got a qusetion of compatibility.

**mynamzmudd** · 08-07-2009, 09:15 PM

I have 4 yellow lab's, 3 ice blue zebra's and 3 red jewel's in a 55 gallon tank. I love the look of the fire mouth cichlid but im thinking it's not a good idea to mix these together. Has anyone ever mixed south american with african and got away with it?

**btate617** · 08-07-2009, 09:24 PM

Can you, yes. I wouldn't. Besides trying to meet their diet requirements there are other things to consider. It seems you like the Africans, keep that tank for those. If possible set up another tank for firemouths if you want some.

Brian

**mynamzmudd** · 08-07-2009, 09:26 PM

I already have 2 tank's running now .lol The g/f will want to kill me if I get another going.

**Lab_Rat** · 08-08-2009, 04:21 AM

You can "get away with" just about anything but you would not be providing the proper environment for your fish. The firemouth is from the opposite side of the world compared with the other fish in your tank. The jewel cichlids really should not be kept with the rift lake mbuna either. They tend to prefer a more neutral pH while the mbuna like alkaline waters.

It's your choice to try to "get away with" inappropriate stocking and compromise the health of your fish or to properly stock your tank.

**mynamzmudd** · 08-08-2009, 02:13 PM

The only reason I ask this question is because I like the look's of the fire mouth cichlid. As for the jewel fish that I have in my tank, I was informed (and being new to all this) That they were african cichlid's and would do fine in my tank. Im beginning to learn that not everyone that work's in a fish store know's what they are talking about. I figured i had better ask other people before going and buying some fire mouth's and making a big mistake.

**toddnbecka** · 08-08-2009, 04:29 PM

A firemouth would get hammered by the jewels and zebra's.

**Lab_Rat** · 08-08-2009, 06:49 PM

I'm glad you're asking before purchasing. It sounded like you already knew it shouldn't be done when you asked about "getting away with it"? Maybe next time ask about compatibility instead of asking about getting away with something.

**nicklt** · 08-08-2009, 08:08 PM

i agree with everyone else when i got my first tank i got south americans and put an african in there and he survived but was unhappy i could tell just by lookin at him it died after about six months so no u shouldnt put firemouths in there but thanks for asking ahead of time

**thatcichlidguy** · 08-08-2009, 08:26 PM

Firemouths come from Central America , and their water requirements aren't all that dissimilar to African Rift Lake cichlids. The bigger issue of compatability is in the fact that the Africans (Mbuna) are far more territorial than the Firemouths would be , and the Jewels are even worse than the Mbuna. Jewels also prefer a slightly acid Ph and water requirements are more akin to SA cichlids. Dietary requirements for the FMs and Jewels are similar but the Mbuna need a diet high in vegatable matter and low in protien. Too much protien and they will develope bloat and likely die.

**Lab_Rat** · 08-08-2009, 11:44 PM

Agree with thatcichlidguy's post, I was just trying to keep things simpler. Another consideration is the body language differences between the different fish. A signal of submission in one group is an invitation to fight in the other. Just another thing to keep in mind.