CICHLIDS???
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cichlids are a wide-spread family of freshwater fishes.
they are found in south america, central america, africa, parts of SE asia, and even parts of north america.
there are many reasons that people love cichlids so much including the fact that many are very very nicely colored and attractive fish, most cichlid parents (unlike most other tropical fish) actively guard and protect their offspring, and yes.....their territorial behavior is a much desired trait for many people.....it is interesting to observe....making them very "pet" like.
most cichlids are quite intelligent and can often recognize their owner....to the point that they can actually react differently when other "foreign" people are present.
aggression is relative.....making this question impossible to answer "yes" or "no" .......
another example of this is when you flip on your weather channel.....and the person says "the humidity is 70%" ...........buzz, wrong! PERCENT HUMIDITY IS RELATIVE!!!!
humidity is the ACTUAL amount of water in the air. RELATIVE humidity is a measure of the actual water in the air divided by the amount that COULD be there (saturation potential) X 100..........therefore giving you a percent.
saying that "the humidity is 70%" is meaningless.
with a 70% relative humidity at the equator there is a HELL of a lot more water in the air than a 99% relative humidity at the poles.
kind of a peeve of mine....... back on topic
some are MUCH MUCH more aggressive than others........there is a world of difference between say a red devil and a blue ram........not even comparable as far as aggression is concerned.
rams are not any more aggressive than a lot of other tropical fish, especially compared to a lot of the gourami species.
on the flip side, fish like red devils are extremely aggressive and should only be kept in very large tanks with other tough, large cichlids.
i could type for the rest of the night, but if you are asking if all cichlids are impossible to keep with other fish....than NO, that is not correct....many are very suitable for community tanks and make wonderful inhabitants.
perhaps a more specific question could be answered.
M
they are found in south america, central america, africa, parts of SE asia, and even parts of north america.
there are many reasons that people love cichlids so much including the fact that many are very very nicely colored and attractive fish, most cichlid parents (unlike most other tropical fish) actively guard and protect their offspring, and yes.....their territorial behavior is a much desired trait for many people.....it is interesting to observe....making them very "pet" like.
most cichlids are quite intelligent and can often recognize their owner....to the point that they can actually react differently when other "foreign" people are present.
aggression is relative.....making this question impossible to answer "yes" or "no" .......
another example of this is when you flip on your weather channel.....and the person says "the humidity is 70%" ...........buzz, wrong! PERCENT HUMIDITY IS RELATIVE!!!!
humidity is the ACTUAL amount of water in the air. RELATIVE humidity is a measure of the actual water in the air divided by the amount that COULD be there (saturation potential) X 100..........therefore giving you a percent.
saying that "the humidity is 70%" is meaningless.
with a 70% relative humidity at the equator there is a HELL of a lot more water in the air than a 99% relative humidity at the poles.
kind of a peeve of mine....... back on topic
some are MUCH MUCH more aggressive than others........there is a world of difference between say a red devil and a blue ram........not even comparable as far as aggression is concerned.
rams are not any more aggressive than a lot of other tropical fish, especially compared to a lot of the gourami species.
on the flip side, fish like red devils are extremely aggressive and should only be kept in very large tanks with other tough, large cichlids.
i could type for the rest of the night, but if you are asking if all cichlids are impossible to keep with other fish....than NO, that is not correct....many are very suitable for community tanks and make wonderful inhabitants.
perhaps a more specific question could be answered.
M
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Well put Mana, just to add my 2c:-
for me fishkeeping is about trying to replicate a natural environment for the fish and then observe their behaviour. I've been a life-long addict of natural history on the TV and having my own aquaria affords me an "up-close & personal" and hands on experience. Cichlids are complex and intelligent creatures, to me there's a world of difference between observing a shoal of tetras and a shoal of cyprichromis.
I can appreciate why people go for the heavily planted tanks and the placid community fish and I can certainly see what attracts people to the oddballs, the big predators and tank busters. I also greatly admire the marine and reef tank keepers and doubt if I could ever get that committed.
I'll stop there before this goes off on a tangent.....
for me fishkeeping is about trying to replicate a natural environment for the fish and then observe their behaviour. I've been a life-long addict of natural history on the TV and having my own aquaria affords me an "up-close & personal" and hands on experience. Cichlids are complex and intelligent creatures, to me there's a world of difference between observing a shoal of tetras and a shoal of cyprichromis.
I can appreciate why people go for the heavily planted tanks and the placid community fish and I can certainly see what attracts people to the oddballs, the big predators and tank busters. I also greatly admire the marine and reef tank keepers and doubt if I could ever get that committed.
I'll stop there before this goes off on a tangent.....
I bought mine because of the aggresiveness I thought it would be cool to watch them rip threw little feeders. And there colours are amazing. But no that I have them and everything is all set up perfectly I sometimes wish I had a huge community tank that I dont need to wrooy about fights and things like that. But I would never get rid of my set up now, everyone is getting along growing and showing great colours.
They are much maligned for their aggression, but it's about protecting a territory not mindless bullying. This in turn is about survival and passing on your genes, that's the whole point of life isn't it?
My missus hated the aggression in my cichlid tanks until I explained the behaviour in more detail. Then I asked her how she thought I might react if another guy forced his way into our house, took possession of my wife and kids and drank the contents of my beer fridge. How did she think I would react?
The challenge to the fishkeeper is surely to minimise the aggression by providing for all the fish. If everyone has a territory and enough to eat, they can manage the threats themselves. This is not to suggest that individual fish cannot be bullies but you can at least provide places to hide and disperse the aggression with appropriate stocking levels. More often than not, if a fish is bullying, you ought to ask "what am I doing wrong".
My missus hated the aggression in my cichlid tanks until I explained the behaviour in more detail. Then I asked her how she thought I might react if another guy forced his way into our house, took possession of my wife and kids and drank the contents of my beer fridge. How did she think I would react?
The challenge to the fishkeeper is surely to minimise the aggression by providing for all the fish. If everyone has a territory and enough to eat, they can manage the threats themselves. This is not to suggest that individual fish cannot be bullies but you can at least provide places to hide and disperse the aggression with appropriate stocking levels. More often than not, if a fish is bullying, you ought to ask "what am I doing wrong".
Thanks for the replies everbody. I have already seen many pics of Cichlids and some in person. Their bright colors is what keeps me interested in these fish.
I guess the main reason that I started this thread was to find out if there are peaceful are even semi-aggresive species of Cichlid. And what the names of them are.
Another question I have is, in a 55 gallon tank, would 1 Red-tailed Shark and 1 semi-aggressive Cichlid be OK? And what other fish would thrive in a tank like that?
I guess the main reason that I started this thread was to find out if there are peaceful are even semi-aggresive species of Cichlid. And what the names of them are.
Another question I have is, in a 55 gallon tank, would 1 Red-tailed Shark and 1 semi-aggressive Cichlid be OK? And what other fish would thrive in a tank like that?
a tank like what? you'll need to provide a lot more detail on your water parameters, decor, planting and your objective for the tank before anyone could start to reduce the phenomenally large range of the cichlid family into a short list of recommended species.
I would respectfully suggest that the question you should ask yourself is not "what kind of cichlids can I keep?" but "what kind of tank do I want to create?"
If you are dead set on one particular species, then you need to research that species thoroughly to determine how to create (and maintain) the ideal conditions for it, including tank mates.
If you start out with your tap water parameters and a tank type (planted, rift lake, semi planted, riverine, Asian, South American etc) then you can start to select the most suitable species.
I would respectfully suggest that the question you should ask yourself is not "what kind of cichlids can I keep?" but "what kind of tank do I want to create?"
If you are dead set on one particular species, then you need to research that species thoroughly to determine how to create (and maintain) the ideal conditions for it, including tank mates.
If you start out with your tap water parameters and a tank type (planted, rift lake, semi planted, riverine, Asian, South American etc) then you can start to select the most suitable species.
mmmm, I'm sure I read on www.plasticplants4lessaggressivecichlids.com that ALL cichlids prefer plastic plants, plastic elodea actually rather than any other species of plastic plant, it's important to get the right shape of plastic plant
another example of this is when you flip on your weather channel.....and the person says "the humidity is 70%" ...........buzz, wrong! PERCENT HUMIDITY IS RELATIVE!!!!
humidity is the ACTUAL amount of water in the air. RELATIVE humidity is a measure of the actual water in the air divided by the amount that COULD be there (saturation potential) X 100..........therefore giving you a percent.
saying that "the humidity is 70%" is meaningless.
with a 70% relative humidity at the equator there is a HELL of a lot more water in the air than a 99% relative humidity at the poles.
-Menaguense
AND NOW YOU KNOW! TREMBLE BEFORE THE HUMA GOD!!!
There are peaceful cichlids that would never hurt a fly. Such as checkerboards, goldeneyes, rams, keyholes, etc.
humidity is the ACTUAL amount of water in the air. RELATIVE humidity is a measure of the actual water in the air divided by the amount that COULD be there (saturation potential) X 100..........therefore giving you a percent.
saying that "the humidity is 70%" is meaningless.
with a 70% relative humidity at the equator there is a HELL of a lot more water in the air than a 99% relative humidity at the poles.
-Menaguense
AND NOW YOU KNOW! TREMBLE BEFORE THE HUMA GOD!!!
There are peaceful cichlids that would never hurt a fly. Such as checkerboards, goldeneyes, rams, keyholes, etc.
Nobody is giving you the names of peaceful Cichlids because nobody wants to
If your PH is acidic, some Rams would be nice to look at, they are very nice lookin and very very mellow. I have kept them with neons and such.
If you have neutral to slightly alkaline water, there are Bolivian Rams, which are bigger but still very peaceful. The Keyhole Cichlid is a bigger fish that is also very mellow. Mine got harassed by my gouramis and never fought back.
Checkerboard Cichlids are mellow, Goldeneyes. Orange Chromides or Green chromides are great but they need a wee but of salt and fairly alkaline water.
Appistogrammas are also usually pretty mellow but I hear they can be icky at times.
Also peaceful mostly are Angelfish- but everyone has one so thats blah. Festivums are great angelfish type fish that are pretty mellow. Also pretty good supposedly are some of the shell dwellers, but they have special water requirements and Im not sure what they are...
PM me if you want to know anything else. c ya
If your PH is acidic, some Rams would be nice to look at, they are very nice lookin and very very mellow. I have kept them with neons and such.
If you have neutral to slightly alkaline water, there are Bolivian Rams, which are bigger but still very peaceful. The Keyhole Cichlid is a bigger fish that is also very mellow. Mine got harassed by my gouramis and never fought back.
Checkerboard Cichlids are mellow, Goldeneyes. Orange Chromides or Green chromides are great but they need a wee but of salt and fairly alkaline water.
Appistogrammas are also usually pretty mellow but I hear they can be icky at times.
Also peaceful mostly are Angelfish- but everyone has one so thats blah. Festivums are great angelfish type fish that are pretty mellow. Also pretty good supposedly are some of the shell dwellers, but they have special water requirements and Im not sure what they are...
PM me if you want to know anything else. c ya
All the above cichlids would be on my list for peacfulness
but remember if they start breeding all hell can still breakloose.Always provide loads of caves etc.Kribs can also be good but can be a hit or a miss sometimes.I used to have a female krib that used to think the whole tank was just for her.The keyholes IMO were the best can sometimes be a bit shy and seem colourless but mixed with couple of rams and big shoal of cardinals it was well cool.
Just some thoughts
Mel
but remember if they start breeding all hell can still breakloose.Always provide loads of caves etc.Kribs can also be good but can be a hit or a miss sometimes.I used to have a female krib that used to think the whole tank was just for her.The keyholes IMO were the best can sometimes be a bit shy and seem colourless but mixed with couple of rams and big shoal of cardinals it was well cool.
Just some thoughts
Mel
