Malawi chichlids to go with senegal birchir

[herperjosh]

So i was going to get a senegal birchir for my new tank but then my wodk offerd to give me a few malawi chichlids free so i was wondering are the fish compatibale with the birchir?

[malevolentsparkle]

i'm no expert of either but I would say no. I suspect they need totally different water chemistry and would eat each other.

[smidey]

i doubt they would be a good combo, what parameters does the birchir require?

[herperjosh]

The senegal birchir needs Around a 7 ph same with malawi chichlids both the birchr And chichlids are from africa.

[smidey]

not the same region.

what do they eat? how do they behave?

[snookie]

some say that the Ornate Bichir can be found in Lake Malawi

[herperjosh]

The birchir is carnivourus and is fine with fish that cant fit in its mouth. Yeah i hear ssome birchirs are in lake malwai i have seen peoe on you tube keeping birchirs with malawi chichlids i will give a go at keeping them together iy wont hurt to try heck i have a convict in a comunity tank with no troubles

[snookie]

is this for your 58 litre ?

[herperjosh]

is this for your 58 litre ?

Nooooooo way this is a 200 litre

[ryanjury]

Would have to be some smaller africans in a tank that small.. I have no experience with Birchers but don't they eat anything smaller than them?

[herperjosh]

Would have to be some smaller africans in a tank that small.. I have no experience with Birchers but don't they eat anything smaller than them?

Yeah i think one of the chichlids is a red empress and a birchir wo t eat anything bigger than its mouth

[Mel]

the main problem i see here is the sen eats meaty foods and malawis are vegie eaters you'll run the risk of the cichlids getting bloat

[Fruju]

I have seen both types of fish in the same tank, but other varieties are more suited, make sure ph isnt too high.

[smidey]

the main problem i see here is the sen eats meaty foods and malawis are vegie eaters you'll run the risk of the cichlids getting bloat

some malawis are omnivorous like red zebras, e yellows & greshakei. it won't be hard to get a group of them plus add carnivores like fryeri, giraffes or peacocks if you want to feed a meaty diet. just check their profiles on the cichlid forum for any others you m ay want to add. feed a variety to keep them healthy as a meat only diet may make them bloat. Ultimately it will be the size of the tank that dictates the fish kept in it i think.

http://cichlid-forum.com/profiles/index.php

[herperjosh]

I will ve hand feeding the birchir like i do my axolotls.

Thanks for the info!

[herperjosh]

I have identified some of the fish:

1x electric yellow

1x red empress i think its around 8 cm still got young/female colours

There are some others abd a decent size one that is blue with black stripes and has 3 yellow egg lime thing on bottom fi. Near tale and some small bluey puple ones.

I checked and most are omnivours.

[smidey]

the empress is a herbivore & from your description is a female, they generally colour up around 5cm. In saying that, all africans will eat what is available in the tank. whether it is good for them in the long run is another story that often only time will tell.

[herperjosh]

the empress is a herbivore & from your description is a female, they generally colour up around 5cm. In saying that, all africans will eat what is available in the tank. whether it is good for them in the long run is another story that often only time will tell.

Cool i will hand feed the birchir all the chichlids are eating flakes at my work we tried to give them special tetra colour chichlid sticks but the wouldnt eat thrm they would only eat flakes

[smidey]

jbl novorift or NLS cichlid formula are the best foods to feed IMO, the flake foods available aren't tailored for africans as far as i am aware unless it's the jbl novomalawi.

[snookie]

so the reason for this thread was ????

[spoon]

i say go for it i had no problems just make sure the birchir gets enough food

[snookie]

looks like mind was made up before thread any way :dunno:

[Fruju]

I wouldnt bank on hand feeding a bichir. They can be reclusive.

[herperjosh]

I wl go for it ! Thanks for all of your help guys ! Will post a pic of all the fish when i get them. And say if they do well together or not.

[spoon]

I wouldnt bank on hand feeding a bichir. They can be reclusive.

i couldnt hand feed mine either i tried but it he wouldnt go near my hand i used sinking pellets or floating pellets that he gorged himself on i found i had to feed the cichlids flake first for the birchir to have a chance of getting food though