???Aulonocara Malawi Cichlids???

[TehTANK]

What other species of fish can I put with Aulonocara Malawi Cichlids. What other type of Cichlids would go good? Anyone know?

[xoolooxunny]

What other species of fish can I put with Aulonocara Malawi Cichlids. What other type of Cichlids would go good? Anyone know?

Plecos!! As far as other cichlids go, as long as they have enough room/territory, it shouldnt be too bad, like a yellow lab or something. Kribs are peaceful too, but i dont know how your peacocks will treat them.

[Drumachine09]

I woulndt do a pleco if you want to do an african tank (mho). I would go with one of the synodontis', like a featherfinned squeaker or an upside down catfish. As for cichlids, try to match temperment with temperment. I know they are all aggressive, but some are less than others. If they are rally agressive, go with kenyis, more dociles yellow labs, blue socolofies, and red zebras. Anyone with more cichlid experiance than me feel free to correct me.

[TehTANK]

From what I have read, peaceful cichlids are the best to go with peacocks. Is that true?

[Fishguy2727]

The best cichlids to go with peacocks are other peacocks. This goes along best with their biotope. They do not really interact with the mbunas or the open water ones (both from Lake Malawi) because the peacocks live much deeper in the lake. The best peacock tank would be all peacocks. This way you do not have to worry about aggression. The peacocks are not nearly as aggressive as the mbunas. They can be territorial, but with the proper male to female ratios and proper stocking levels, it should not be anything more than short chases that end up with no damage. My 150 is nothing but peacocks and it is my favorite tank (even more than the discus). Plecos are not even African, so that's a no go. Kribs are not from the rift lakes, so they should not be in with rift lake cichlids. The peacocks are from Lake Malawi and therefore you will get the best colors, growth, and health if you go with a buffer to keep it at 8.2, add the proper Cichlid Lake Salts, and feed New Life Spectrum. These guys are definitely worth the very little extra effort on your part. Synodontis spp. would be the only other thing I would put in there. Even then I would make sure they are from Lake Malawi.

[TehTANK]

There are a lot of different peacocks out there. I did read on the web though that it is bad to keep all the same breed in one tank because you have hybrid breeding going on then and that is bad. I don't know....Anyway, I wont be able to afford any more fish to soon but I am going to go get the lake salt tonight. I forgot that last night. It was late when I got these guys. Anything else you can tell me about these guys or who I should add with them????

[Coler]

I would advise synodontis multipunctatus as a catfish you can have with 'em - they're from the lake and are quite pretty.

How big is your tank ? In the right size you should have very little aggression problems, but remember fish don't read books; the biggest bully in my tank (which admittedly is a touch too small) is an Aulunocara OB.

Aulunocara Jacobfreiberg are stunning little fish, but males can be hyper dominant so keep an eye if you have them. I reccomend :)

[Fishguy2727]

Did you mean it is bad to have more than one breed? Because if they are all the same breed then they cannot hybridize. A lot of people frown upon hybrids. I do not see an issue. Unless they are imported and you know they are all the same species from the same location then you have to assume they are hybrids anyways. Even if it is a hybrid, a colorful, healthy fish is a colorful healthy fish. Most humans are not pure bred, so why do your fish need to be. Get whatever you like. I would do just the peacocks and a Synodontis sp. if you want to go with that. If you do all males they won't be breeding and you won't have to worry about it at all.

[cocoa_pleco]

before he died, my aulonocara was really mean. He wouldnt get along with any other fish

[Cichlid_Man]

Some of the more peaceful species that behave in a similar way are OK to mix. These include Placidochromis electra, Otopharynx lithobates and more delicate Copadichromis like mloto, virginalis and azureus.

If mixing Aulonocara with other peaceful species, choose one that isn’t blue so that there is no danger of it clashing with the mostly blue haps. These include Aulonocara baenschi, marleri, jacobfriebergi ‘orange’ and ‘Eureka.’

If mixing with other Malawi cichlids, be careful. Large adult species of Venustus and other haps will intimidate them, and mbuna are simply too aggressive and competitive.

Large Aulonocara could possibly be OK with juvenile mbuna, but as the juveniles grow, they will overtake them and steal their food, so they are best kept apart.

Synodontis nyassae, a Lake Malawi catfish, would be fine to mix with any Aulonocara, as would Synodontis petricola and multipunctatus, from Lake Tanganyika.

[Lady Hobbs]

I would be concerned having any catfish in a tank containing cichlid salt. Pleco's or feather fins.

[cocoa_pleco]

yeah, they have no scales, only skin and it irritates them

[Cichlid_Man]

The 2 catfish I mentioned in my previous post are a Malawi catfish and a Tanganyika catfish and would do fine.
The Upside down catfish also does well, and as far as a Pleco goes, I had my Pleco in there for 3 months and he was fine except the Cichlids were ripping him up.
They can take various water conditions. As long as you are using Cichlid Lake Salts and NOT aquarium salt. Big difference.