Mixing Malawis with jack Dempsey
- Thread starter Bigboris
- Start date
It's possible but not recommended. Honestly, both are tough fish that will do fine in our local tap water (both like hard, alkaline water) and both will eat cichlid flakes and pellets.
The fish have different personalities and over time, though, neither will thrive.
Depending on the Malawi cichlid, the JD could also get picked apart...or vice versa.
Matt
The fish have different personalities and over time, though, neither will thrive.
Depending on the Malawi cichlid, the JD could also get picked apart...or vice versa.
Matt
I personally had success with it, my JD would just hang out at the bottom of the tank. If any mbuna or peacocks came into her turf she would punk them away and that was that. She was queen of the tank except for a bumblebee/yellow lab hybrid that was angry at the world. All that being said I really don't like the look of mixed cichlid tanks but that's just me.
Thanks for your reply Matt, I've got a 240 litre tank with 10 malawis and was thinking to have something different to go in with them and really like the jack Dempsey, I guess it might have to remain a full Malawi tank
Every fish is different as you've learned, like people they all have varying personalities. My JD was one mean bee eye tee see atch but she was also only about 3 inches at the time and all the mbuna and peacocks were about the same size. So take that for what it's worth, ultimately it's a crap shoot. As long as you have a contingency plan I say why not try it.
I have used mbuna and larger Haplochromines as dither fish for skittish new world cichlids, and it worked rather nicely. They are fast, tough, and when housed with new worlds spent time mid water.
Although I found rift lake peacocks a bit too timid, and the blue of the males sometimes elicited territorial aggression from new world males that also sported blue colors (such as JDs). If the rift lake species were blue, housing them with none blue such as bocourti, worked better for aggression control. I must admit though, 260 liters ( 68 gals) is in my opinion, a bit tiny for most Central American cichlids.
Although I found rift lake peacocks a bit too timid, and the blue of the males sometimes elicited territorial aggression from new world males that also sported blue colors (such as JDs). If the rift lake species were blue, housing them with none blue such as bocourti, worked better for aggression control. I must admit though, 260 liters ( 68 gals) is in my opinion, a bit tiny for most Central American cichlids.
I ended up getting a jack Dempsey and a few cons to go in with my Africans, there was a little fight between the tank boss which is a yellow mbuna (not sure on exact species) and the JD and after a about a minute the mbuna retreated and he was super aggressive to everything before, since that every has been fine up to nowI have used mbuna and larger Haplochromines as dither fish for skittish new world cichlids, and it worked rather nicely. They are fast, tough, and when housed with new worlds spent time mid water.
Although I found rift lake peacocks a bit too timid, and the blue of the males sometimes elicited territorial aggression from new world males that also sported blue colors (such as JDs). If the rift lake species were blue, housing them with none blue such as bocourti, worked better for aggression control. I must admit though, 260 liters ( 68 gals) is in my opinion, a bit tiny for most Central American cichlids.
