Closest African to a Dempsey?

[CraigMac]

K, so my favorite fish is the Jack Dempsey. But, I love Africans too and since the wife and kids like the color of Africans that is the direction I went.

Now I've heard 2 sides, one being don't mix cichlids from different continents to the other side that "store bred" fish tolerate different ph better and you can mix.

I am leaning towards just keeping Africans but wanted to see if you guys had any suggestions for me that would be similar to a Jd? Not sure if anything would be close at all so I'm just throwing this out to you guys for any ideas.

 

[FishManSinceFive]

U can always break rules i did and no deaths i have 4 african cichlids and 2 south american cichlids like the jd

 

[Wy Renegade]

I'd look at the peacocks myself - bright coloration, and some get larger. I wouldn't mix S.A. with Africans - not so much for the sake of pH issues, but rather because of how territorial and aggressive the S.A. get when breeding.

 

[CraigMac]

If I have a tankful of Africans and just one Dempsey, does that eliminate the breeding issues since there is no partner?

 

[FishManSinceFive]

For the jd yes it does

 

[joel618]

What about a jewel instead of the jd? Several people do that. It is still from africa, just not the rift lakes.

 

[DragonFish71]

I'd look at the peacocks myself - bright coloration, and some get larger. I wouldn't mix S.A. with Africans - not so much for the sake of pH issues, but rather because of how territorial and aggressive the S.A. get when breeding.

Not to mention that some africans need a lower protein diet that S.As do.
For some, too much protein will cause Malawi bloat.

S.As on the other hand need the higher protein and will not bloat.

 

[CraigMac]

Never thought of a jewel but that is a nice looking fish. How would a couple of jewels do in a tank of johani, yellow labs, etc?

 

[tsk5035]

As far as diet, feeding nothing but a high quality diet such as New Life Spectrum will meet all the fish's needs without any problems like bloat

 

[joel618]

Never thought of a jewel but that is a nice looking fish. How would a couple of jewels do in a tank of johani, yellow labs, etc?

Dragonfish makes a good point. Its all fun and games till u get bloat. What do you feed? Only one jewel. More than one becomes an aggression problem from what I understand.

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

i have 2 oscars with a juvie red zebra and juvie auratus, they never get chased. but these were purely luck, the survivors from a batch of feeder fry that are now tolerated.
i say if u want the SA african mix, you need the right diet that suits both of their requirements in the middle. then you need to get a quite old SA (JG in your case) as they are much calmer and less likely to kill, then put in a group of african juvies and give them lots of shelter/ cichlid stones/ plants to hide in. some may get nommed, but overall you have your mix and your beautiful fish.
i think this will work anyway xxx

 

[CraigMac]

I'll have to check when I get home the exact food but I have cichlid flake and pellet recommended by my LFS.