[siddhusai]

Hi ;

I would like to know can i mix fronts about 3inches with clown loach and other malawi cichlid size around 3inches the list given below;

1.Ramrezi /2. Firemouth /3. Kribensis /4. Powder Blue Cichlid /5. Blue Cobalt Cichlid

6. Electric Yellow Labido /7. Sunshine Peacock /8. Orange Peacock /white/orange/yellow morph

As i am living in india the PH is around 7.0 to 8.2 and i dont knw about the GH/KH excuse me about that .Pls give me yr valuable suggestion how to keep all these or pls list out frm my list which are the fishes that can be kept and mixed
The tank size is around L=5feet/B=2feet/H=2feet/total water capacity is around=650litres

 

[cichlidgirl1]

Siddhartha,

Welcome. I will try to answer your questions.

First off you have two south american fish on your list (the rams and firemouth )they are peaceful new world cichlids and in general should not be kept with african cichlids because the africans in general tend to be more aggressive and the water conditions such as temp etc.. are different for them. Rams for example need super soft water that is in the mid 80's F for temperture. I had my rams at 86 degrees !!

Second you have some african peacocks and mbuna (rock dwelling) on the list. Those are best kept seperate. I have both and had to buy a new tank for the mbuna to live in . The mbuna were killing the other fish. Stay away from the melanchromis species such as auratus and johanni unless you can house them seperately or you will have dead fish. If you wanted to keep a mix ofmany different fish you can do peacocks and haps (haplochromines) they often do very well together and are very colorful. They get along good in general. Your yellow labs should also get along with them, yellow labs are the most peaceful of the mbuna along with yellow tailed acei. Most of the others are typically very aggressive compared to other cichlids and dont do well in community tanks like you are looking for.

Here is a link to the mbuna and the melanchromis species so you can research,the fish start out peaceful till they mature then they are super aggressive.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/category.php?cat=2

Finally to your frontosa question. Frontosa are best kept in a tank with only frontosa. You can sometimes get away with putting a single other peaceful fish in with them but they will not do well with a bunch of malawi. Sorry to bring bad news. Most people keep them alone for two reasons, first food, fronts eat slowly and at the bottom . Most mbuna are also herbavore and the frontosa is a piscavore (meat eater like carnivores) and second the fronts will grow trailers (fin extentions) and they are beautiful, other fish (especially peacocks and mbuna will bite them off ) They also like to chase the fronts which stresses them and then they get sick or die.

Cichlidgirl.