Why can't they all just get along?

I recognize that conflict is a fact of life among Cichlids, but I like to minimize it as much as possible. The two approaches here are 1) select only those Cichlids that are very peaceful or 2) distract them.

There are a couple of ways to distract aggressive Cichlids and reduce harmful aggessiveness. One way is to overcrowd them. The theory of overcrowding, i.e. somewhat more than 1 fish inch per gallon, is that the aggression gets dispersed and no single fish gets harassed too much. Plenty of caves are necessary, frequent water changes are essential, and believe me, deaths will still occur. Another way is to get what are called “dither fish.” This surprising term refers to fish of other species that are free swimming and non-combative. The Cichlids chase them and harass each other a little less. The dither fish must be fast enough to avoid the more aggressive Cichlids and they must be able to tolerate the high pH. I have had pretty good success using Boesmani Rainbow fish for this purpose. They are colorful and interesting and manage to avoid the Cichlids pretty well. Another possible fish to use is the Giant Danio, as long as your Cichlids aren’t too large. Dither fish have the added advantage of encouraging shy Cichlids to come out of their hiding places.

But I like the approach of selecting among the more peaceable Cichlids. I prefer to have fish that more or less get along. To this end, I recommend Labidochromis Caeruleus (Yellow Labs), Labidochromis Perlmutts, Pseudotropheus Acei, Cynotilapia Afra, and Peacocks. At the other extreme, I would stay away from the Auratus, Venustus, and any of the Melanochromis species (e.g., the Electric Blue Johanni). I have also had luck keeping some compatible non-Cichlid species. A personal favorite is the Synodontis Multipunctatis, a pleasant and amusing catfish. I have kept Plecos and Orange-Finned Blue Botia (Botia Modesta) very successfully with my Cichlids as well.