# Malawi cichilds.



## MrBishop (Dec 6, 2009)

Hi guys 

Can i mix my malawi's with any other species? if so what?

Thanks

Dan


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

hi
what were you thinking of adding ?


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## MrBishop (Dec 6, 2009)

Parrots or some discus. maybe some angles.


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

hi
oh ok.........well no would be the answer to that one then.
the mabuna would make short work of those IMO.
best to keep them species only.

anyone else like to add to this ?


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## MrBishop (Dec 6, 2009)

ok thanks, what does mbuna mean? thanks


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## MrBishop (Dec 6, 2009)

Also. can i mix them with tanganyika?


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## mollies (Mar 27, 2009)

Ok mbuna malawi's and tanganyikas are all african cichlids. I wouldnt recomend adding other kinds of fish with african cichlids. All tho i have seen it done. Now with that said. what did you have in mind on a stoking list? and how big is your tank.


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## MrBishop (Dec 6, 2009)

any types of colourfull fish. its a 65 gal


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## mollies (Mar 27, 2009)

Hey just looked at your tank under your aquariums. An read your signature. If i were you i would only add like Maybe 3 to 4 more cichlds. The ones you have now will get to 4 to 5 inchs. minus the Maingano they will get 3 to 3.5 inchs. The acei's could get 6 inchs.


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## mollies (Mar 27, 2009)

Kennyi's are pretty. Elongatus Likoma. There are all shorts of them you will have to read and research the web. We will answer any questions you have. Livefishdirect.com will give you some info on the fish there.


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

:-D


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

I agree with mollies on the size issue. But I also have a comment or two on an important aspect of your original question involving compatibility.

Fish come from different habitats, and many things make these places different. Water parameters is a significant part of this; your African rift lake cichlids are endemic to the rift lakes in Eastern Africa and are unique to that environment. The water in these lakes is very alkaline and hard, by comparison to many if not most other freshwater fish habitats. Nature has evolved these fish accordingly, and to keep them in a home aquarium in good/best health, the water should be as close as possible to what they are designed for. 

Fish such as discus and angelfish, mentioned previously in this thread, come from completely different water; it could not be further apart. These fish live in streams that are very soft (less than one degree hardness compared to around 30 dGH for the rift lakes) and acidic (pH around 5-6 compared to 8+ in Lake Tanganyika). Their biological metabolism is simply not built for this. Plus, placed in an environment of rock and white sand with no plants would stress out discus and angelfish to the point of bringing on health problems and disease.

When considering fish for an aquarium, "compatibility" has three aspects:

1. Water parameters. Temperature, pH, hardness, salinity (brackish opposed to fresh). Fish are built to live within fairly specific confines. It is true that some fish can adapt quite a bit to differing water parameters, but I am not personally convinced that long-term this does not cause problems internally and lead to increased risk of disease, shorter life, etc. There can be no question though that providing the same, or reasonably same, conditions as in nature will be positive with respect to the fish's long-term health.

2. Environmental objects. Plants, wood, rocks, strong current or no current. Fish that are programmed by nature to live among tree branches and plants will, if placed in a relatively bare aquarium, feel constantly threatened; the fish does not "know" it is safe, it only knows that it has no hiding places and its natural instinct says it is vulnerable. The continual stress will weaken its immune system and bring on any number of problems and disease, and probably premature death.

3. Behaviour. Fish that are being harassed by bullies will be under stress, and bad health follows.

A successful "community" aquarium, by which we mean one containing more than one species of fish, must have fish that are relatively the same in water parameter requirements and environment, and then have behaviours which will not cause stress to the other fish.

I hope this helps to clarify things.

Byron.


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## MrBishop (Dec 6, 2009)

thanks byron. loads of help :-D what colourful malawis would you recomend?


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## mollies (Mar 27, 2009)

(]Kennyi's are pretty. Elongatus Likoma). There are all shorts of them you will have to read and research the web. We will answer any questions you have. Livefishdirect.com will give you some info on the fish there.


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## MrBishop (Dec 6, 2009)

ive just been reading up on the *Tilapia Buttikoferi * ... it says it can grow to sizes of up to 25 cm and it is compatible with my africans cichilds. not sure i would wanna put it with mine.

looks nice tho.


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## MrBishop (Dec 6, 2009)

if i was to buy an Oscar that was a little bit smaller than my malawi would all be ok? or is that a big nono


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## mollies (Mar 27, 2009)

I wouldnt considering they are south american. And need a diffrent water type. You should Look At mbuna. which are african cichlids. I wouldnt go with any thing other then that.


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## MoneyMitch (Aug 3, 2009)

if its color your looking for look at red zebras, yellow labs acei's electric blue johannis (johanni are extremely aggressive) maybe even a red top cobalt i would start there and i have all of the fish mentioned in my 55 with no problems just stock the acei more than anything else in the tank or they get bullied by the johanni and cobalt.


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## MrBishop (Dec 6, 2009)

yeah well ive got acei, red zebs and yellow labs. ive also got a maingano i think, it might be a johanni, they look the same


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