# Other fish that can Live with Cichlids



## BettaLover

Hello, I'm new to this forum and have found it very helpful to me so far, so I've decided to join.  I have a question that has been preplexing me though...

I have a tank with some unruley African Cichlids and an Oscar. I got some Tinfoil barbs and some Tiger barbs last week to kinda liven things up along with 2 large irridscent sharks. Things went well for the first couple days, but they've beaten the sharks so I've moved them into the "nice" tank and the tiger barbs are just gone. The Tinfoil barbs seem to be doing fine.

I was wondering if there are some other types of fish that I could get that could keep up with them? I like that the Cichlids are so colorful, so I'd prefer to get some other fish that can handle them that are colorful too. Or, should I just try to get more cichlids? 

Thanks for your time!!!

*sarah*


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## malawi4me2

I personally don't recommend keeping other fish with African cichlids, and your Oscar and the Africans (Malawi mbuna probably?) are not compatible. What size tank do you have? The Oscar alone needs _at least_ 75, preferably 100g or more. An average size community of mbuna can be housed in a 55g, but that can greatly depend on what species you keep and male to female ratios. Your Oscar prefers a lot of open swimming space with minimal decorations (they'll destroy most plastic plants, and over-turn rock formations), but your Africans (assuming they are mbuna) need lots of caves and rocks to define separate territories. 
As for other fish... You could keep some fast swimming schooling fish (like Zebra Danios) with your African cichlids if you wanted to, but this probably wouldn't work out very well with the Oscar. Your Oscar would be compatible with some other large South American cichlids, or larger non aggressive fish. Your Oscar would be better off alone unless you have a very large tank. 
You will probably get better advice if you post your tank size, filtration, water parameters, maintenence routine, and species you currently have.


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## Lexus

I agree with malawi4me2. Personally I would never keep a Oscar with reg. african cichlids, I did however keep an oscar with convicts. The only way you would be able to keep an oscar with other fish would be if it was 75G+ and then you could prob keep a Pacu or other oscars. 

Your Tiger barbs most likely got eaten by the oscar. They only reach 2.7" and any oscar would eventually be able to devour them. 

Tinfoil barbs get to be huge also... (13.7") The sharks reach 12" and can even reach 2 feet. These fish also need a large tank. 


How big is your tank??? 

Next time before buying fish I suggest you research it, that way your money wont be eaten! :wink:


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## fishfreaks

yup, your tiger barbs were a snack for your oscar, their HUGE pigs!


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## Jason_S

first, irridescent sharks and pacus are both shoaling fish that can reach in excess of 3 feet and 2 feet in length respectively. personally, I feel that neither of these fish should even be sold to the average consumer and they sure don't belong in anything smaller than a 1000+ gallon tank.

now, the tinfoil barbs will get along just fine with your oscar however you'll need a very large tank to keep them together to full size. I'd say at least a 125 just for 1 oscar and 3-4 tinfoils though a larger tank would be better. the tiger barbs, as has already been mentioned, will most likely get eaten as the oscar gets bigger. the african cichlids are also at risk of being eaten assuming they're Malawi mbuna. if the africans don't get eaten, depending on what species they are there is also a chance these could eventually turn out to be too aggressive for the oscar. oscar's are not typically aggressive fish and many africans (such as auratus) while much smaller could wind up bullying and stressing an oscar to the point of death. 


just a few things to think about.


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## BettaLover

Hi Again,

Thanks for your posts. I have a 125 gal tank. Right now it has the Oscar which is about 4-5 inches. He's the biggest guy in the tank. I have a Lake Johnai (sp?) cichlid, a yellow Lab cichlid, a weird comoflage color cichlid, 3 tinfoil barbs and a pleco. It's a corner tank, so in the back I have a mini mountain of rocks and caves for the cichlids, and the Oscar stays more to the front. So far, the oscar hasn't tried to rearrange the rocks yet, I have most of them glued together anyway so they don't get tipped over. I have a few plants that he's left alone too. Right now *knock on wood* they're getting along well. I was only taking care of the Oscar for awhile for a friend, but I don't think he's going to take him back. He's a nice fish, very personable, I like him. I just want everyone to be happy  as hard as that can be with fish.

Thanks again
*sarah*


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## malawi4me2

Well, your African cichlids are mbuna from Lake Malawi. _Melanochormis jonannii_ is a small, highly aggressive cichlid whose max. size is around 5-6". It'll probably pick on your oscar, until your oscar gets big enough to eat him. The yellow lab (_Labidiochromis caeruleus_) is a more docile (but still aggressive) mbuna. It's max. size is around 4", and will also be a meal for your oscar. The "camo" colored cichlid sounds like it could be a _Nimbochromis sp._ (possibly _Nimbochromis venstrus_) which is a large hap. from Lake Malawi. They reach about 11-12", are piscivorous, and are very aggressive. He'll probably be a problem for your oscar. If it is a _Nimbochromis sp._, he'll probably make a snack of your mbuna, just as the oscar may. Depending on what species the pleco is, it could grow to 18-28" in length.
The best thing to do would be to decide which fish you would like to keep: The oscar, tin-foil barbs, and pleco (which is really still slightly overstocked for a tank that size); The_ johanni_, the lab, and the pleco (this would allow you to add more mbuna, although the pleco may still get too big for that tank); or (if the camo-fish is a _Nimbochromis sp._) keep it and the pleco and add a few more large haps. Look at the Profiles on http://www.cichlidforum.com at Haplichromine cichlids from Lake Malawi, and let us know if any of the_ Nimbochromis sp._ look like your fish!
Hope this helped! :mrgreen: [/i]


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## BettaLover

Thank you Malwi4Me2,

I had a hard time looking up what the "cambo" colored cichlid was. I knew that his face looked different than the others. From the pictures, "he" actually looks to be a she. All the cichlids names are so long, how can you possibly remember all of them? 

Okay then, I have a 75 gal that is about 2 weeks into cycling in my bedroom. I will have to seperate these guys out, and I guess the cichlids will have to live in there. What do you recommend I do with the guys that I have. Can the Lab and the Johanni live together okay? Or should I try to find some more docile cichilds to live with the Lab, or should I just sell what I have and start fresh? The picture of the cichlid that you have by your name is beautiful. What kinds of cichlids do you have? What combination of cichlids seems to work the best?

Ahhh, so many questions 

Thank you for your time 
*sarah*


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## BettaLover

Thank you Malwi4Me2,

I had a hard time looking up what the "cambo" colored cichlid was. I knew that his face looked different than the others. From the pictures, "he" actually looks to be a she. All the cichlids names are so long, how can you possibly remember all of them? 

Okay then, I have a 75 gal that is about 2 weeks into cycling in my bedroom. I will have to seperate these guys out, and I guess the cichlids will have to live in there. What do you recommend I do with the guys that I have. Can the Lab and the Johanni live together okay? Or should I try to find some more docile cichilds to live with the Lab, or should I just sell what I have and start fresh? The picture of the cichlid that you have by your name is beautiful. What kinds of cichlids do you have? What combination of cichlids seems to work the best?

Ahhh, so many questions 

Thank you for your time 
*sarah*


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## malawi4me2

You're welcome, BettaLover! It's always good to see someone really wanting to learn and do the right thing for their animals!  

So, did you decide that it is a _Nimbochromis sp._, or something else? If you're still having trouble narrowing it down, you can post a pic and I'll try to help identify it.

The Lab and the Johanni will be fine together, provided that you add more mbuna with them. (FYI, "mbuna" is the name given to the _primarily _herbivorous rock-dwelling cichlids of Lake Malawi.) Slightly higher-than-normal stocking levels help to evenly distribute the aggression associated with mbuna so that one particular fish does not get picked on constantly. Labs also do well in groups (although it is not required that they be kept that way) consisting of one male and several females (or just purchase several juveniles trade in individuals who become too aggresive). The Johanni should not be kept with any very similar looking fish (such as _Melanochromis auratus_), and if in groups only keep one male. Other common mbuna that you could keep with them would be "Red Zebras", "Cobalt Zebras", "Scolofi", or "Kenyii" (the same rules apply to these fish as the others). Most of these are pretty cheap and easy to find at your LFS. You could keep these in your 75g.

Your Oscar will be fine by itself (or with the pleco until it gets too big) in the 125g. You could try to keep the "camoflauge" cichlid (provided that it is a _Nimbochromis sp._ with the Oscar, as long as you watched carefully for problems as they mature. Although the waters that they are found in nature are quite different, both are most likely tank-raised specimens and are probably adapted to whatever pH your local water is.

What you should keep/not keep is completely up to you!  

The fish in my avatar is my 2 year old (5" long) dominant male _Protomelas fenestratus_ "Taiwan Reef". My tank is a 120g Malawi Hap/Peacock tank. Right now, I keep 2 male _Protomelas fenestratus_ "Taiwan Reef", 1 pair of _Copadichromis borleyi_ "Kadango", 2 male _Copadichromis mloto_ "Ivory Head", 1 male _Aulonocara baenschi_, and a trio (1 male and 2 female) of_ Otopharynx lithobates_ "Zimbabwe Rock". There's also 1 _Synodontis eupterus_ and 1 Pterygoplichthys gibbiceps (A species of pleco... I learned after I bought it that it is one of the species that gets enormous, so I'll be finding him a home before he reaches that point.)
Here's a link to some specs/pics of my tank:
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/tanks/index.php?mode=owner&u=18559 (If it don't bring it up, click on the thumbnail on the left side of the page.)
You can also look at some more pictures by clicking on my "Gallery" at the bottom of this post, or following this link (Hopefully! LOL):
http://www.fishforums.com/phpBB/album_personal.php?user_id=15


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