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Compatibility question

1K views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  conger 
#1 ·
Hi all,

does anyone have suggestions on what might make some good tank-mates for the cichlids I've already got in my tank? It's a 55-gallon tank, and currently contains a Julidochromis, and an Albino Zebra. They get along fine, however they have been alone in the tank since I set it up, which was about 6 months ago.

I'm worried that anything else I add at this point will get harrassed... the Zebra is only about 2"-3" long, and the Julie is about 4"-5" long. Should I add maybe two or three new cichlids in at the same time, as well as re-arrange the layout of the tank, to break up territories and not have the two current inhabitants gang up on a single new guy? The Zebra and Julie don't seem to have really "established" territories right now anyways, they both swim everywhere, and basically never 'argue' (probably twice since the tank has been up, I've seen the Julie lunge at the Zebra, but its a single swipe and doesn't persist). They get along surprisingly well actually.

Anyways, any suggested inhabitants would be greatly appreciated! I want to get more cichlids in this tank for more activity, but don't want to create a slaughterhouse :-D.
 
#2 ·
Well the thing is you've got fish from 2 different lakes. The julidochromis is from Tanganyika and the Zebra is from Lake Malawi. They may be getting along but chances are if you put in more malawis or more tanganyikans you'll have some aggression problems. Other Tanganyikans that would be good are lamprologus, like leleupi and brichardi, other good julidochromis would be ornatus, transcriptus, and regani. These guys dont get as big as the malawis and are more longer bodied. I would stick to one lake to avoid problem. So I would suggest getting rid of either the malawi or tanganyikan. Both have a variety of colors so its up to you. They can get along but its kind of hit or miss and you dont want to spend a lot of money on a fish thats going to be mauled to death. Anyways good luck.
 
#3 ·
thanks for the info kamazza! That's good advice... I'll return the zerba to the LFS and stick with tanganyika cichlids.
 
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