# Jewels And Powder Blue Cichlid



## Guest (Mar 17, 2010)

hey all.

do u think these 2 would co exist? i am givin away 3 of my jewels later on today and have been offered these in exchange....

thoughts and suggestions?

Cheers.


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## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

What is a powder blue cichlid? I don't like common names. If it is some kind of mbuna... then you know that is not gonna work Zakk.


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## Guest (Mar 17, 2010)

http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_socolofi.php 
aka the E. Socolofi......VERY beautiful fish but am guessing its an mbuana. research states they are from lake malawi....does that make it an mbuana?


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## Guest (Mar 17, 2010)

also Ron, Loha and the seasoned fish keepers

how much of this can i belive?

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/archive/index.php/t-16906.html

this article states and i quote



> Tank Buddies: They are very few fish that can be placed with Red Jewel. Generally the Red Jewls will accept peacock cichlids, same sized mbunas, or haplochromis African cichlids. They are very aggressive towards New World Cichlids such as a Green Terror, Smaller Dwarf Cichlids, Jack Dempseys, etc.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Jewels like the open bottom of the tank, and many mbuna will hang high in the water or stay in the rock pile, so theoretically, in a big enough tank they can coexist. I've heard of even yellow labs working with single jewels, but breeding jewels are terrors. 

P. socolofi is, IMO, more lavender than blue and one the more aggressive mbuna. Treat it like a elongatus, its not as bad a melanchromis (auratus), but meaner than a zebra, a lab, or a labeotropheus. This is the kind of fish where only 1 male will survive in a 55 if you start with 6 fish. The kind where you are better off with 20 fish in a 90 so they can chase all day without one fish getting singled out and hunted down. 

If you try them with jewels, let us know how it goes. My money is on the jewels, but you never know.

Malawi fish are usually sorted into three groups "haplochromines" which are often open-water fish like http://cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1061, peacocks with bright males and plain females, and the brightly-colored both male and female, rock-dwelling mbuna. If its from Malawi and the males and females look alike and it has kind of a torpedo shape, its probably a mbuna.


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## Guest (Mar 17, 2010)

after what u said NO WAY JOSE! maybe i outta start a 2nd 55gl.......


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

55s are good (I have 11), IMO a 4' tank is about the minimum for full-grown mbuna.


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## Guest (Mar 17, 2010)

if everything goes as planned, i outta be getting a 6ft(L)x2ft(W)x18inch(h) tank.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

That would be so neat. A tank like that might be ok for both one pair of jewels and a big rock pile full of mbuna. Anyone know what size a jewel's territory is other than "the whole tank"?


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## Guest (Mar 17, 2010)

The Whole Tank is actually the apt answer  right now a trio has staked out all the caves and nooks i made. the other 3 are pretty much out casts.


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## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

The other consideration is that mbuna and jewel cichlids need different water conditions. Mbuna (Lake Malawi)= hard water. Jewels are from the rivers in west Africa which are soft water with a lower PH. Some people don't consider this important... I do.


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## Guest (Mar 18, 2010)

i would agree with u as well ron but, and dont get me wrong, what i understand is this. if a species has been bred long enough in captivity they are tolerable to variations to thier natural habitat seein that they never have been in a "natural" habitat.


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## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

Fish have evolved in their natural habitat for millions of years. So how long do you think they would need to re-evolve in an aquarium to change their physiology?


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## Guest (Mar 18, 2010)

a couple of million years. i see where ur comin from.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

True, I keep jewels in soft, pH 7.5 water. Malawi fish in 8, hard. When I had hard, alkaline water, I kept all the fish in it and some thrived, and some didn't. Now that I have have super soft water and have to add stuff, I add whatever should please each fish and I'm having good success with that. Certainly my jewels have nice color and are prolific. But IME, all cichlids, even discus, will tolerate hard water well if acclimated slowly. Their history is as a fish that moves from river system to river system by moving along the coast. Some will only breed successfully in soft water, but how many jewels do you want? 

I think the answer to how long it takes to change a fish is measured in decades. Fish that have been in the hobby 20, 30, 40 years are significantly different from their wild counterparts. At a couple generations per year, a lot on selective breeding pressure can have an effect. For fish that have been domesticated for centuries, its even greater. The reputation of goldfish for being good 'cycling fish" comes from an acquired ammonia tolerance. Certainly, most tank-raised fish have much higher nitrate tolerance.

But tolerance doesn't guarantee happiness. I know people with 'authentic' bio-topes with exact plants from a fish's habitat and all the rocks lined up like the current is going in one direction. And they all have incredibly beautiful, prolific, happy fish. Every time I do something special for a fish like give a fish plants or driftwood or a bigger tank, I see a difference. So I guess I kind of agree with Ronv. When I say it could work, it could work. And I've keep Malawi fish with Victorians and stuff like that. But it is better to optimize everything for one fish you love or pick fish with the same likes. The longer I keep fish the less I like "community tanks".


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## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

We don't really know!!! Fish can't talk. Some fish (apistos for example) seem to do well in un-natural water but they won't reproduce so how happy are they really? Jewels will even spawn in hard water. It's not natural for them but the urge is so strong they make do. It's easy to assume that since they spawned they must be comfortable in the water. I don't think so. As I said, millions of years... I don't even think decades and generations in aquariums will change basic physiology. Some fish seem to do well. They don't have much choice do they? What ever water we put them in is their lot in life. They either make the best of it or... well they just make the best of it.


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## Guest (Mar 18, 2010)

i'll prob do a Yellow Lab and Power Blue tank next. might get kribs instead for the 55.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

geeeezzz zakk...what did i tell you about jewel tankmates......................
GREAT WHITES...........MAYBE ...and only if they are big.
i do not mix rift lake fish of any kind that come from other environments....PERIOD..
you can put a krait in your pocket;but at some point you are going to have a problem..


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## Guest (Mar 19, 2010)

LOL loha ur right as always.


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