Needlenose Gars

Saw some small ones at a local pet store, found them very interesting. They were being kept with other highly agressive species. The young man working there advised to only keep them with species like African Cichlids. Buy them all small and let them grow together.

Now that I've decided to use the 55G for the Cichlids - will this be a suitable mixing of species for the next year? I'm purchasing a HD shelving unit that can handle a 90G on the bottom in the future - so I am not against looking to upsize next summer for the following school year. If the fish grow too large for a 55G that quickly.

I also noticed in the Barb book, that certain aggressive Barbs were suitable to mix with Cichlids and helped calm them down. Would I still need them with the Gars - or would the Gars simply enjoy them as a hard-earned snack?

- Laura

Oops! Forgot to add that I learned over vacation that Angelfish were also aggressive Cichlids. (Gotta love boredom and a bunch of new and old pet info books)

Would Angels be a better blend with Africans than Gars? Both of those species seem to stay in the upper regions of the water column while Africans like the bottom.

Or would the aggressive Barbs be too much for Angels to tolerate?

Do not mix africans with any of the above. I have never tried to mix africans and gars so I won't speak on that(I wouldn't do it because the gar would be harassed, but for sure no africans and angels. On a cichlid aggression scale, angels would be a 1 or a 2 on a 10 point scale and most africans would be a 6-10.

I would figure out which is your favorite, or keep multiple tanks.

do not mix gars and Africans, one or the other will get eaten.
If you want to do African cichlids pick a rift lake and go from there. Most fish in the same lake have the same basic water needs, then its just a question of aggression compatibility.

im pretty sure the gars with eat the africans so is not a very good idea..