I'd just like to start off by saying that I wrote all this out of my memory, with no or very little reference to any sources. I will use one source rarely during my Post, Cichlids By David Alderton. I am hoping for this to be a general source of Information people can go to if they have a quick question about cichlids and don't need to write a post about it. Feel free to reply to this if you think there is something I missed or if you just want to voice your opinion about this thread.
General Info-Cichlids come from many parts of the world: Central America, South America, Africa, and Asia. There are many species of cichlids, which I will get to later on.
Tank Requirements-Generally for cichlids, a large tank with lots of space is required. This is not necessarily true for dwarf cichlids, a class of small cichlids, which still may need more space than a tetra of the same size. Some people say you can keep an oscar in a ten gallon, because it will only get as big as its environment allows. I disagree, because at the same time you are stunting its growth and depriving it of space it would normally have in the wild. My point is that just because a fish can fit in a tank , doesn't mean it should live in it.
A general rule in keeping cichlids is do not mix fish from different regions. Very rarely could you successfully keep fish from South America with fish from Africa. That is just one example showing not to mix fish from different parts of the world. As you could expect, since cichlids come from different parts of the world, they have different requirements which is why I will now organize this post by the different classes of fish. There are too few fish from asia for me to make a section about them.
Central American Cichlids- Some Central American cichlids include Jack Dempsey, Red Devil, Midas Cichlid, Firemouth cichlid, Convict cichlid, Blue acara, and Nicaraguan cichlid. Central American cichlids require a moderately large tank, upwards of 40 gallons depending on the species, but some small central american cichlids can be kept in a relatively smaller tank, such as convicts and friremouths. They generally need a pH ranging from neutral (7.0) to alkaline (7.8). The temperature range of Central American cichlids is from about 68 to 82 degrees farenheit. These fish will uproot/ destroy any plants you have in their aquarium.
Breeding is most of the time fairly easy with these fish, but can cause problems with their aggressive behavior during spawning time. To encourage spawning, fatten up the fish and seperate them so they can see each other, but cant touch each other (tank divider). then take out the dividr and most of the time, they will breed. During breeding, note that they should have the tank to themselves to prevent dead tankmates or eaten eggs. you should remove the father after the fertilization of the eggs to prevent the female from eating them. These fish generally produce between 50 and 300 eggs.
South American cichlids-Some South American cichlids include Angelfish, Discus, Ram, Oscar, Severum, and Green Terror. There peaceful South American cichlids and aggressive ones. The peaceful ones include angelfish, discus, and rams. The aggressive ones are pretty much any other ones. They generally need a soft pH ranging from acidic (6.3) to neutral (7.0). South American cichlids need high temperatures ranging from 77 to 82 degrees farenheit.
The peaceful ones should be seperated from the aggressive ones. The peaceful ones like plants and can go in a community tank, while the aggressive ones will uproot plants and will eat any fish that will fit in its mouth. The aggressive ones require a very large tank, upwards of 50 gallons, depending on the quantity.
Breeding of South American cichlids is very similar to Central American cichlids. They are very aggressive when breeding and should be alone. these fish can lay up to 2,500 eggs. Angelfish, discus, and rams most likely lay their eggs on a broad leaf, or a piece of slate. Amazon sword plants are highly recommended when keeping the peaceful ones.
African Cichlids-Some african cichlids include Julies, Brevis, Duboisi, Kribensis, Jewel Cichlid, Lemon Cichlid, Tropheops, Frontosa, Peacock Cichlids, Yellow Labs, Cobalt Blues, and Red Zebra Cichlids. Most African cichlids come from the west coast of africa or one of the three largest Rift valley lakes. Each group has completely different characteristics.The general pH toleration is high , from neutral to 7.8. They like high temperatures.
The main group is mbuna, which means "rock dwellers". These fish come from lake malawi. They include cobalt blues, red zebras, peacocks, yellow labs and many others. They need many rocks in heir aquarium and will most likely uproot any plants. These fish are herbivores and most likely will do nothing more than chase or beat up fish. They are very colorful, and with the exception of peacocks, breed unusually. The famale lays the eggs, then picks them up in her mouth. Males have spots on their anal fins called "egg spots" which they use for fertilization purposes. Females then keep the eggs in their mouths for about 3 weeks, until fry are free swimming.
The second group is from lake Tanganyika, which mainly consists of "shell dwellers", small fish that seek shelter in empty snail shells. The most popular fish from this lake is the Frontosa, a large colorful fish in which males get very large bumps on their heads when mature. They grow very slowly and although they look aggressive, they would be likely to not harm their tankmates. These fish need shells, (shelldwellers, not frontosa) or small places to hide that resemble shells. They also breed in shells. Tanganyikan cichlids are very colorful and some could live in a community tank, or with fish from the other two lakes.
The third group is Lake Victoria. many species of cichlids come from Lake Victoria, including Haplochromines, a large growing class of cichlids with huge lips. Fish from lake Victoria should have very hard water, because the water of Lake Victoria contains many dissolved minerals. Their pH should be kept between 7.2 and 8.3. They like the temperature of the tank to be between 72 and 78 degrees.
-Oscarowner559
General Info-Cichlids come from many parts of the world: Central America, South America, Africa, and Asia. There are many species of cichlids, which I will get to later on.
Tank Requirements-Generally for cichlids, a large tank with lots of space is required. This is not necessarily true for dwarf cichlids, a class of small cichlids, which still may need more space than a tetra of the same size. Some people say you can keep an oscar in a ten gallon, because it will only get as big as its environment allows. I disagree, because at the same time you are stunting its growth and depriving it of space it would normally have in the wild. My point is that just because a fish can fit in a tank , doesn't mean it should live in it.
A general rule in keeping cichlids is do not mix fish from different regions. Very rarely could you successfully keep fish from South America with fish from Africa. That is just one example showing not to mix fish from different parts of the world. As you could expect, since cichlids come from different parts of the world, they have different requirements which is why I will now organize this post by the different classes of fish. There are too few fish from asia for me to make a section about them.
Central American Cichlids- Some Central American cichlids include Jack Dempsey, Red Devil, Midas Cichlid, Firemouth cichlid, Convict cichlid, Blue acara, and Nicaraguan cichlid. Central American cichlids require a moderately large tank, upwards of 40 gallons depending on the species, but some small central american cichlids can be kept in a relatively smaller tank, such as convicts and friremouths. They generally need a pH ranging from neutral (7.0) to alkaline (7.8). The temperature range of Central American cichlids is from about 68 to 82 degrees farenheit. These fish will uproot/ destroy any plants you have in their aquarium.
Breeding is most of the time fairly easy with these fish, but can cause problems with their aggressive behavior during spawning time. To encourage spawning, fatten up the fish and seperate them so they can see each other, but cant touch each other (tank divider). then take out the dividr and most of the time, they will breed. During breeding, note that they should have the tank to themselves to prevent dead tankmates or eaten eggs. you should remove the father after the fertilization of the eggs to prevent the female from eating them. These fish generally produce between 50 and 300 eggs.
South American cichlids-Some South American cichlids include Angelfish, Discus, Ram, Oscar, Severum, and Green Terror. There peaceful South American cichlids and aggressive ones. The peaceful ones include angelfish, discus, and rams. The aggressive ones are pretty much any other ones. They generally need a soft pH ranging from acidic (6.3) to neutral (7.0). South American cichlids need high temperatures ranging from 77 to 82 degrees farenheit.
The peaceful ones should be seperated from the aggressive ones. The peaceful ones like plants and can go in a community tank, while the aggressive ones will uproot plants and will eat any fish that will fit in its mouth. The aggressive ones require a very large tank, upwards of 50 gallons, depending on the quantity.
Breeding of South American cichlids is very similar to Central American cichlids. They are very aggressive when breeding and should be alone. these fish can lay up to 2,500 eggs. Angelfish, discus, and rams most likely lay their eggs on a broad leaf, or a piece of slate. Amazon sword plants are highly recommended when keeping the peaceful ones.
African Cichlids-Some african cichlids include Julies, Brevis, Duboisi, Kribensis, Jewel Cichlid, Lemon Cichlid, Tropheops, Frontosa, Peacock Cichlids, Yellow Labs, Cobalt Blues, and Red Zebra Cichlids. Most African cichlids come from the west coast of africa or one of the three largest Rift valley lakes. Each group has completely different characteristics.The general pH toleration is high , from neutral to 7.8. They like high temperatures.
The main group is mbuna, which means "rock dwellers". These fish come from lake malawi. They include cobalt blues, red zebras, peacocks, yellow labs and many others. They need many rocks in heir aquarium and will most likely uproot any plants. These fish are herbivores and most likely will do nothing more than chase or beat up fish. They are very colorful, and with the exception of peacocks, breed unusually. The famale lays the eggs, then picks them up in her mouth. Males have spots on their anal fins called "egg spots" which they use for fertilization purposes. Females then keep the eggs in their mouths for about 3 weeks, until fry are free swimming.
The second group is from lake Tanganyika, which mainly consists of "shell dwellers", small fish that seek shelter in empty snail shells. The most popular fish from this lake is the Frontosa, a large colorful fish in which males get very large bumps on their heads when mature. They grow very slowly and although they look aggressive, they would be likely to not harm their tankmates. These fish need shells, (shelldwellers, not frontosa) or small places to hide that resemble shells. They also breed in shells. Tanganyikan cichlids are very colorful and some could live in a community tank, or with fish from the other two lakes.
The third group is Lake Victoria. many species of cichlids come from Lake Victoria, including Haplochromines, a large growing class of cichlids with huge lips. Fish from lake Victoria should have very hard water, because the water of Lake Victoria contains many dissolved minerals. Their pH should be kept between 7.2 and 8.3. They like the temperature of the tank to be between 72 and 78 degrees.
-Oscarowner559
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I have a 55 g mbuna tank and I call it my "Corporate America " Tank...They are constantly at each other's throats...and trying to backstab each other.
