Why I went into African Cichlids
Exotic African Cichlids are kinda hard to find at most
pet stores, I didn't even know most even exist until I checked out the internet. Survival rates are
very good, the prices of cichlids are a little more than standard tropical fish offered, but the quality
and colors of these fish are very rewarding. They are mouthbrooders, it means the females hold the eggs and hatch
in thier mouth, and then released. The female do not eat during the hold, and usually takes 3 weeks. It's
more fun to watch them run around the tank, see the males struts thier fins in front of the females. Cichlids
breed often, it's exciting to get some young fry and raise them as your own, fairly easy to do. There
are so many speicies out there you can find in about every color you can choose for.
Wild fish (known as F0) are caught in Africa and imported overseas.
F1's are tank raised and called the first generation of wild parents (F0). F2 are from
F1 parents, and so on.
How many should I get?
Keep in mind, these fish can be a little agressive, but it
can be controlled by keeping the tank crowded.
For example, if you start out with a small number
of ciclids (lets say...4 )will create territories in the tank, each will have 3 others to chase away.
If you have 12 in the tank, are your fish going to keep an eye on all 11 tankmates? By adding more, the fish gets
more confused and therefore reduce agression.
It is not wise to mix other kind of fish with Africans, they adapt
to different water parameters than South American fish (angelfish, Oscar, Severum, etc). African Cichlids live in a
rocky environment and likes high ph in the 8-8.5 range.
I've had far less turnovers on this african than any other common
species I had in the past. They are very hardy fish.
Tank set up:
No questions you can get your tank set up pretty cheap!
Shop online over Aquabid and Ebay! No need to pay LFS store prices. There's always some good tanks
out there. Get the biggest you can afford. Almost all my tanks pictured below are bought used. I prefer
quality stand and canopy to go along with the tank for the living areas.
Remember, if you start small, ask yourself if you will wish for something bigger.
Bigger tanks are easier to maintain and allow fish plenty of room in your tank.
Minimum tank size I would recommend is 50 or 55 gallon (48" x 12" footprint).
Why bigger tanks? You will need to have a colony of 2 or 3 different species. You
can't cram all these in a 10 to 29 gallon tanks, they will kill each other for space.
Put 3 or 4 in a small tank?....still not a good idea.
Substrates:
I've learned that cichlids love sand over gravel. And
what's better, you can find the substrates at your hardware store really cheap! I got silicia sand (sandblasting
sand) since they are cleaner and whiter, for under $8 per 100lb bag at Home Depot! Pet stores sells them for
$1/pound and up!
As for slates, head over to the landscape companies.
Purchasing Aquarium Supplies:
If you have Petsmart nearby..go to their website and find you want,
but don't order them online, instead, print them out and take it to the store! You avoid shipping cost doing this way. Petsmart
internet prices can be as much as 40-50% off on some items, for example: Penquin filter store price $45, interenet price,
26.99..the sales clerks calls the manager and the manager meets the price...it's store policy. I did the same for heaters,
plants and fish food..I saved alot and so can you!
If you want to order online, I would recommend Bigalsonline.com, Petsolutions.com or
Dr.Foster/Smith
Looking for cichlids at Pet Stores:
You can drive from one pet store to another to see what they have, imagine
how much gas you will burn to search around? Chances you will not even find half of what you are looking for, and
second, their prices may be out of reach! Many colorful ones are sold very quickly as soon they reach the store.
You will have a better chance finding your colorful fish, expecially
better pure strains by connecting with breeders and hobbyists, you can buy fish for prices as much as half
the cost than LFS (local fish store) would sell for, and better yet, good strains comes from breeders/hobbyists
since they usually go the extra distances to find rarer fish, and many actually have the parent fish for you to see what
the youngs will grow up to be.
One more advantage: breeders and hobbyist have better knowledge on cichlids. They save
you money! They learned what went thru and will share you valuable info how to take care of them the right way.
Recently I have taken notice that some LFS stores are buying cichlids as tradeins..often many
do not know the species, many are in poor quality and could be hybrids...so beware.
Acrylic vs Glass Tanks
This is a tough decision, but to my opinion, I prefer acrylic over glass for several reasons.
The pros are being lightweight, unique shapes and designs, and better clarity (does a better job for photography). The
cons are that they stratches easily and cost.
Acrylic is stronger , and better in larger sizes. Less risks of cracks, and holds thier
values if well taken care of. Most acrylic manufactures honor lifetime warrantee.
I'd recommend acrylics in the earthquake zones.
