# african cichlids with flowerhorns?



## hakeemtito (Oct 3, 2003)

i've got 2 flowerhorns that seem to love each other and a foot long silver arowana that just swims on the top (tank is 2' tall). if i put a bunch of hiding spots, do you think my 5-6 inch flowerhorn will bother the african cichilds. the colors on some of the africans are pretty crazy.


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## Poseidon X (Jan 31, 2003)

the flowerhorns will eat all of them, i dont see them standign a chance in there.


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## Puma (Jan 27, 2004)

aside from the fact that YES they will likely eat your african cichlids, they also have completely different dietary needs than your african ciclhids....granted that we are talking about mbuna here....?

mbuna (well most species anyway) eat mainly algae found in and around their rock-laiden homes and dont fair well on a carnivorous diet at all- so feeding both them and your FH will not be easy.

THEN, there is the problem of your arrowana.

arrowanas are VERY jumpy, and i am willing to bet that the second your FH takes a shot at him he will jump the tank.....they do it all the time.

once your FH gets larger, there is also a pretty good chance of him tearing up your pretty arrowana also.

not a good combination of fish, you might try removing some of them into separate tanks or taking some of those fish back.


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## Poseidon X (Jan 31, 2003)

LOL YEAH, ARROWANA ARE SUSPOSED HARD BITERS... BUT THEIR ARE PLENTY OF PEOPLE WHO HAVE HAD A WHOLE FIST IN A 4FT ARROWANA MOUTH THAT SAY IT IS NOTHING LIKE GETTING YOUR HAND TORN UP BY A FH.. SO I DONT KNOW HOW ARROWANA WOULD FLY, JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE MORE OF A TOP FISH.. AS COMPARED TO YOU KEEPING FLOWEHORN WITH POLYPETERUS WHERE THEY BEHAVE IN A WAY THAT IS MORE SUITING OF A FLOWERHORN TANKMATE


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## Lahot (May 20, 2003)

I kept 3 zebras and a yellow lab that were all in the 2-3" range with my 8" FH for about a month without a problem. This FH ate 20 exos and about 10 giant danios, so it's not that it isn't aggressive.

It did chase them, especially the yellow lab which was the smallest of the fish at 2", but never did any damage to them. Only major problem was trying to get food past the FH to them


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## piranha45 (Apr 8, 2003)

Lahot said:


> I kept 3 zebras and a yellow lab that were all in the 2-3" range with my 8" FH for about a month without a problem. This FH ate 20 exos and about 10 giant danios, so it's not that it isn't aggressive.
> 
> It did chase them, especially the yellow lab which was the smallest of the fish at 2", but never did any damage to them. Only major problem was trying to get food past the FH to them


I agree with this statement. I know it may sound pretty odd to say, but I feel that these cichlids somehow 'know their own' or something. I have Texas cichlid that will absolutely destroy any non-cichlid tankmate I put in with him, or any other cichlids similar to him in size. But I can keep much smaller cichlids like mbuna and juvenile CAs with him with no problem at all. This is not ALWAYS the case though, and there's still definitely instances of large CAs gobbling down africans, but it doesn't seem to be nearly as prevalent as the initial posts would have you believe. There are a great number of people out there who do this practice with much success.

Go out to the lfs, buy one mbuna, and try it. If he doesn't harm it, add more.


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## Poseidon X (Jan 31, 2003)

yeah but doing that would mean having to add rocks or pots to hide in, this will lead to the FH charging and knocking them over... I have seen my red dragon completely smash the cave that the 7" royal pleco was hiding in to get at him and gashing up his kok in the process..Certain breeds are just alot more aggressive then others, the short bodies that exoticflowerhorns was selling are all nut cases. Others might like company.


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## Kory (Jun 5, 2003)

piranha45 said:


> Lahot said:
> 
> 
> > I kept 3 zebras and a yellow lab that were all in the 2-3" range with my 8" FH for about a month without a problem. This FH ate 20 exos and about 10 giant danios, so it's not that it isn't aggressive.
> ...


My Oscar is the same way. It's kind of strange because any non-cichlids are seen as feeders to him. But now I got a 2 in JD, GT, and Texas in with him and he just ignores them for the most part utill the little guys fight then he comes over to investigate.


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## Innes (Jan 13, 2003)

Poseidon X said:


> the flowerhorns will eat all of them, i dont see them standign a chance in there.


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## Poseidon X (Jan 31, 2003)

I dont think its fair to compare an oscar to a flowerhorn.. there is a huge margin in aggression level. Oscars are generally peacful towards other small fish that they dont see a threat, yet are to fast or slightly to large to eat. face it.. the africans will die lol, short term success is only delayed failure. Try a bichir instead.


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## Puma (Jan 27, 2004)

i agree, they are not overly aggressive comparatively.

i think he was just sharing a similar experience though, and not trying to make a comparison.


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## Poseidon X (Jan 31, 2003)

annubisscott has a really mean oscar though lol... its got a bad temper


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## Poseidon X (Jan 31, 2003)

annubisscott has a really mean oscar though lol... its got a bad temper


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## Kory (Jun 5, 2003)

My Oscar is aggressive as hell too.

Relax Poseiden I was just giving an example. Get off your high horse about your god damn flower horns.


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## thoroughbred (Mar 14, 2003)

Kory said:


> My Oscar is aggressive as hell too.
> 
> Relax Poseiden I was just giving an example. Get off your high horse about your god damn flower horns.


 sheesh relax i think px was just letting u know like we all do that for the most part a fh is more aggresive and bitchy than an oscar btw get a parrot fish in that tank and get rid oif arrowana they have more of a chance to live


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## Poseidon X (Jan 31, 2003)

yeah get parrots.. try to get KK parrots as they are awesome cichlids and can be found in california


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