what kind of fish can be kept together

Question
hello,  I WAS WONDERING IF I COULD PUT MBUNA FISHES IN WITH MY FRONTOSA AND MY PEACOK.  I ALSO WANTED TO PUT MY RED EMPRESS IN THE SAME TANK.  I HAVE BEEN KEEPING MY KENYI AND RED ZEBRA IN A TANK TOGETHER,AND I HAVE MY PEACOCK ,2 FRONTOSA AND 2 ELECTRIC YELLOWS IN ATANK TOGETHER. I ALSO HAVE A RED EMPRESS IN ANOTHER TANK WITH SOME MORE PEACOKS. I WAS TOLD NOT TO MIX THE MBUNAS WITH THE HAPS OR PEACOCKS. BUT MY ELECTRIC YELLOW ARE FINE WTIH THE OTHER FISH. I KNOW THAT MBUNAS ARE USUALLY MORE AGRESSIVE  .  SO SHOULD I TAKE A CHANCE AND SEE HOW IT WORKS OUT OR JUST LEAVE THEM WHERE THEY ARE. I KNOW THE RED EMPRESS CAN GO IN WITH THE PEACOCKS.  I WANT TO ADD THESE FISHES TO MY 55 GALLON.  THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR HELP.

Answer
Hi Kwanda,
 There isn't any hard and fast rule on this sort of thing. The important thing is that the tank have lots of structure (rock usually) to break up the space such that if one of the fish is being chased, it has a place to go and hide.  

 Also, watch very closely in the hours and days after you put them together to see how it is going.  There will be some fighting at first, but it should settle down a bit over time.

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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