mixed lake cichlids

[Dave Schulman]

I have 14 african cichlids in my 75 gal tank. Most of which are from lake malawi. I do however have a few from lake tanginikya such as my haplochromis obliqudens. Is it a good idea to keep mixing them? Do they require different pH and hardness levels? Tell me if you know
Thanx

[SGypsyMermaid]

your haplochromis obliquedens, which is probably a hap sp. 44 redtail, or an astatotilapia latifasciata, is not from lake tanganyika, but instead from the lake victoria basin--either lake victoria or one of the surrounding lakes.

http://www.fishmaniac.com/Merchant2/products/cichlids/victoria/hap_obliquidens.jpg

http://perso.club-internet.fr/burnel/Victo/latifasciata.jpg

[jnorris]

I only had one large tank (until a few weeks ago) and I had several species of malawi and Tanganykans in there (35 fish, over filtering is a good thing). Then I got a tank specializing in Tanganykans.

The only major occurance or nonoccurance I had was the lack of breeding.

I would attribute this to having a really overcrowded tank more than anything.

I kept my Ph at 8.2 and all was fine. What do you have in your tank now.. That itself is a big issue. Some fish are more tolerent than others.

[SGypsyMermaid]

Is it a good idea to keep mixing them? Do they require different pH and hardness levels? Tell me if you know
Thanx

you'll get different opinions on this. i mix the fish from different lakes all the time. victorian ph averages 7.0, malawi 8.0, and tanganyika 9.0. i keep my tanks around 8.3 and everybody adapts. you should take into consideration dietary needs(some fish need more veggies, others need more protein), and aggression levels when mixing it up.

[jnorris]

Basically it is like being a public school cook. You have to cater to everyones needs and say for example (extreme case) you have a tropheus and a calvis (or most other Tanganykans) The tropheus can not have much protien, but Tanganykans like krill and stuff like that.

I wouldn't go crazy with the extreme cases. I think I had a good mixed tank before I split it up.

Pay close attention to everyones requirements and don't exceed (too much) from the boundries.

[Dave Schulman]

I give my malawi/tanginkya and apparently victoria cichlids spirulina mixed with color bits so they get protein and veggies too. My pH is at 8.0 and they seem to be ok with it

[jnorris]

I would decrease the protein in their diet. Some flake food actually has beef in it too. Also check your water quality (nitrates and ammonia). Over feeding and feeding too much protien is the leading cause of bloat.