Crossing lakes

[Superfly724]

I guess I should know better, but I thought I'd ask opinions on a subject of mixing lake species. Due to some stupid mistakes on my part I lost a whole school of Paracyp. Nigrippinis, and also lost my Tanganyikan Goby to bloat. That was an extremely expensive mistake. I currently now have 2 Juli. Marlieri, 7 Bevis, 6 Leleupi, and one Calvus in a 90 gallon tank with with a bunch of rock. As you can imagine, there's not a whole lot going on around the mid-to-top regions of the tank.

I had kept an Astatotilapia Latifasciata in my 55 gallon when I was attempting a bachelor Aulonocara tank a few years back, and they've just been tugging on me ever since. What do you think the chances are of keeping 2 male, and 6 female Zebra Oblique's in with my current stocking list? I know the Tang's like harder water, but with the docile nature of the Zebra's (docile for cichlid, that is) I'm considering giving it a try. Opinions?

[emc7]

The bigger the tank, the better the chance of success. I often put victorians in with malawians when I need space. I have seen large display tanks with Malawian peacocks and julies or lelupi in a rock pile. Other than the obvious water chem. (IME Malawians will survive in water from Victorian to Tanginiakian properties) there are a few concerns, Mouth size rule (skinny tangs often fit nicely in big mouths), both fish getting enough food, and mixing diets, put simple chasing. You wouldn't put tropheus that need greens with julies that need meat unless you could train them to leave the other fish's food alone. You don't want bloat. It can work when the fish don't want the same area. One is from sand and one is from rocks and there is lots of space.

[Superfly724]

The mouth size is really my biggest concern when you've got a 5-6 inch Victorian in the same tank as the Brevis, but all of my Brevis are full-grown and the largest ones are around 2-2.5 inches. My Calvus is so small right now, even after a year, that he's not going to be a concern for another good long while, and I've read that Calvus being raised from a juvenile with smaller fish tend to not eat them, though I don't know how true that is with them being opportunistic feeders. Everything is Omnivorous for the most part and enjoys a mixture of the New Life Spectrum pellets, and brine shrimp.

I think I may give it a go. I convinced the guy at Premier Aquatics in Marietta (formerly Marine Fish and Reef) to order some Zebra Obliquidens with their next shipment, so I might as well.

[emc7]

You could try a post on the AAAA board. The meeting is Sunday. I see them at auctions, but they may be from SC.

I put some endler's in with compressiceps to see if they would supplement their pellet and blackworm diet. They ignored them for a while and then just killed them, didn't eat them. Kind of unpredictable fish.

In general, I don't like putting anything else with tangs. They grow slow and risk getting eaten and they usually cost 2-3 times the Malawians or Victorian so you'd feel really stupid if it goes south.

Have you considered just switching them all out. Tangs are scarce in Atl, you could maybe swap them for a whole tankful or Malawi or Victoria cichlid fry that would grow up in only a year.

[Superfly724]

I've considered switching them. I've just grown so attached. But I've definitely considered it. I really regret doing a Tang tank in a 90 gallon. It's too small for the larger Tangs like Frontosa and the like, and it's so big for these tiny little fish. I have so much unused space, but don't have the heart to get rid of them. Especially the Brevis. They're probably my all-time favorite fish. I've considered just putting a pair of Brevis in my 10, and switching the 90 to Malawi or Vic's, but it would take a lot of convincing. Not to mention my girlfriend would kill me. She loves them almost as much as I do. If I had the funds I would just switch my current stock to a 40 breeder tank. There's so much base area for shells, and just enough height to add enough rocks for the Juli's, Leleupi, and Calvus.

I stopped in the Petland in Kennesaw today. 1 1/2 inch Calvus and Compressiceps are $40 a piece. 2 inch Mbuna are $3.99. Why did I have to fall in love with the expensive ones...?

[emc7]

I have multies in a 15. You can def. put a pair or trio of brevis in the 10. Breed them and use the fry to fund your expansion.

I usually say buy fish that will live in your tank for their whole lives. But really popular fish like fronts and angels, you can buy small and sell before they outgrow the tank. There is plenty of demand.