# mixing malawi & tanganyika cichlids



## earhtmother (Mar 7, 2010)

complete newbie to cichlids here (not to fish keeping though) I was wondering if I could put "electric yellow" labs(?) in with Julidochromus ornatus? I know the yellows take a "slightly" softer water than the ornatus but I figure a middle ground of 8.6 or so might be ok. They are both rock dwellers so habitats are similar and as everything I read says the yellows are not 'that" aggressive and any ornatus I have seen in shop tanks seem to be reasonable as well so I was hoping they could co-exist with a reasonable amount of pecking order confrontations.

on a different note, a pet store I go to "out of town" has offered me all the ornatus(30 or so) in his tank if I fish them out myself, so I was thinking I woould take him up on the offer then trade them at my local store for supplies. Only trouble is I have no idea what they normally sell for? I was thinking in the $3-$4 range but that is a guess based on what I have seen with other cichlids when I have been browsing tanks. Anyone have any better ideas?

elaine


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Nothing to contribute on the lab/juli combination, but it's typical here in the US for a store to accept your trade-in cichlids for about 1/3 what they can sell them for in store credit.

Also, they often don't want to take too many of the same fish at one time. So you may need to house the juli's and trade them back over a period of six months or a year.

You might want to check with the store first unless you have other outlets for the juli's. Does the local store stock ornatus normally?


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## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

I have kept labs and ornatus together without issue (or at least without noteworthy issues). 75g tank is a great size... pH of 7.6 or higher is fine. Neither species seems to care that much IME and IMHO.

I used to sell small julies for $1, and larger ones for $5 up on Ontario... for trade/selling to LFS, I wouldn't expect more than about a $1. If you got anything over a $1, I'd be happy.


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## aquariam (Feb 11, 2010)

earhtmother said:


> complete newbie to cichlids here (not to fish keeping though) I was wondering if I could put "electric yellow" labs(?) in with Julidochromus ornatus? I know the yellows take a "slightly" softer water than the ornatus but I figure a middle ground of 8.6 or so might be ok. They are both rock dwellers so habitats are similar and as everything I read says the yellows are not 'that" aggressive and any ornatus I have seen in shop tanks seem to be reasonable as well so I was hoping they could co-exist with a reasonable amount of pecking order confrontations.
> 
> on a different note, a pet store I go to "out of town" has offered me all the ornatus(30 or so) in his tank if I fish them out myself, so I was thinking I woould take him up on the offer then trade them at my local store for supplies. Only trouble is I have no idea what they normally sell for? I was thinking in the $3-$4 range but that is a guess based on what I have seen with other cichlids when I have been browsing tanks. Anyone have any better ideas?
> 
> elaine


Don't screw with your water. People always want to mess with water chemistry when they're new and they never do it properly. I was one of them. Just take whatever your tap water is, provided it's 7.6+ and reasonably hard, and you'll be ok. Using a crushed coral substrate would also work but consistency is the most important thing.

In a really large aquarium a small group of yellow labs and a small group of julidochromis probably wouldn't bother eachother much. I don't think it's a dangerous combination, but you'd need something at least four feet long and two feet deep to guarantee that. In something a bit smaller, like a 4x1 ft, it's conceivable that something like 1 male and four female labs and maybe a trio (1m/2f) of julidochromis would be ok. In any event they certainly wouldn't kill eachother, but I'm not sure how much fighting you'd actually get. It'd likely be minor.

So yes, just do it carefully.

And never judge a fish's disposition from what you see in a store tank. Overcrowded fish, sick fish, shocked fish won't show aggression. If you put a fish with a conspecific it doesn't like, etc, it'll be an aggressive fish.


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