Cichlids and Other Fish

When it comes to African cichlids and other types of aquarium fish it is not a good idea to put them together in the same tank. Even though cichlids look beautiful and harmless, they are very aggressive fish and they will harass and kill foreign fish and even fish of their own species. So to save you time and money I recommend that you never put other tropical fish in with African cichlids, because even aggressive tropical fish will not have a chance against them. They are just plain mean when it comes to other fish especially if they are breeding cichlids.

You can keep in your tank any type of cichlid species found in Lake Malawi but you don't want to ever mix South American cichlids and African cichlids together! You must only choose one or the other, you cannot mix different regions together because it will prove to be disastrous!

But you may be wondering, how do I keep my tank free of algae, can I put in a bottom feeder fish or an algae cleaner with my cichlids? My recommendation on this subject is

Cichlid Aggression Prevention

Cichlid aggression prevention is a very important topic when it comes to these tropical freshwater fish. If certain cichlids are allowed to be bullies in the tank this can cause undo stress on the other fish and may cause a rise in disease and death. That would not be good! So probably the best way to avoid conflict between your fish is to make sure that you have lots of cichlids in the aquarium. It seems like a strange concept but if you put in a lot of cichlids they won't have enough space to establish territories and the result can be peace in the tank with less aggression. Believe it or not, this concept works!

Within the African cichlids natural habitat, they are aggressive by nature and it is not uncommon to see them chasing each other around. Or you may see them peck at each other's fins or may appear to be fighting face to face. This is their normal action and behavior but if you notice that a single fish is constantly being picked on, then you will want to pay close attention. The peace of the tank can disappear quickly and the fish could get sick or die and sadly this can easily spread sickness and death throughout your aquarium.
Here is some advice to help you prevent cichlid aggression if this type of behavior becomes apparent in your tank:

If a particular cichlid keeps chasing other fish away from a particular area this is a good sign that it has established a territory to protect. You can eliminate this aggression by re-arranging the decorations in your tank, thus taking away the bullies area, which levels the playing field again.

If it continues to happen, it's a good possibility that you may need to add some more fish because obviously there is enough space to establish territories. Never just add the fish and walk away. Cichlids are very smart fish and they will immediately begin to pick on the newbie. Add your fish when you do a water change and when you change the water, move the decorations around. By the time the stress of the water change wears off, they probably won't even

Choosing African Cichlids

You may be like me and like the tropical fish species called Mbuna cichlids. If this is the species that you have chosen to put into your tank then, good for you! I will like to suggest that when choosing African cichlids that you purchase all the cichlids you want at one time. It is not a good idea to buy a few now and then a few more later because the original cichlids in the tank will have probably already established boundaries and adding in new cichlids could cause some major fighting. By adding them all at the same time eliminates one particular species from gaining total control and terrorizing the rest in the tank. This approach can level the playing field, so to speak. But if you already have a few Malawian cichlids in your tank and you want to add some more then read the post I wrote called "Cichlid Aggression Prevention". And of course that post can help you if some fighting does start in your tank some time in the future (hopefully this doesn't happen, but it can, so watch your cichlids on a regular basis).

After your tank has cycled, you will then want to purchase healthy fish. What are some things to look for to make sure your fish are healthy? Look for fish that are active within the tank. If they are staying at the bottom or hanging out at the top without much movement, it's a good possibility that the fish is sick or stressed. Pick the fish that are freely swimming around with others. If the abdomen of the fish appears to be fat