Dwarfs vs mbuna

[Hudson Ensz]

i want to know if south american dwarfs are compatable with mbuna? could you give me the water composition of both? what are mbuna compatable with? thanks

[Hudson Ensz]

Are mbuna compatable with dwarfs, Apisto's and rams especially?

[Philippe Burnel]

certainly not !
not for water chemistry, no more for behavior !
forget this

[Colby Dixon]

To keep it simple...I'd say "no" they would not be compatible.

However "dwarf Cichlids" can be a lot of very different fishes, so there may be some exceptions (especially if one is of the opinion that Mbuna like Pseudotropheus demasoni are "dwarf" species)!

Requirements for Mbuna (in my opinion) are:
1)A big tank, one that is at least 4ft long and at bare minimum 55 gallons.
2)LOTS of rocks, caves and hiding spaces in the tank. I mean like 150+ lbs of limestone in a 55 gallon tank...
3)Hard alkaline water. pH of at least 7.8. ~8.2 seems to be a good number to aim for.
4)A low protein diet that contains veggies.

[bantamweight1911]

Mbuna and S.American Dwarfs are in no way compatable.

Water chemistry is completely different. I could write a long post here, but please I think it is better to research this. Why did you think of this?

[PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn]

I hope your not thinking of dwarfs as in things like apistogramma or Mikrogeophagus

If so then a flat NO will suffice, they aren't compatible for water chemistry, tank set-up, aggression, diet (though a bit of a non issue in the long run)

If your thinking dwarf mbuna (such as demasoni or saulosi) then their mbuna, and so long as the the stock list is fairly compatible then there should be no problems

[Colby Dixon]

Editing your own post after people have read it and replied is really annoying...I could have sworn you asked what the requirements for Mbuna are...

To answer your other question, In my experience Mbuna do best with Mbuna...People mix them varying degrees of success with other Malawi Cichlids (such as the "peacocks" and "Utaka") but I don't personally like that mix. Perhaps Tropheus could be kept with Mbuna as diet and water requirements are similar...Again, not something I particularly like, but each their own...

[Ken Boorman]

The mutiple posts in different sections were either merged or moved by Lisa. She must have edited the posts slightly at the same time. Posting essentially the same question in 4 different sections is a waste of forum resources and member's time reading the same thing repeatedly.
That said, I agree wholeheartedly with what everyone is saying - don't mix them.

Ken

[Mark Smith]

Perhaps this thread should be moved to the "For Beginners" section, since the question that Amazon Kid is asking is a classic beginners question.

[Ken Boorman]

Thanks Mark. I moved it

Ken

[Lisachromis]

Editing your own post after people have read it and replied is really annoying...I could have sworn you asked what the requirements for Mbuna are...

To answer your other question, In my experience Mbuna do best with Mbuna...People mix them varying degrees of success with other Malawi Cichlids (such as the "peacocks" and "Utaka") but I don't personally like that mix. Perhaps Tropheus could be kept with Mbuna as diet and water requirements are similar...Again, not something I particularly like, but each their own...

I combined 4 threads into one since basically the same question was asked in each, and took out 2 of his questions. I felt the rest pretty much followed the questions. I did not modify any person's actual reply. I believe that most members cannot edit their own posts.