Fish Compatibility in the Freshwater Aquarium

Why are some fish dangerous or incompatible with others? Some are aggressive in nature or may have different dietary requirements or need to be in cold or warm water. Based on questions submitted by readers, here are examples of some fish that cannot be placed in the same aquarium.

Question: I have a 48 gallon tank, with a few Malawian cichlids. Will the cichlids bother the Tiger barbs, or will the barbs bother the cichlids? Can I keep these fish together?

Answer: You should not mix Tiger barbs with cichlids.Barbs can be fin nippers, but are not as aggressive as the cichlids. If you still insist on keeping them together, you need to over load your aquarium with fish until there’s no reason to show aggression. Even then, the Barbs will not fare too well. Also the ph value is different for cichlids and barbs. The barbs need a ph around 7 and cichlids need a lot higher like into the 8s.

Question: I know everywhere I look on the internet it says to not keep Buttikoferis cichlids with other fish. But they also say that about red devil cichlids. I have two bumble bee catfish as well.I want a nice show fish for my 90 gallon tank so should I mix these fish?

Answer: If you want to create a show tank out of your 90 gallon aquarium, the Butterikoferis cichlids are not a suitable fish for showing. These fish grow very large and have a real bad attitude. You would find it a big challenge to keep anything else alive in the tank including your Bumble Bee catfish. The other fish might stand a chance if lots of hiding places are provided for them where the cichlids can’t get at them. The Butterikoferis are diggers and will rearrange the tank to suit themselves and not the owner. You may change everything back but the next morning it will be arranged again. For this reason alone, this makes them a bad candidate for a show tank.

Question: Can a Koi live with a Betta in a 10 gallon aquarium?

Answer: Koi are cold water fish, and they tend to grow rapidly (3 to 4 feet long). Koi should not be kept in anything short of a 1000 gallon pond. Your betta is a tropical fish and requires heated water. One of your two fish will suffer no matter how you look at it. The Koi would outgrow the small tank within a month and most likely have your betta for lunch. This is definitely not a good plan. Try a small fancy gold fish with your betta if you want the orange color. There’s lots of tropical fish that will go with bettas such as neon tetras, guppies, swordtails and cory catfish.

Question: Can a male Betta be kept with Cichlid Rams?

Answer: As with any Cichlid they can be good and they can be bad. Rams are not known to be aggressive, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. You should be safe to try it.

Question: What fish get along with Bumble Bee Catfish?

Answer: These fish can and will grow above the 7 inch mark. They love eating small fish and live foods under three inches in length. These fish will basically eat anything you feed them. Decorating the tank with rocks, driftwood, hearty plants and not too much light will keep these fish happy. For tank mates you can have cichlids of the same size or bigger. Anything smaller would be eaten.