Tanganyikan V's Mawali,who's more aggressive?

no no I'm not have a scrap between Tanganyikan and Mawalis, I just want to know if there is a concensus as to any difference in aggression between the two strains. I have a 120lt mawlai tank (soon to be upgraded) and mybe its just me but when I visit the LFS it just seems that the Tanganyikan are more passive???? anyone add to this?

Thanks,
T

Hi Tommy, only setup a mawali tank over the last few weeks myself and read about the agressivness etc. but so far so good. Guess i have a lot of juvnilles in the tank so will probably get worse as they get older.
Being in a lot of LFS over the last few months and haven't noticed much of a difference between the two but i say there are plenty of people here who have kept both and will have a good insight to the level of agressivness between the two.

GB

both can be agressive if you get the mix wrong, ie malawis mixed w malawi mbuna, rock dwellers and open area malawis not a great mix, same with tanganikans get mix wrong something is gonna try to eat something else.. also you have to take into account ratio of males to females try 1 m to 4 or 5 females keeps agression down and with a mix like this no one female gets harassed to much...

pick which area (tanganyikan or Malawi) you'd like or the species you'd like to keep and we'll try to help you from there

Afraid It's not a simple answer, there are various genera in both lakes that could be described as hyper aggressive and also relatively peaceful.

It's not really a case of which lake the fish inhabit in the wild but how you mix them. For instance mixing some tropheus Moori from Lake Tanganyikai with a large pseudotropheus zebra from Malawi will quickly lead you to believe that the tropheus Moori are super aggressive, but take the zebra out and put him in with some Sciaenochromis fryeri and Aulonocara hansbaenschi also from Malawi and you will soon believe the zebra is super aggressive. While moori are now living in relative peace.

It's really genus specific and even then species will vary as will individual conspecifics(others of the same species ).

There is also then the sex, age and position in the tank hierarchy that will effect aggression levels in different cichlids, as will tank size, shape, stocking levels etc the list go's on and on!

If your malawi set up is too boisterous it suggests an improper mix of fish possibly resulting from the commonly made error of buying cichlids based on colour. This usually leaves you with a tank full of dominant males that are gonna fight constantly.

personally I think you are asking the wrong question, Select which fish you prefer and build around that fish with compatible fish that won't fight .

I've had Tangs and Malawi Living happily together and there was 6 breeding pairs in that group. It's all about research and trail and error.

Tangs are generally however more specialised in their behaviour and breeding habits, and there are less options available when it comes to mixing species. Also there is a greater size differential amongst the species, from the impressive size of the Frontosa to the tiny shelldwelling species. Tangs are more expensive too, and in my opinion not as fun to keep (except frontosa!)

some of the tangs characteristics are also misleading, For example the mighty looking frontosa are quite easy going and the cute tiny birchardi's can wipe out bigger fish by working as a group, to protect their young.

So the answer is like 6 of 1 half a dozen of the other, both lakes are home to some peaceful and some hyper aggressive cichlids. It's really about the cichlids you choose regardless of lake and how you mix them. This is just a small portion of the intricate hobby of African cichlid keeping. A little off topic but the most aggressive African cichlid is probably the Butti aka tilapia buttikoferi. But thats a riverine cichlid I as far as I can remember.

While I was writing the above post Sheag35 managed to say the exact same thing in a fraction of the space!

sorry trimax lol

Guilty on all counts

wow guys, great replies and thanks for this info, I presumed it was didfficult to identiy the sex of the fish, - i'll have to do more reading on this,

I had to take out the small peacock I purchased at the weekend as he was getting such a hard time, he's approx 1/2 size of others, he's doing fine in the "Quarantine" cough cough 'Second' tank. Normally there's a little bit of chasing bewteen the moori & venustus but thats the worst of it and they have been together in the tank for the last 8mts,

cheers

never had issues mixing tangs all types once a lot of hiding spaces