cichlids and mollies?

[Guest]

I have 5 very small cichlids in my 29gal tank.

1 yellow lab
1 electric blue
1 mawalhi yellow
2 GBRs


I would like to know if it would be safe to take my dalmation molly out of my 20 gal community and move her to the cichlid tank.

TYVM

 

[kay-bee19]

Sorry, but the majority of your fish are lake malawi african cichlids: (yellow lab, the electric blue, and presumeably the malawi yellow, although I'm not familiar with that common name).

They're incompatible with GBRs and mollies and do best among their own kind due to their aggressive nature and/or water requirements.

Additionally a 29-gal may ultimately prove too small for most lake malawi cichlids (these fish require larger territories...55-gal+). Their aggression will manifest itself as they mature...so your current set up may deceptively appear quite peacefull at the moment because they're small and young. Full grown mbuna (or haps, if your electric blue is of the sciaenochromis genus rather than melanochromis) are quite capable (and probably inclined) to kill tropicals like mollies.

I don't know if GBRs and mollies are compatible with each other, though.

 

[Guest]

i figured this much. I have a 40 gal cycling right now that i am going to move the lab, yellow and blue to when it is ready.

 

[Zagz]

Malawi cichlids can't go in with mollies. GBR's and mollies can go together, providing the tank is big enough.

 

[talloulou]

Some of the less aggressive south american cichlids can be mixed with non-cichlids but africans can not be mixed with south american or anything else really except a pleco.

 

[toddnbecka]

GBR's do best with soft, neutral-acidic water, while African cichlids and mollies are the opposite. Hard, alkaline (pH 8+) will be great for them. I have kept sailfin mollies with yellow Lab's and Julie's in a 55 w/no problems between them. The problem w/the mollies was the fry, produced like clockwork, that didn't all get eaten. I finally took all the mollies back to the lfs, tired of netting out young ones close to breeding size. They would have overcrowded the tank if left alone.