Interesting read....thoughts?

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lamar

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HAVE A READ: This may help people why its never a good idea to mix cichlids from different continents.

I'm going to take this opportunity to explain in general what is meant by "Mixed Tank", in a thorough but by all means not exhaustive list. The main reason not to have mixed tanks is not because we're 'Fish Snobs' but for the good of our cichlids. Properly kept Cichlids will thank you by radiating Colour, Health and Vitality.

The reasons mixing fish is not the best idea, is for several reasons;

Firstly dietary requirements. Some fish are herbivore (vegetarian and too much protein is bad for them and can cause problems such as bloat), some are Carnivore (meat eaters that need high protein) and some are omnivore (eat both meat/higher protein diet but also algae and other plant matter).

Secondly aggression. Some species are more aggressive than others. For example, Mbuna are generally more aggressive than Haps and Peacocks, fish such as butti are more aggressive still. It makes little sense to put aggressive and assertive fish with fish that are more placid and easily bullied.

Thirdly required water conditions. An example of this is New World Cichlids as a whole require lower Ph, softer water. This is because their native waters are that way, so their entire make up is geared towards those conditions. African Rift Lake Cichlids require higher Ph, harder water again due to their natural habitat. It stands to reason that replicating those conditions will be best for those fish. All too often I have seen and heard people argue that the fish are tank bred and have never seen their natural habitat or begin it those water conditions. This argument is invalid because regardless of whether they are tank bred or not their bodies are still geared up for their native waters. They are just too some degree acclimatised. They will still be better off in the water their bodies have evolved to require.

Fourthly Language. Yes ok so fish cannot talk in the conventional sense of the word but they do have body language and not all fish speak the same language. A good example of this is a comparison between Oscars and African Rift Lake Cichlids. When two Oscars fight the losing fish submits by turning in its side. The winning fish sees this body language to mean the other fish acknowledges that they lost and the fight ends there. Now if an Oscar were to get in a fight with say a venustus from Lake Malawi, the Oscar (unless much smaller) is likely to win that fight. The venustus submits but he doesn't speak the same language as the Oscar because they're from different regions. So he submits the way that Rift Lake Cichlids submit.... he runs away. The Oscar (who doesn't speak Rift Lake language) dues to see this as submitting because to him, the only way to submit is to die, or turn on their side. So he gives chase and continues to attack the Venustus who then dies as he cannot submit. If by some miracle the Venustus wins. The opposite happens. The Oscar tries to submit by turning on his side. This means nothing to the Venustus who then just kills the Oscar.

Fifth, predatory tendencies and size difference. This one should be self explanatory. Don't keep a lion with lambs. A prime example of this is people keeping predatory Haps with Mbuna. A large number of Haps (common ones being Venustus, Livingstonii, and Fryeri to name but a few) are predators. In the lake and according to their instincts Mbuna are their main food source. I mentioned earlier that Mbuna are more aggressive than Haps and Peacocks and that's true until the haps easily outgrow the mbuna and then they start eating them. I full grown predatory hap such as a Fusco or an Eyebiter can easily eat a full grown Mbuna such as a Demasoni or Yellow Lab, so the argument "they've been together years" is not a good one. Then there's the general rule of if a fish fits in the mouth of another fish, it's likely to eat it. This is true if the majority of fish not just cichlids.

Sixth, the needs of individual fish. Some species have more specific needs and should. So kept in single species only setups, thus. Am being for a variety of reasons. One such example is the Frontosa. It is unfortunately common to see Frontosa in mixed tanks whether it be with other Tangs with Malawi, or even with New World Cichlids! Frontosa’s are placid slow moving fish that get easily spooked and stressed by faster moving fish. Why would anyone want to stress out their fish? Some species of Frontosa get huge and once big enough will easily eat smaller fish such as Mbuna and even smaller Peacocks. Another example would be Lethrinops Sp Red Cap. These are arguably the most beautiful of all Cichlids but are easily bullied and stressed by other fish. They will only achieve their full potential if kept only with their own species. Some New World Cichlids are so aggressive they should be kept as just the one fish on their own.

Lastly I want to touch upon non-Cichlid tank mates. By this I refer to the likes of bottom feeders and 'Dither Fish'. It is common to see Plecos, Clown loaches and even Yoyo Loaches kept with African Rift Lake Cichlids. These fish require soft, low Ph water and are suited to New World Cichlids (American) they will be suffering in the high Ph, hard water that Rift Lake Cichlids need. They will have shortened lifespans as a result, this is a tried and tested, well established fact.

I implore anybody reading this to research your fish before buying it and introducing it to an unsuitable environment. We all love our fish and that's why we're here, so let's give them the best life we can.

I do not own the copyright to the above, I copied and pasted a post put up by Brandon Austin but it puts the reasoning in layman terms where mixing fish from different continents is never a good thing to do.

I have been informed that Paul Butler wrote the above text.
 

SnakeIce

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Interesting, I've also read that the direction that coloration goes between central/south American cichlids and Africans also go in opposite directions for social agression. The New world Cichlid turns dark with bars when it is stressed or showing submission to another fish, but the Rift lake Cichlids go pale for the same submission. So when a New world Cichlids signals I give in by their bars and darkening up that is seen as escalating the conflict by the rift lake Cichlid, because to them getting dark and showing strong bars is an aggressive signal.
 
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lamar

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I'm just getting back into the hobby after taking a break when I relocated the second tank I setup is a mixed tank that I intend to seperate. For the most part they get along very harmoniously except two South Americans of the same species (jeweled cichlids) tend to be more territorial and violent than the rest. I think they were so young and small when I set that tank up that they dont know any better than to get along as well as they do. I'll likely seperate them as soon as Im able to get the new home capable of taking 2 more tanks.
 

tanker

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Very interesting read. Thank you for sharing this with us. :)
 

Rbishop

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Great post!
 
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