I agree that festae are not the aggressive demons that many people suggest, if housed in the proper amount of space.
I have kept them in successful community settings, as long as all fish grow up together, and fit into the same water parameters, such as chemistry and temp.
Mesoheros and Andinoacara would actually be found together in the same waters in nature, so could be a good mix, both being from the same tropical rivers west of the Andes in S America.
I find keeping geographically correct species together can be important in many ways
But adding a subtropical species like Herichthys (carpintus or cyanoguttatus) from 3,000 or more miles north, may not be quite as fitting.
And I find Rocio (JDs) often suffer in the presence of other more assertive cichlids, even in nature.
If JDs are the dominent cichlid, they do well, but if in a more varied cichlid populations, they often lose out to more aggressive species.
I have kept them in successful community settings, as long as all fish grow up together, and fit into the same water parameters, such as chemistry and temp.
Mesoheros and Andinoacara would actually be found together in the same waters in nature, so could be a good mix, both being from the same tropical rivers west of the Andes in S America.
I find keeping geographically correct species together can be important in many ways
But adding a subtropical species like Herichthys (carpintus or cyanoguttatus) from 3,000 or more miles north, may not be quite as fitting.
And I find Rocio (JDs) often suffer in the presence of other more assertive cichlids, even in nature.
If JDs are the dominent cichlid, they do well, but if in a more varied cichlid populations, they often lose out to more aggressive species.
