mixing lakes apparently a bad idea??

[ronnieroach]

soo i've noticed a few people say that mixing africans from diff lakes is a bad idea. i assume its because of aggression?

i have a 55gal w/ a mix of mbuna, peacock, hap & one victoria.. no one ever told me not to mix lakes at the LFS & i'm learning as i go w/ the africans so bare w/ me.

all my fish are between 2.5 & 3.5 inches & my aggression levels are what id call 'normal' (meaning when i added new fish they'd nip but within a week it would calm down & theres barely any aggression now, just what seems like territory disputes from time to time)

i guess i stopped counting because i went from 9 to 13 in the past month!!

i'm definitely rehoming my 1 female but should i rehome a total of 3 to give the others more room??

also, are venestus really as EVIL as everyone on here tells me they are?! i mean, i know they get big but mine seems so docile i feel like he just wants a buddy to swim with .. i've seen some minor mouth to mouth w/ my biggest peacock but they hang together all the time now

i know this is all over the place but apparently so is my tank haha but really, any advice you can give is appreciated just give it in a nice way lol no need to be a meany

 

[Wy Renegade]

The advice to not mix lakes generally has more to do with the differences in the lakes chemical compositions than it does with aggression. Some species of chichlids are actually found in all three of the African Rift Lakes.

 

[joel618]

Different lakes and even different fish from the same lake can have different dietary needs, and aggression levels. Also some are more delicate than others with water.

 

[ronnieroach]

thanks guys!! everyone i have seems to be thriving & i mean THRIVING!! so my water must be decent enough

 

[joel618]

thanks guys!! everyone i have seems to be thriving & i mean THRIVING!! so my water must be decent enough

What mbuna do you have and what do you feed them?

 

[ronnieroach]

i have a demasoni, electric yellow, kenyi & an auratas & i feed everyone pellets.

i've just realized from research that my kenyi is a female since its all blue? which stinks cuz i really wanna keep her but i have so many males i'm worried she'll get hurt as they mature (which is why i was gonna rehome my female red jake peacock)

 

[joel618]

i have a demasoni, electric yellow, kenyi & an auratas & i feed everyone pellets.

What kind of pellets...

 

[HN1]

If those are single fish, you'll have more issues as they mature than just mixing lakes. Most African cichlids that are mass produced and highly available come from generally the same conditions. They are farmed so the differences in the lake water chemistry has been basically bred out. Wild caught or F1 fish would be a different story.

 

[ronnieroach]

joel - hikari cichlid gold & staple mixed together for pellets.

hn1 - im not sure i get what youre saying. you say i'll have more issues as they get older but not because of water conditions? & i'm researching as i go but i like using the forum instead of google sorry if you dont dig that i just enjoy chattin w/ fish people

& as i'm researching i'm thinking my venustus & kenyi were doing a mating dance deal the other day, not territory disputing like i thought when i thought my kenyi was male lol .. i REALLY dont wanna rehome my venustus cuz i had him shipped from utah & i REALLY REALLY love him.. i also have a livingstonii, will he grow to be a jerk too??

 

[ronnieroach]

after doing more research i'm guessing as they mature i'm in for some trouble but i'll take each day as it comes & just keep an eye out.. maybe i'll be gravy, maybe not.. we shall see

 

[HN1]

hn1 - im not sure i get what youre saying. you say i'll have more issues as they get older but not because of water conditions? & i'm researching as i go but i like using the forum instead of google sorry if you dont dig that i just enjoy chattin w/ fish people

Single African cichlids tend to be fierce or die. They are generally colonial fish. I am FAR from an African cichlid expert though. We've kept a good variety, but not a large number of any particular group.

after doing more research i'm guessing as they mature i'm in for some trouble but i'll take each day as it comes & just keep an eye out.. maybe i'll be gravy, maybe not.. we shall see

Good on you for more research. I dig chatting with fish folk too, but it is always cooler when they make an effort.

 

[kay-bee19]

...are venestus really as EVIL as everyone on here tells me they are?! i mean, i know they get big but mine seems so docile...

I'm not sure how big your venustus is, but aggression potential isn't attained until the fish is matured somewhat, so a 2.5"-3.5" venustus will no way near display or possess the same aggression potential as a 7"-10" specimen.

I'd rate nimbochromis venustus to be less aggressive than most mbuna's, and matured specimens can probably be dominated by smaller aggressive yet matured mbuna's (I observed a 5" male kenyi completely dominate a 10" venustus). So in the presence of your kenyi and auratus it probably won't show much aggression). I've kept venustus with dimidiochromis compressiceps (malawi eye biters) and cyrtocara moorii (malawi blue dolphins) and venustus' seemed to be the dominants but not overly aggressive towards them.

With that said, two full-grown male venustus in a tank containing females are indeed capable of displaying extreme aggression towards each other (as they compete over breeding rights, to such an extent that a 180gal wouldn't be large enough keep two full grown males when females are present. They may extend this aggression to other male nimbochromis species.

 

[ronnieroach]

THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE INFO KAY-BEE!!!!!

i gotta say my venustus seems to be one of my most docile fish and hes about 4 inches right now.. my kenyi definitely holds her own w/ him and my tiny 2inch demasoni chases him around too w/ no retaliation that i can see.

i rehomed the auratas & livingstonii today because they seemed to be my most 2 aggressive fish.. hopefully that wasnt a bad move but they all seem to be pretty content & they're swimming w/ eachother like a big happy family now so maybe it'll work out

i'm thinking another one of my peacocks might be female so i would have 3 females & 6 males..

sooo maybe i'll add 2 more females?? or should i remove all my ladies & get a few more dudes in their place??

not sure what i'll def do, i figure i'll watch & see how they get as they mature.. ALL ADVICE IS APPRECIATED THOUGH

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POSITIVE VIBES TO YOU AND YOURS!!!!!

 

[kdpuffer]

Dude seriously lay off the reefer. If your going to be a suitable host for fish you need to put the fish first. The three main lakes that African cichlids come from are vastly different and the aquarium must be set up to meet the needs of the fish not the desires of the keeper. It's as easy as a google search with any fish species to determine proper numbers and m/f ratio.

 

[joel618]

Dude seriously lay off the reefer. If your going to be a suitable host for fish you need to put the fish first. The three main lakes that African cichlids come from are vastly different and the aquarium must be set up to meet the needs of the fish not the desires of the keeper. It's as easy as a google search with any fish species to determine proper numbers and m/f ratio.

Its 5am and i can't properly respond to this atm. Its not the reefers fault... I will elaborate when I wake up in the morning....

 

[Roundtree]

The man asked for no meany comments KD. He is obviously making this a priority! Dude, post a picture up of the tank!nim sure you got some cool color combination. Good luck!!

 

[ronnieroach]

easy kdpuffer.. no need to be a jerk.. i didnt no jack & started an african tank.. yet somehow, no matter what you 'know-it-all' fish folk say, i somehow never have the issues you 'brainiacs' say i will.

MAYBE instead of talkin trash online you could try some reef, be a decent dude & offer some actual help

its called aquarium ADVICE; not aquarium 'let me try & make people feel dumb'

people like you make this forum not fun

 

[ronnieroach]

mistyped 'know' in last post.. i dont want KD to report me for a misspelling LOL

& here's a pic of the tank now.. i have no aggression & all my fish have gorgeous color so i MUST be doing something right.

LETS ALL BE NICE ON AA & NOT RESPOND TO PEOPLE LIKE KD WHO HAVE TO BE 'KNOW-IT-ALLS' & TRY TO PUT PEOPLE DOWN

LADDA MERCY!!!

 

[Roundtree]

Amen!!! Looks great!

 

[kdpuffer]

Sorry dude I was out of line, apologies. I hate people like that to and now I am one yay. Anyways the tank looks good.