? about combining tanginikan with malawai

Hans

Hans

I will eat your fish.
Oct 24, 2003
813
0
0
115
Gieboldehausen, DE
www.brianhanley.com
i hear one reason you shoudl not, it because they take differnt water characteristics... like what??? arent theyboth hard water high ph? what else is there? thanks!

basically, we tell everyone at our store not to combine them, when they ask why, i usualy just say the malawis are more agressive, but why else cant you? thanks!
 
Well technically you can. I think lots of people keep frontosas with malawis. Tangynika has a higher ph generally, up to 9, and malawi has a little bit lower ph but still fairly high, up to 8.4 i think.

The chemistries are obviously going to be slightly different, but similar when compared to other areas of the world.

Its not the 'can you' but 'should you'. Many people don't prefer to mix the lakes together.

Some malawis might be more aggressive, but there are also aggressive tangs. It's all in the fish when it comes to compatibility.
 
I have only kept 3 tanganyikan species and one malawi (Auratus and that was short-lived) and the tangs do not seem to be aggressive enough to stand up to adult malawi's. They can hold their own against young malawis that are similiar size to them, but a lot of tangs stay smaller. I keep 3 guppies with my tangs with little problems, I don't think I could with malawis.

In short, many people have combined them, but I think care has to be taken into which species you can combine. For example, A. calvus probably wouldn't be a very good choice to keep with..say.. a mbuna(sorry I know very little about malawis), IME, because they are very peaceful and often try to break up fights in my tank. Frontosa's can be kept with most malawis because most of them get 12'' or more, so their size makes it easier. If you want to mix the two lakes, I would try to find the most peaceful malawi you can.

Anyway, if my post even makes sense :) , HTH
 
isn't diet also an issue? Malawis(mbuna especially) need some veggie matter in their diets. Aren't most tangs more carnivorous?

And temperament will be an issue. Mbuna are pretty hyper and aggresive fish, sort of like bullies of the tank at times.

SO if mixing the lakes be very careful which fish you shoose and make sure everything is compatible before trying it. But really i think it is better to stick with jsut one lake per tank.

At www.cichlid-forum.com messageboard you can talk to some people that have mixed both lakes. SOme with success and some that didn't work out.
 
isn't diet also an issue? Malawis(mbuna especially) need some veggie matter in their diets. Aren't most tangs more carnivorous?
Click to expand...

Good point, valerie!
Most tangs are carnivores, I don't know about the malawi.
 
Normally it's not a good idea, but I don't see why it shouldn't work as long as you stick to basic rules and think before you mix. I've kept Tropheus with mbuna, and behaviourally and diet wise they're very similar so I never had problems. I can't imagine keeping them with peacocks though. I don't really think Fronts and mbuna mix that well because of the differing diets, behavious
 
what about a calvus, compressocepts, ruby red peacock male, and a vestuvus or whatever its called, green blue and yellow wiht camoflague
 
Cavluses and Compricisseps are species that I wouldn't mix with malawi's simply because the are very peaceful towards other cichlid species. I have yet to see my calvus attack much of anything. The Altolamprologus genus is also comprised of carnivorous fishes, I don't know how that would mix with

Hans,
have you though about doing a tank with a single calvus and 3 Neolamprologus leleupi? Or maybe 3 Julidochromis ornatus?

In a 30g you're really limited; I wouldn't try mixing the lakes in anything less than a 55g or 40g breeder.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom