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220 GALLON MONSTER TANK AROWANA , PEACOCK BASS, SNAKEHEADS ETC UPDATE ! 7/1/2009

question for african cichlids owners?

i have a 90 gallon tank that has been cycling for a week now ( i used old filter media from my old tank for cycling)
today i added my first 2 fish
female or male auratus/golden mbuna ( its golden/yellow with black stripes i guess thats female)
and
a dogtooth or demasoni cichlid ( they look quiet simillar so im not sure)
they arent big ( about 1 -2 inches)

It’s best to not mix lakes, some have had great success with it, but most of the time it’s a complete disaster.

Also keep in mind that Mbuna aren’t pairing fish, they are harem style breeders and do best if kept all male or 1m per 2f.

I’m partial to Mbuna and with 90 gallons you can do a beautiful tank with a wide array of colors. I have a 55 setup with just mbuna and the contrasting colors people think it’s a saltwater tank (I am also using black lace rock which does look like live rock).

Also keep in mind that for the majority of the Melachromis species (this would be your Auratus) that males and females look similuar until they are adults, same goes for the Kenyi, so they get hard to sex until then.

I just read Rolando D’s response and I want to comment that his tank is an exception, not a rule to go by. Not only to African and American Cichlids require different water parameters, they have completely different temperments. Like I mentioned, it has worked before as Rolando can attest to, I just would never recommend it as 9 times out of 10 it won’t work out.