pufferfishnz Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 i am looking to getting some more fish.....i would like to get into cichlids and i was just wondering if i could have my pleco in with them? i am quite attached to him and wonder if they would be ok together? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 What sort of cichlids? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 yes should be fine even with africans are looking at african cichlids? or south american ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pufferfishnz Posted February 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 not really sure yet. any particular one that would be better? i have always wanted them, they look amazing. i quite like the look of the electric yellow ones. i am just starting my research now, i am aware that there is different types... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pufferfishnz Posted February 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 so there is: Lake Malawi Mbuna Cichlids Lake Malawi Peacock Cichlids Lake Tanganyika Cichlids Lake Victoria Cichlids plus a few others....can i mix between types? or is this a huge no-no??? also what size tank am i needing to look at getting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 well you can mix them but you need to be careful of three things 1 size its no good putting something that grows a foot long with something tiny 2 aggression some species are very aggressive and thought needs to be taken as to what other species will handle the aggression or there are some methods of trying to reduce aggression like having more females of a certain fish to spread the aggression around or overstocking so that the fish dont have a chance to find a terretory to defend (common source of aggression) 3 cross breeding and hybridisation are a common occurance in mixed tanks , if you plan to breed cichlids certain species should not be mixed together so cross breeding is reduced note there is always the exception to these rules as for mixing the 3 lakes up most of the fish you get here are from malawi 'mbuna' means rock dwelling so they like lil caves etc compared to peacocks and a few other species that prefer more open water . there are few lake victoria fish availible brown haps would be the one you are most likely to come across . the 1,2,3 above considered they would be fine with malawi fish there are a few tanginika fish availible but i dont really know much about them im sure most of the more common ones would go alright with malawis too one option is to have a male only cichlid tank . in a lot of species its only the male that gets really colourful in this way you can mix a whole heap of species together without hybrids arising and have the next most colourful tank you can have without getting into marine as for tank size that would depend on what you want to get the bigger the tank the more options you have i reckon a 4 foot tank would be a good choice you could probably get away with a 3 foot but you would have a lot less choice when it came to stocking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pufferfishnz Posted February 11, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 Oh spoon sounds like you know alot about cichlids... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 im a novice compared to others on here if you decide to go with africans you will get addicted too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos & Siran Posted February 11, 2010 Report Share Posted February 11, 2010 Smidey's also a good man to talk to about Africans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David R Posted February 12, 2010 Report Share Posted February 12, 2010 so there is: Lake Malawi Mbuna Cichlids Lake Malawi Peacock Cichlids Lake Tanganyika Cichlids Lake Victoria Cichlids plus a few others.. A few others, like South American, Central America, Asian, Madagascan, and the hundreds of species from Africa that don't come from rift lakes that are so conveniently overlooked by the vast majority of people who for some silly reason refer to rift lake cichlids as "Africans"... I also read somewhere recently that "suckermouth catfish" now account for 3% of total vertebrate species on Earth! Given that most of them could be referred to as "pleco" your question of "can I keep cichlids with my pleco" is so impossibly vague that you may as well have asked "can I keep fish with my fish?". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted February 12, 2010 Report Share Posted February 12, 2010 not really sure yet. any particular one that would be better? i have always wanted them, they look amazing. i quite like the look of the electric yellow ones. i am just starting my research now, i am aware that there is different types... Don't bother with africans, the only cichlids worth getting are South American. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navarre Posted February 12, 2010 Report Share Posted February 12, 2010 if you keep blasfeming Ira i will tell on you Pufferfishnz there are many many types of Cichlids and some fish that are but should not be and visa versa. some from 2cm peacefully little blighters right thru to huge ( as in feed a family of four for weeks) nasty beggers and back down to 2cm swimming stomachs so research research and then ask some more there are no hard and fast rules and different strokes for different folks..I mean just look at Ira So take your time..no such thing as silly questions just silly answers...tho I am starting to doubt that today...lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted February 12, 2010 Report Share Posted February 12, 2010 if you keep blasfeming Ira i will tell on you Accusations lose their effect when you spell them wrong. Therefore I am forced to take your post as agreement with me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted February 12, 2010 Report Share Posted February 12, 2010 Ira, you're a classic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livingart Posted February 12, 2010 Report Share Posted February 12, 2010 Ira, you're a classic. Ira is an old car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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