auratus compatability

[cocoa_pleco]

what other fish can go into a 33g with an auratus? ive got rock territory and the auratus doesnt really go after any other fish much except if something ticks him off.

[cocoa_pleco]

well, i read that they can go with other fish that are aggressive. what about a blood parrot? my auratus is female also

[Lady Hobbs]

Blood parrots go with severums......both of which are considered a mild cichlid and not very aggressive. Exceptions to that rule, of course.

Compatibility: These fish are lively and aggressive fish and are not suitable for a traditional community aquarium. Keep the tank well stocked with similar sized African Rift Lake Cichlids.

[jessie]

An auratus can be a highly aggressive and territorial fish. It is a rift lake mbuna cichlid, so you should only put it with other mbunas of similar aggression. We opted out of getting these guys when we were advised that they were one of the most aggressive mbunas. So you really need to watch what you pair him with. We keep yellow labs, red zebras, aceis, and kenyis. The kenyis are zebras are probably closer to the auratus as far as aggression than the labs, but we still felt they would be too much for our tank. Also, not sure if I would recommend keeping this fish in a 33 gallon. They need room to establish a territory. Also, the blood parrots come from completely different environments. You cannot mix these with African rift lake cichlids. You need to try to maintain a higher pH and use a special salt for African cichlids that provide an environment similar to Lake Malawi.

[cocoa_pleco]

Mine is really odd. He wont chase anything unless it runs into him. Auratus are real bullys, yet he doesnt show any aggression.

I moved him from the tiny 10g to a different tank, and i think now i'll put 1 blood parrot in the 33g after cycling

[jessie]

Another thing to keep in mind when adding fish (other cichlids) to your tank with the auratus, you should add them in groups (of 4 or so) to help spread the aggression and keep one certain fish from being picked on. If you want a really gorgeous fish, try the Aceis. But I would watch out for that auratus. He could very well become your tank bully once you start stocking the tank.

[jessie]

Is he still a juvenile? Things can change alot once they mature. We noticed that the chasing and aggression in our tank really elevated once the dominant males were fully mature.

[cocoa_pleco]

i had him with a krib and lamp. brichardi, and surprisingly there was 0 agression.

[jessie]

I guess it depends on the individual fish though. Just be cautious about putting the krib with the mbuna cichlids (like the auratus). Kribs usually live in softer waters with a lower pH than the auratus and the auratus comes from waters with much higher pH and hardness.

[cocoa_pleco]

The krib died a month ago, so no worries

[jessie]

:( Poor little krib.

[Lady Hobbs]

I agree with jessie. Cichlids don't show their aggression much unless they get out of their juvie stage.

[cocoa_pleco]

:( Poor little krib.


It was a sad story.

At 4:00 that day, he was happy and weaving through rock structures, then at 7:00 he got MASSIVE amounts of random fin rot, every single fin he had, all in 3 hours. I tried to treat him, and nothing worked until he couldnt stay alive.

He was a old timer, but how he got that bad fin rot in 3 hours is un-explainable. The auratus never beat him up, so its odd. The tanks conditions were fine too, so were the parameters

[Coler]

auratus yeouch. They have such a bad rep I steered clear (I keep an all male rift lake)

Curious to hear how your additions have been getting on with him ? Especially if you tried the blood parrot (I would think the auratus would eventually take it out by stress alone) or the sev (I don't know - maybe the water chemistry helps the auratus initially but when the sev grows up I'd back him lol)

[cocoa_pleco]

the blood parrot idea left because of the sudden severum case.

Some guy had a severum, and was gonna kill it unless it got sold, so i got it, and yesterday i got a baby clown knife (who has EVIL eyes )

I have the auratus and lamp. brichardi in a 20g with tetras, and theyre fine. The auratus grew up around small fish, and has learned to tolerate various tankmates. I also got the lamp. brichardi as a baby and he learned how to get along with other fish.

I should have a spare tank for the auratus since when hes a adult i dont want the whole evil auratus thing to come.

The auratus has done nothing violent ever except attack me (chrona knows the story )

I had food in my fingers, and he jumped out of the tank, bit my finger, and landed back in the tank like a dolphin and took out a chunk of my index finger.

[Coler]

LOL really ? how big was the little bugger and how big was the chunk ?

[cocoa_pleco]

he was 3-4" at the time and he took out a good chunk of skin.
Seems like im more tasty than any tetras