Pet Forum / Aquaria / Cichlids / August 2005

There are many fish that will co-exist happily together. Whether or not it's
a good idea, is up to you and what type of tank you want to maintain. N.
brichardi are pretty grumpy little fish and can hold their own against a
large number of other cichlids. pH and hardness are similar enough for
inhabitants from Lake Tanganyika to mix with inhabitants of Lake Malawi. You
should compare other things however. Some cichlids from Lake Malawi may be
too sensitive to be picked on by the N. brichardi and some of the more
aggressive Mbunas or large predators from Lake Malawi may not do well with
the the brichardi. Taking the dietary needs of the fish into consideration,
N. brichardi my not appreciate a pure vegetable diet if you're keeping
Mbuna. There's all these things to consider.
Tim
http://www.fishaholics.org

Brichardi are tough lil buggers and will do fine in a Malawi tank. It's
not the Brichardi I would worry about, it's their tankmates. Hard to
believe, because they are such "pretty" fish.

Individuals of this species participate in a multi-generational system
of rearing their young. Offspring form a perimeter around mating pairs
and their new fry and chase away anything that approaches it. In
aquariums, Brichardi are known for roughing up or outright killing their
tankmates. If you want to have more than one Brichardi in a mixed setup,
make sure you don't have any mating pairs, or just do a Brichardi only
setup.