what can coexist

[DarrylR]

Main question is what can coexist with:

African Cichilds-

South American Cichilds-

Oscars-

Jack Dempseys-

Red Devils-

I also heard that South American and African cannot mix or that is a guarantee going to be a fish battle royal in the aqurium, is that true?

 

[Ruben Tolon]

What tank size?
Which species of South Americans and Africans are you considering?

 

[wataugachicken]

Main question is what can coexist with:

African Cichilds-other african cichlids, chinese algae eaters, syno catfish

South American Cichilds-there is a huge variety of them. dwarf species like rams, keyholes, apistos can work in community tanks. larger ones like firemouths, parrots, or severums usually are peaceful enough for a community tank of larger fish. large ones like oscars, jaguars, doviis, etc. or mean ones like convicts need to have tankmates chosen very carefully

Oscars- some of them will allow tankmates, and some will not. other oscars, severums, giant danios, mid-size plecos, large barbs, a single convict, maybe silver dollars. you need a big tank for one oscar, 75gallons at the minimum

Jack Dempseys- not sure, some can work in a larger semi-aggressive community, some will be fighters. electric blue jacks stay smaller and tend to be more peaceful

Red Devils- tend to be vicious. i would be very careful adding anything other than a pleco if you lke them and some larger dithers like giant danios

I also heard that South American and African cannot mix or that is a guarantee going to be a fish battle royal in the aqurium, is that true?
in a large enough tank people have done it, but african and american cichlids are different in many ways. africans like harder water, south americans prefer it soft. africans are herbivores, americans are carnivores. overstocking africans will reduce aggression, overstocking americans will get you a death tank.

my thoughts

 

[DarrylR]

Main question is what can coexist with:

African Cichilds-

South American Cichilds-

Oscars-

Jack Dempseys-

Red Devils-

I also heard that South American and African cannot mix or that is a guarantee going to be a fish battle royal in the aquarium, is that true?

I myself are never getting these fish, I work at Petsmart and need to know the knowledge to not let customers be outraged. I have some pet care experience, but vague on this topic.

my thoughts

That was alot of information and is very helpful. My bad though, I was to vague and went overall, I will be sure to make a list of the cichilds we have in store that can go together.

 

[Sym]

Main question is what can coexist with:

African Cichilds-

South American Cichilds-

Oscars-

Jack Dempseys-

Red Devils-

I also heard that South American and African cannot mix or that is a guarantee going to be a fish battle royal in the aqurium, is that true?

Purists will tell you CA and africans dont work but Ive had a mixed tank with africans and CA/SA cichlids for years. Other fish that you can have with these types of cichlids are as follows:

Leperinus
Red Tail Shark
Black shark (requires at least a 125g tank)

This is what I have in my tank:

American cichlids
1 Red Devil
1 Jack Dempsey
1 Green Terror
1 Green Severum

African cichlids:
Yellow Lab
Red Zebra
Albino Red Zebra
Jewel
Cobalt Blue

Other:
Leperinus
Black Shark
Red Tail Black Shark
CAE

My Devil and Black Shark are definantly the kings of the community

 

[Ruben Tolon]

I have a Paratilapia (being from Madagascar) together with both CA and SA cichlids, but a petstore like Petsmart shouldn't be recommending mixing Neotropicals with Rift Lake Africans (specifically mbuna). Other Africans like kribs, buffaloheads, jewels, etc. could go with Neotropical cichlids, depending which species obviously, but in general their water parameters are much more compatible.

 

[x0x0x0]

Working as an employee of petsmart, i think i'd stray away from recommending mixing south americans with africans. Just because there's too many combinations that could or could not work, plus disregarding the fact that either have specific water conditions that need to be met. (hard versus soft, pH differences, etc)


To be on the safe side i'd stick to one or the other. I mean a lot of people go to petsmart and know nothing about fish. I went to Petsmart and once a family bought 16 fishes well the employee already bagged all of them. Another employee came by and asked the customer what size tank, etc the specs basically about the tank they were keeping them in. It turned out that the customer hadn't cycled anything and that with the combo of fish that they got would probably be likely that they would all be dead by the next day. So moral is the employee had to return all the fishes back into the tanks.


anyhow back to the topic.... i know that it's possible to mix central americans with african RIVERINE cichlids like Kribensis and Jewels (if you have a big enough tank) with convicts.. because i keep my convicts with kribs. (thus the screen name)
Sometimes you can mix Malawi and Tanganyika cichlids, but i'd be careful.
I would recommend a beginner customer not to purchase M. Auratus (the gold african cichlids with black lateral bands) due to their aggressiveness. If they do end up getting those, advise them to keep only aggressive african cichlids with them.
With the types of african cichlids that i've seen at petsmart, i'd advise the customer at least 30 gallon long tanks. Tank-wise it's better to have a long tank than a high tank and provide lots of rocks, lace rock, lava rock, river stones.. those are all good...
Also remember that each fish does have its own personality and sometimes you'll either end up with a peaceful "aggressive" fish or an aggressive "peaceful" cichlids.

 

[BV77]

m. auratus are mean suckers. I've had a 3" female auratus kill a 4 - 5" female d. compressiceps ! IMO....auratus should be in species only tanks.