# Aulonocara german red



## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

Does anyone have any experience with this cichlid. Pablo if you read this I really like the look and found a breeder can I add this to my tank everything Ive read says its pretty peaceful .Thanks Pat


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

Yes no problem. The only thing I would be concerned about is that these fish are as tough as pillow stuffing. So, you would be unwise to add aggressive fish after going for peacocks.

So, I'd avoid things like Demasoni, zebras, a lot of the pseudotropheus.

I still think one of the prettiest things you can do, and failsafe, is to buy a bunch of the Pseudotropheus acei, a bunch of the labs, maybe leave your electric blue a loner (he will be ok) and then add like 3 or 4 peacocks for color.

you can get this german red male, then maybe a maulana male, maybe a baenschi male, etc etc and get a color combo you like. You'd probably like fire fish.

Google "aulonocara firefish"

You can usually only buy them as little things but once they grow up theyre awesome. Darius gets AMAZING ones. Hard man to make an appointment with sometimes.

And remember- theres enough caves for everyone in the lake- so do the same at home. there should be one cave for every single fish in your tank (small caves) and then a few large communal caves where five or so fish can fit together. I find this makes for a natural and relaxed setup. Fish that constantly scuffle over territory and have no feeling of 'this is MY cave' dont really seem happy/healthy

Also- dont overstock the tank. I know a lot of people overstock malawi tanks to 'keep aggression down' but a much better way to do that is to do a smart and helpful for the fish kind of setup from the get go, plan your fish types, only buy those, and really carefully tailor the whole thing.

Remember- you're putting several territorial fish together.

Its not like getting 10 tetras 8 corys and one ram and the only thing thats going to be bossy is the ram and maybe the alpha cory and the tetras keep to themselves


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## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

Pablo said:


> Yes no problem. The only thing I would be concerned about is that these fish are as tough as pillow stuffing. So, you would be unwise to add aggressive fish after going for peacocks.
> 
> So, I'd avoid things like Demasoni, zebras, a lot of the pseudotropheus.
> 
> ...


Thanks Pablo I read that these are very peaceful but if not I think ill skip it not adding anything just yet anyway and thanks going to the cottage today and wil pick up some more granite trying to find some nice orange color.Yes your right I dont want to overstock the tank.Thanks for all the info Pat Ps those firefish are so cool looking I think I have my list figured out but Iam going to think on it over the weekend then I post it and you can check it for me. Thanks all you help is certainly appreciated Pat.


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## Pablo (Mar 27, 2006)

So you dont want peacocks then??

I hope I didnt scare you off them or something. Its one of the better things you could get. Always better to have a peaceful tank.

http://research.yale.edu/peabody/CICHLID/CK/empress.jpg

Red Empress would also be a cool fish. http://southafricancichlids.com/yahoo_site_admin/assets/images/Picture_116.190171416_std.jpg

Relatively peaceful also. And very pretty, and active and fun to watch.


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