Mixing Tang and Malawi

[baileya74]

I wanted to know if I can add 2 Brichardi's to my African tank. The tank currently has
2 Clown Loaches
2 kenyi
2 Solocofi
5 Yellow labs
Of course i would return the 2 Kenyi or Solocofi.

Any comments?????

 

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

Its generally not reccomended to mix lakes... lake tangynika has a higher ph of up to 9.0
Brichardis can be nasty little buggers i think.... and might pick on the yellow labs?
I'm not really sure having not kept them myself, but i dont know of many (if any) people who have kept them sucsessfully with malawis... Especially in a smaller tank.

hth
-Diana

 

[N8DOGG]

As Far as I know its best to keep the lakes apart. How large is the tank? 46 I guess I can't read. How about adding some more labs?
:OT: How is the queen city doing?

 

[scholar]

Well, adding the Brichardi's is the matter of the water hardness. If your water is hard enough for them, then it is OK. IF they turned up to be male and females. then you will have brooding problems as they will corner half of the tank for their young.

The Kenyi's would need to go back regardless of adding the Brichardi's or not. 47G is absolute minimum for small malawi's which you do have. IF you could go with Saulosi's that's best. Since they are of the small size and males are blue and black and females tangerine. They are perfect for yellow and socolofi's.

That's what I have in a 135G, a colony of each, yellows, saulosi's and socolofi's including albinos.

 

[Philbe]

I have one in my 90 mixed malawi tank and it's doing fine. Other than being a litte possesive of it cave it doesn't chase or play with the rest. Upon reflection I should not have picked it (he is fully grown) mostly because his looks do not fit the rest of the tank. Being very streemlineed and with the lyretail he looks out of place along the peacocks and mbuna.

 

[JSchmidt]

Don't know about the brichardi, but the kennyis and yellow labs, esp. in such a small tank, are a big potential problem. If either kennyi is a male (or worse, if both are) they will hound and eventually kill the yellow labs, who look too much like an adult male kennyi for their own good.

HTH,
Jim

 

[riftlake_kid77]

the lakes can be mixed best to by making water to the Tangs needs ime. Brichardi though doesnt make a good candidate at all for a multi-lake rift tank. they are very nasty fish. even pretty any mbuna will be put in check by a lone brichardi (ime brichardi has bullied Melanochromis Auratus). but two brichardi........... especially if they pair... BIG TROUBLE!!! Brichardi get extremely aggressive when spawning and can easily claim a whole 2 to 3 feet of a 4 ft. of a tank as their own. they guard their territory much feircer and relentless compared to mbuna. the mbuna will easily forfit the space to the brichardi and most likely get picked off. people even have troulbe with breeding/brooding brichardi in large tang only tanks.
a good tang species to go with mbuna are the larger julidochromis species (Marlieri and Regani) although having a mbuna as mean as Lombardoi i would not suggest them. julies mix best with more peaceful mbuna ime like rusties, labs, acei etc.
also how big is your tank?

 

[PumaWard]

Malawi's and Tangs require, generally, different diets. Malawis need plant material, tangs are carnivores. I personally wouldn't mix the two lakes; not saying it can't be done, but you need to put a lot more effort into it to make sure both groups needs are met with out putting the other groups needs at risk.

 

[riftlake_kid77]

Malawi's and Tangs require, generally, different diets. Malawis need plant material, tangs are carnivores. I personally wouldn't mix the two lakes; not saying it can't be done, but you need to put a lot more effort into it to make sure both groups needs are met with out putting the other groups needs at risk.

in both lakes cichlids fill a great percentage of the ecological niches. so u have a vast difference of dietary habits with the cichlids within each respected lake.
most Haplochromines (a malawian fish) r carnivrous. and u have your algae grazing tangs just like the mbuna of lake malawi, Tropheus, Petrochromis, Eretmodus, Spathodus ect.
Julies can handle a high degree of mainly veggies they can be kept in Tropheus tanks so they can also be kept with the right mbuna species.
certain Haps can be mixed with Altolamprologus, Frontosa and other tangs as well. imo ad ime its just best to stay away from mixing the neolamprologus species with malawi's generally.