Has anyone had success with mixing Central/South American and African cichlids? I know many are purist and only have fish from the same regions and some same exact lakes...BUT if water parameters are ok and feeding is fine has anyone done this successfully?
Mixing cichlids!?!?
- Thread starter Cichlidnoob
- Start date
Sure, tons of people have. Many african cichlids and central American cichlids thrive in the same harder, high pH water in the wild. The differences are mainly in behaviors and aggression level. Also the diets of these fish tend to differ, many larger cichlids are piscivorous or eat lots of insects and small crustaceans, while mbuna for example mainly eat vegetation with their scraping teeth. If you were to find species from CA which had similar diet requirements to the Africans, and they both thrived in similar water, in an appropriately sized tank, you may have no problems.
Personally, would just keep calvus with other tanganyikans and thoricthys with a same-species group. But, I might be one of the purists you mentioned in your first post. The diet of calvus is small fish, eggs, that sort of thing. Thoricthys are earth-eaters similar to geophagus, who sift through the sand at the bottom for food, they are mostly carnivores as well. They both do well in hard water with high pH. And neither are overly violent in my experience. best bet to attempt the mix, would be in a large enough tank to keep a group of the thoricthys, and at least a pair of the calvus, in hopes that the two would ignore each other, imo.
Thanks for the info/replies. I will take all that into consideration. As of now I have a group of aureum and a pair of juvenile meeki. Trio of red head tapos all female.
I am one of those purists, .........but....
I have mixed continents when necessary, and agree with GS, those two species might work, they do tend inhabit different different spots in the water column.
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I have mixed continents when necessary, and agree with GS, those two species might work, they do tend inhabit different different spots in the water column.
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Aesthetics aside, there are a few boxes to check for fish that are compatible together and it's not necessarily their native region.
I'm purist leaning also, more so in some tanks than others. In other words I have display tanks where I'm more restrictive, but I've also had all purpose tanks more for convenience. And like most anyone, there was a time I put all kinds of stuff together. So I've tried a lot of combinations and seen a lot more, some of them weird ones I wouldn't do myself, but they can work.
There's a pretty good overlap between new worlds and old worlds you can keep together. There are sensitive species and species at opposite ends of pH and hardness you wouldn't do, but the range of comfortable water conditions overlap in many species. Within this group temperature is another consideration. Seldom is feeding preference the issue some make it out to be, not for majority of freshwater fish if you're primarily feeding pellet or flake in the first place. In many cases, then, it comes down to temperament and behavior compatibility. Not just aggression, but calm fish vs. busy or boisterous fish. Some slower moving species aren't especially happy with a bunch of hyper activity in their tank.
I'm purist leaning also, more so in some tanks than others. In other words I have display tanks where I'm more restrictive, but I've also had all purpose tanks more for convenience. And like most anyone, there was a time I put all kinds of stuff together. So I've tried a lot of combinations and seen a lot more, some of them weird ones I wouldn't do myself, but they can work.
There's a pretty good overlap between new worlds and old worlds you can keep together. There are sensitive species and species at opposite ends of pH and hardness you wouldn't do, but the range of comfortable water conditions overlap in many species. Within this group temperature is another consideration. Seldom is feeding preference the issue some make it out to be, not for majority of freshwater fish if you're primarily feeding pellet or flake in the first place. In many cases, then, it comes down to temperament and behavior compatibility. Not just aggression, but calm fish vs. busy or boisterous fish. Some slower moving species aren't especially happy with a bunch of hyper activity in their tank.
That paratilapia in the top pic is magnificentI am one of those purists, .........but....
I have mixed continents when necessary, and agree with GS, those two species might work, they do tend inhabit different different spots in the water column.
.
many years ago i kept a female salvini with yellow labs. The female salvini was on fire and always in full yellow breeding dress with just that many bright yellow fish around. They got along just fine in a 80 gallon tank.
I am one of those purists, .........but....
I have mixed continents when necessary, and agree with GS, those two species might work, they do tend inhabit different different spots in the water column.
.
What species is that with that amazing paratilipia?