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What type of tetra would you do if you were doing either a Mbuana tank or a SA tank. Or would you do Rosaboras for a Mbuana tank? lol

Any opinions/advice/help/answers are greatly apperciated!

Thanks in a advance!

10G- 6 Zebra Danios, 1 Upside Down Catfish
20G- 1 Goldfish
72G(maybe95)- Need Stock suggestions

If i were doing a malawi tank i wouldnt bother with the tetras, its nice to keep it authentic, and besides a lot of tetras would not be much good with the more aggressive african rift cichlids. They'd live scared, get fin ripped and the water hardness wouldnt be right for most of them. Perhaps more suitable would be small synodontid catfish from the lakes too.

Its worth keeping malawi cichlids and tanganikan cichlids purely with their countrymen,and keep the lakes seperate too, it avoids so many water quality, disease and aggression issues.So if you must go for tetras make sure youre getting african lake species and not just chucking south american species in and vice versa, at least that would eliminate much of the disease problems in as much as they will at least have a history of exposure to similar diseases via the movement s of waterbirds, and not fall prey to completely alien strains of bacteria and parasite.

As for the south american cichlids, the choice is diverse, although obviously most large SA cichlids are predatory to some degree, certainly enough to polish off small tetras, but ti could be made to work if you stick to small speciies like rams and apistos and maybe dwarf flag cichlids. I find larger silver dollars etc work ok with acaras etc , even toughing it out during breeding times if theres enough room.

In any event , when going for cichlids its better to avoid extremes of size, since many cichlids , particularly the SA ones will make a meal out of anything less than one fifth of their adult length.

Rather than just rattle off a load of species for you why dont you suggest a community that you like the sound of ,perhaps with a few of your favourite fish, and we can make a few moderations for compatability , and kind of teach you how their behaviours might all work together- or not as the case may be. Its your tank, you should fill it with the fish that inspire you, all we need do is prevent compatability mistakes .

First off, what sort of size tank are you thinking of?

Thanks longhair ^^

10G- 6 Zebra Danios, 1 Upside Down Catfish
20G- 1 Goldfish
72G(maybe95)- Need Stock suggestions

If I make enough money I'll def be getting a 72 Gal which will be community and then I'm getting a 95 Gal OR I might just get 2 72Gals. The 95 would be strictly Cichlids and maybe a group of larger tetras or something to put movement at the top.

I like these fish:

Angels
Electric Yellows and Blues
Anything really vibrant with color
I like the Malawi and SA community of fish

Like I said the tank will most likely be 95 Gallons

10G- 6 Zebra Danios, 1 Upside Down Catfish
20G- 1 Goldfish
72G(maybe95)- Need Stock suggestions

I would urge you NOT to put Tetras in any Central African Lake Cichlid tank -- the water suitable for such Cichlids is MUCH too alkaline for virtually any Tetra I can think of. (The likely aggressiveness of such Cichlids against such smaller fish is a secondary consideration.)

I think I'll just look into any kind of schooling fish that can go into the water. Not just tetras. If there's none then that's too bad but, if you want one thing you can't always have the other lol

10G- 6 Zebra Danios, 1 Upside Down Catfish
20G- 1 Goldfish
72G(maybe95)- Need Stock suggestions

I believe there are some African Synodontis catfish that can get along well in such an environment, but I don't know the details. Nor do I know of any smaller mid-water schooling fish that can get along well in such an environment.

I might get some Upside Down Catfish as I have one and I can't even remember where I got it or when(it's been over 11 months) but I could get a few of those maybe?

10G- 6 Zebra Danios, 1 Upside Down Catfish
20G- 1 Goldfish
72G(maybe95)- Need Stock suggestions

I don't believe that they are among the Synodontis that can tolerate such water -- and, if I remember correctly, the Synodontis that can do so are also bottom-dwellers who are fairly large and well-armored against Cichlid attacks. I suggest you make some enquiries before buying ANYTHING besides your Cichlids.

Oh, I definetely will. No need for killing nice fish or wasting money. I don't want to harm any fish that go into my tank(except sometimes I have thoughts of killing Pirahnas-don't ask)

10G- 6 Zebra Danios, 1 Upside Down Catfish
20G- 1 Goldfish
72G(maybe95)- Need Stock suggestions