - and be interesting - but still doesn't feel quite right.
Ah well, the tank is mostly full already anyway
I like sticking to biotopes, but usually I say I want something and that goes off the rails. I feel like mbunas need some sort of scavenger for the tank to look right, and since they’d kill anything from their own lake (or they’re just too hard to find), you have to experiment.
I’m not a purist and always keep mixed cichlid from different lakes and continents as long as their water requrements are similar; for instance, I won’t mix blackwater species with alkaline water fish, but I have no problem keeping rift lake cichlid with CA and some SA that came from alkaline water. I don’t do biotope scape either, but rockscape to provide caves and recently plant scape that bring together plants from different continents. I used to avoid non cichlid in the belief that they will be bullied or become cichlid food. I was wrong when I introduced large tetra, barbs and livebearers to my planted scapes and surprised they get along well. What works for me is that I don’t keep super aggressive cichlid such as Mbuna or red terror, and discovered that even predatory cichlids such as Frontosa have lost their predatory instinct being fed their whole life with pellet food.
What a beautiful set up!
I feel that both sides of the argument are valid, There is nothing wrong with keeping biotope specific or geographically accurate species. In fact it can make for a beautiful display piece, and for some people that is what this hobby is about, recreating nature. an Aquarium with exhibits within their very home.
Whereas for others its using the bounty of available species that we are fortunate to have today.
I feel that Madagascar rainbows (Bedotia Geayi) and Celebes rainbows are very close in appearance to cyprichromis. The fact that they are Silversides and not even really rainbowfish (albeit somewhat closely related) helps this fact.
Despite coming from alkaline hillstreams or acidic tropical backwaters of southeast Asia, most Botiid loaches seem perfectly at home with African cichlids.
Their ocular spines make sure nobody gets to close to them, and their aggressive feeding tendencies help keep them thriving.
I kept red tail Botia with Mbuna years ago and I found them to be more interesting to watch than the Mbuna.
Lets examine Marine aquaria briefly, It is incredibly rare to see people keeping biotope specific regional species in lets say a reef tank.
Now don't get me wrong, I know that many of these set ups do exist and there are many dedicated hardcore aquarists in the marine hobby that do like to keep this type of setup.
However the majority of marine aquaria that you will encounter will be species that coexist peacefully that provide color and activity in the right levels of the tank. I feel that of all the niches in fishkeeping the African cichlid community is more inclined to biotope accurate set up and so called 'Purism'
The NA cichlid guys will never scold you for keeping a cichlid from Columbia with a cichlid from Mexico, in general this tends to be more like marine set ups and it is more about the species temperament and water conditions.
To each his own I guess, I'm curious to see what people have made work
I would hesitate to keep a Colombian species with a Mexican cichlid, not just because I'm a purist, but because they might require very different water and temperature conditions.
Most of the cichlids from Colombia come from lowland tropical regions, where as cichlids from Mexico such as Herichthys, come from sub-tropical areas and do best with seasonal changes. Many Herichthys experience season winter cool downs into the mid 60sF, whereas a cichlid from Colombia, Panama or Costa Rica would not.
Colombian cichlids, that experience water east of the Andes and Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta are from water parameters that are quite different from those on the western side, so keeping the one that comes from water that matches your tap, but not the other might be advisable.
Geographic purism is not simply an abstract concept of preference, but has practical applications.
Most of the cichlids from Colombia come from lowland tropical regions, where as cichlids from Mexico such as Herichthys, come from sub-tropical areas and do best with seasonal changes. Many Herichthys experience season winter cool downs into the mid 60sF, whereas a cichlid from Colombia, Panama or Costa Rica would not.
Colombian cichlids, that experience water east of the Andes and Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta are from water parameters that are quite different from those on the western side, so keeping the one that comes from water that matches your tap, but not the other might be advisable.
Geographic purism is not simply an abstract concept of preference, but has practical applications.
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I had small synodontis with mbunas for years with great succes.
