I have a 75 gallon tank with 2 frontosa's and 2 blood parrot cichlids. Yes, I know that I've mixed African cichlids and South American cichlids together but they get along well. I've recently noticed that the biggest Blood parrot is the king of the tank but not a really good one. I was wondering if there was a docile yet tough cichlid that would remain order in my tank.
Docile Cichlid
- Thread starter Joe Gargiola
- Start date
Tifftastic
"With your powers combined . . ."
Your best option would be to remove the aggressive parrot and his/her partner. You've essentially discovered the reason SA and African cichlids shouldn't be mixed. Additionally the frontosa will get Oscar size and the parrots roughly the size of soft balls. With size and required territory, you'll end up with constant squabbles or worse.
South American cichlids exhibit a barred appearance when under stress, which is the aggressive signal for the African Cichlids. Should the Frontosa ever get to argue for dominance the signals will get crossed up and the Frontosa will end up killing the "aggressive" looking submissive South American cichlids.
There is no way around this opposing signal problem between the two continents. The African will assert dominance at some point and the more stressed the South American cichlid gets the harder the African will fight for dominance. This only ends with death.
Again when barred appearance means dominance and barred appearance means submission get put together it means death to the submissive fish. Now unless you can guarantee the Blood Parrots will always be dominant, which is highly unlikely, they will end up dead eventually.
There is no way around this opposing signal problem between the two continents. The African will assert dominance at some point and the more stressed the South American cichlid gets the harder the African will fight for dominance. This only ends with death.
Again when barred appearance means dominance and barred appearance means submission get put together it means death to the submissive fish. Now unless you can guarantee the Blood Parrots will always be dominant, which is highly unlikely, they will end up dead eventually.
I agree, generally you don't mix species like that and IMO, if you have 2 Frontosas in a 75g, they should be the ONLY things in that tank. Frontosas are typically best kept w/ their own species. You can occasionally mix an African into a SA/CA tank like a Jewel w/ CAs or a Kribensis w/ peaceful SAs, but Rift Lake species are a horrible idea. Get another tank for the Parrots and you will be much happier as will your fish
tanker
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