Help Pure choose a cichlid
- Thread starter Pure
- Start date
This reminds me of a quote from that new movie Tropic Thunder.
"you people? What do you mean you people?"
Yeah Africans have never done much for me..Well outside of trophius, fronts, and shell dwellers. The rest are boring.
"you people? What do you mean you people?"
Yeah Africans have never done much for me..Well outside of trophius, fronts, and shell dwellers. The rest are boring.
Anyway, I was going to suggest the acaras too, but I thought they might not be as rare as you'd like. I am with Orion, this is the one fish I HAD TO HAVE from the moment I started this hobby, and I could never find them. I found an awesome deal on aquabid and bid ASAP and I now have 6 of them and a nice green terror thanks to fishgeek, that share a tank with a bunch of plecs, they're definitly some of my favorite fish.
I have also had them spawn a few times already, but they were in a 29gal alone and were still quite small and they ate the wigglers, but now they're a bit bigger and now dominate my 75gal, although my dom male seems to favor the green terror over the female he was mating with, so I don't know what to expect of that. I am hoping the GT will hurry up and grow a bit so she can join the oscars in the 220gal and the acaras can get back to their own kind LOL.
Rare would be more ideal for me, but given what is needed in the fish that goes in this tank. I may have to settle for not so rare but more appropriate. The main thing is I want more color.
I'm going to go to a few shops round town this weekend looking for Acaras. I've honestly never seen them local so we will see.
I'm going to go to a few shops round town this weekend looking for Acaras. I've honestly never seen them local so we will see.
FYI Virgo, don't know if you know, but I have read that GT's and the like have been known to breed with acara's and produce hybrid offspring. Don't know how you personally feel about this, but just wanted to make sure you were aware of what's probably going on
My wee Gold Saum is a male, and I have seen him show some interest every now and then at the largest female acara. Right now everyone is still under 3 inches, but for now with the GS in the same tank I'm not going to keep any fry that might happen. IMO it's a real shame that I'm such a purist (or jerk) about hybrids, because I think Blue Acara's and the GT types would make very good tank mates in the larger tanks.
When my acara's were in my 75 gallon, I didn't have any very small fish, but they weren't the least bit aggressive to any other living thing in the tank. When I moved them to their own tank, they eventually started bickering among themselves quite a bit, so I ended up adding some dithers and this has really helped the squabbles.
My wee Gold Saum is a male, and I have seen him show some interest every now and then at the largest female acara. Right now everyone is still under 3 inches, but for now with the GS in the same tank I'm not going to keep any fry that might happen. IMO it's a real shame that I'm such a purist (or jerk) about hybrids, because I think Blue Acara's and the GT types would make very good tank mates in the larger tanks.
When my acara's were in my 75 gallon, I didn't have any very small fish, but they weren't the least bit aggressive to any other living thing in the tank. When I moved them to their own tank, they eventually started bickering among themselves quite a bit, so I ended up adding some dithers and this has really helped the squabbles.
Yeah, I kinda figured as much, the GT had her ovipositor out just before I added the acaras but so far I haven't seen any eggs or wigglers or anything. I'm not one for hybrids either, hence the reason I'm going to feed off my baby acei instead of selling or giving them away, I can't guarentee they're pure acei since they're in a malawi community. If I got viable fry with the GT being a possible mother, they'd be oscar snacks. The plan was to put the GT in with the oscars to begin with, but she's growing pretty slow and as wimpy as my oscars are, I'm still a little weary of her size yet.
K done deal. Picked up 3 blue acaras. I figured since O had found them at his local PS that mine might have em. Sure enough they did. These guys are tiny. Not much bigger than my lemon tetras. Well least in this tank they got room to spread their fins n grow.
Might be fun to keep a pictorial journal of their growth. Take pics every month for the next yr and post them every 6 months.
They had to chill in the bag (in the tank) wile I went out to McCleney (yeehaw!) but I finished acclimating them when I got home. They just ate their first meal 10 minutes ago, and all three ate like pigs.
O how long before they start showing color?
Might be fun to keep a pictorial journal of their growth. Take pics every month for the next yr and post them every 6 months.
They had to chill in the bag (in the tank) wile I went out to McCleney (yeehaw!) but I finished acclimating them when I got home. They just ate their first meal 10 minutes ago, and all three ate like pigs.
O how long before they start showing color?
lol, imagine the luck. I've had mine for a few months now and until today they've done very well. Nothing to major happened today, just my own damn stupidity apparently.
Right now all 4 have a pale base color with rather wide dark vertical bands, red/orange trim along the tip of the dorsal fin, and bits of blue around the eye and on the gill plates. Interesting looking, but nothing spectacular. I'm going to say that some where around the 4-5 inch mark they should start showing more color and loose most of the dark bands.
These are the most passive cichlids I've ever kept. The Multies were way more aggressive then these guys. I think you'll be happy with them
Right now all 4 have a pale base color with rather wide dark vertical bands, red/orange trim along the tip of the dorsal fin, and bits of blue around the eye and on the gill plates. Interesting looking, but nothing spectacular. I'm going to say that some where around the 4-5 inch mark they should start showing more color and loose most of the dark bands.
These are the most passive cichlids I've ever kept. The Multies were way more aggressive then these guys. I think you'll be happy with them
So far they are pretty interesting. Indeed nothing special to look at ATM. The one thing I like about getting cichlids from PS is they don't buy stock that has been hormoned. Least not with the SA/CAs. Admittedly I almost never look at the Africans so I don't know about them but I imagine the same to be true..
I've had good luck with fish from both petsmart and pet supermarket. But I also only buy from ones that take care of their stock. I walk out if I see lots of floaters.
I take that back. I've had terrible luck with angels from petsmart.
I've had good luck with fish from both petsmart and pet supermarket. But I also only buy from ones that take care of their stock. I walk out if I see lots of floaters.
I take that back. I've had terrible luck with angels from petsmart.