The Chase...

[NeBuEr]

I got these fish in my tank and I would like pls to know whether they are liable to have any disputes between them

2 Auratus
2 electric yellow labs
1 livingstonii
1 malawi blue dolphin
1 dalmatian molly
2 red-finned cigar sharks
1 colombian shark
1 pl*co

I noticed the auratus chased the blue dolhpin and the yellow labs like mad when i introduced them today... will they eventually settle or will they still have any territorial problems?

 

[ryan]

Tank size will make all the difference when it comes to aggression. What i can say without knowing anything about your tank is that mixing african cichlids and non rift lake fish rarely works out well. Besides totally different needs in water perameters, most fish cannot handle the nippy, aggressive behaviour of african cichlids.

Assuming you have a sufficently large tank I would loose the molly, sharks, and even the pleco. Then (once again assuming you have a large enough tank) I would restock with some smaller, less aggressive africans and once or two syno. cats.

ryan

 

[NeBuEr]

My tank is 55 gallons (230 litres). Strangely enough the sharks seem to be quite at peace with the auratus...! But shudnt cichlids do well with other fish who share the same temperament?

 

[RHJ]

I have to agree with ryan. I also strongly suggest you return the Auratus and the Livingstonii. The Auratus is perhaps the most aggressive of all the Mbuna. They are already showing this to you, wait until they mature...The Livingstonii is also aggressive and gets to be about 10". You need a very large tank to keep these fish.

 

[ryan]

I had a 4 inch kenyi kill a 7 inch oscar in less than 24 hours, and in my opinion a group of aggresive africans could take down a piranna without any deaths. New world and old world just dont mix.

ryan

 

[afulltank]

I have also heard that if you want to have african cichlids, you should keep them in a tank all by themselves. Because of their aggressiveness.