Fish compatible with Malawi Cichlids

Was going through a few old posts I had missed here and on other forums - i noticed that many fish enthusiasts were confused about what fish are compatible with malawi cichlids.
Since I myself am interested in starting a Malawi tank soon, I thought I'd just bring this up.

Maybe a list can be drawn up.

I've heard of people keeping Sydontis catfish and a so-called 'Malawi eel' with their Malawi cichlids.
Anyone want to elaborate on compatability or perhaps add to this.

 

I have a common plec with mine and the synodontis is a synodontis multipuntus (spellings off) also known as the cuckoo cat fish for various reasons...

 

Personally, I don't like mixing Malawis with other fish. Besides the obvious incompatibilities that may arise due to aggression issues, I just think that Malawis deserve a tank to themselves. There are those that are naturally found in the lake with the cichlids: the eel that you mentioned is an African spiny eel, and there are plenty of catfish that inhabit that lake. However, in the confines of a fishtank, they don't always get on so well, notably the eel that gets bullied out of his food etc. The catfish, such as the Synodontis, work quite well.

The first issue that arises is the water parameters. There are few other places on earth with the same water chemistry as Lake Malawi. The closest 2 places are Lakes Tanganyika and Victoria, and even those differ somewhat (plus 'purist' aquarists don't like mixing species from different lakes). Most other fish avaliable in pet stores hail from South America, central Africa and South-east Asia, where most of the rivers which the fish come from have a low pH and are quite soft in nature. Fish from such rivers would be uncomfortable (if not even unhealthy) in a tank with the water parameters of Lake Malawi, and vice-versa for the Malawians.

That being said, there isn't a rule anywhere that stipulates that you can't mix other fish with them; many people have. Most commonly I see people putting Central/South American cichlids in with Malawis, which does work to an extent. They can take each other's aggression pretty well, plus many of the rivers further North of the Amazon and plenty of the rivers in central America are of a hard and alkaline nature. The only downside is that most Central/South Americans get to a far bigger size than your average Malawi, and I've heard one too many stories about how "my Oscar swallowed my Malawis". From what I've seen, convicts and green terrors seem to have the most success in Malawi tanks.

Plecos can work well, remembering their 'armour' and size can protect them. They can't, however, take a consistent beating from a territorial cichlid, especially if the have nowhere to get away from the aggressor and hide.

My question is though - why would you want to have anything else in the tank with Malawi cichlids? They have some of the best colour and most interesting behaviour that the freshwater aquarium hobby has to offer. IMO, don't mess it up with other fish.

 

With Over 880 species of Malwi Cichlids my question is... Why do you want to put any other fish with Malawi Cichlids?
I agree with @SalmonAfrica on what was said above.
Remember that Malawis need hard alkaline water.
Catfish........why?If you think it is for algae or keeping the bottom clean please remember that Malawi's main diet is algae,except for the few predatory Malawi species.If you have TopTV you can watch " Malawi and The LAKE OF Stars on 300(Top Explore) at 12.35 today.
This will give you a way better understanding of Malawis and their habitat.I also have another documentary, if you want to download it i can integrate it into my website.