herefishiefishie

Well u shouldn't feed beef heart to any fish. Fish are cold blooded, the only fat they can handle are those with a low melting point. Therefore fat from warm blooded animals(eg;beef heart) can not be assimilated. Thus is stored in the tissues, especially the liver. While on the "not to feed" bandwagon, :roll: Red mosquito larvae (sold as frozen blood worms) & live food wise Tubifex worms. Other good live foods, earth worms for bigger fish, smaller fish, brine shrimp, white worms. Frenchy

Firstly check what Africans you have. Most species are omnivores, herbivores.... live food can be bad for them,(have smaller stomach longer intestines) even though they will eat them. :roll: Beef Heart is a big no-no for all cichlids :evil: What I use for my Alto's is baby convict fry, as these breed like rabbits. Baby guppies...... Try to avoid feeder fish from shops as they tend to be high in bacterial diseases. Goldfish well these guys are the biggest carries of parasites, & carry other diseases including TB & for a fish are quite fatty. I have seen plenty of fish die from diseases caught off the humble goldie. Just becareful if you have the larger growing Malawi predators in with mbuna's, peacocks.....if the predators get a taste for live food they will turn on your other cichlids when they out grow them. Frenchy

Its why I have a colony of 20, they are so hard to sex. I have females that a fair bit of black in there fins. I guess you will have to wait & see. Frenchy

Glad to here things are now going well. Frenchy

What do the ones still left in the shop/source acting like? As said earlier what are they feeding them? If there were ph differences at the shop/source to your place, or if the yellows had paraisites, nitrites,ammonia ..... then the fish will be breathing heavy. From what you say they are not, which leads to internal problem, bacterial infection & the like. Which leads me back to the source. When I bought my yellows(got about 20 from 4 places) 2 of them I noticed after a couple of days acted different to the others, not as active, anyway both died. (I jacked up UV Sterilser to tank for security) All others were/are fine. My thought was that the "2" were very similar & probably ones I got from either source 3 or 4. From which I only got 2 yellows from each of. On returning to just have a look & see, at one source there was a dead yellow & a couple not looking good.(They seemed fine 5 days earlier) But another important point, they were on a system & they had problems in other tanks. A reminder to myself to check properly next time. To me no point having them on,(I got a shrug of shoulders when i noted the deaths) I wouldn't want a fish again from them. I am sad to here your loss, if I was there I would donate a couple of mine, yellows are such a lovely fish. Anyone there have good yellows? Frenchy

From Ad Konnings. Even though we all call them N.brichardi, they may get re classified. http://www.cichlidae.com/article.php?id=35 All these guys(brichardis,cauds,pulchers...) can agro, if they pair up, they will beat up the discus. Bizarre mix too. Frenchy

Brichardi is a species name. There are a few different varients of these. Daffodil being one of these. Very nice fish too. Has more yellow than than other types. Frenchy

The duboisi are very active swimmers & I'd say your yellows are fine. Yellows being mbuna can handle the same diet as the duboisi. I'd be feeding them anything high in spirulina. Mysis shrimps once a week for something different. Your tank will be fine for a while. Just one thing to be careful with is the duboisi when they get bigger, they may be very harsh towards each other. Tropheus are best kept in a group of 10 or more, or on their own. Frenchy

Heres some interesting reading on Electric Yellows. First an article done by a Andrea, a lady on the forums here, (still on going as she finds more informaation) its about the quality of yellows in australia. http://www.sydneycichlid.com/content/?page_id=132 One more for fun by Ad Konnings, has wild caught pics too. http://www.cichlidae.com/docs/authors/konings_ad.jpg & a pic of a wild caught yellow, from the states. Frenchy

Hello Paul & Nicole, Sometimes cichlids may take a bit of time to settle in. Yellows can be shy, no kids banging the tank? I wouldn't worry to much about it if they fish still apear to be in good nick. Just incase, (a) what are you feeding them? (b) How big are they? © What makes you think they are m & f? (d) how big is the tank & how is set out? Frenchy

I haven't looked at the discus part before. :lol: Frenchy

Go fro your smaller species, & try to mix & match colours & species to avoid clashes. Red empress, electric blues, as said above, lombardoi's can be agro buggers too. Its a fair bit trial & error too, as it depends on the temprament of the fish too. Britlenose go well with cichlids. Frenchy

Heres a good link for people to read. Its a site I visit from time to time. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/breeding_list.php Frenchy

Heres a pic of 2 adults, a guy in Brisbane has, Frenchy

Auratus are one of the worse cichlids around for aggression, :evil: get rid of it. I don't reccomend them to anyone, except for the Cichla to eat. Also get your water tested too. Just in case. Frenchy

All that in a 2.5ft tank. Must be good water. :lol: Frenchy

Heres a group shot, once again apologies for the quality. Tank is still under construction, another 10.5 ft tank is underneath this one, to be patched up, then up & running, then lighting......... Frenchy

I haven't seen a live sheep for a few years now. I guess I should trade the border collies back in. But the guys here in Aussie gave me this picture on my user name. To help save me from home sickness. Frenchy

& here is Pooh, the Mangrove Jack, we caught not long ago. 35cm's long. ps; Stevey, I think you need to clean the glass. Frenchy

This guy here eats anything, & any feeders are lucky to hit the water. 8) Cihla Monoculus, Peacock bass.(This one is 35 to 40cm) Sorry about the quality of pics, this is in my mates 10.5ft tank, low lighting setup. He also has a Mangrove Jack, Barramundi, 2 Red scats, Sleepy Cod, an eel tail, & did have 5 smaller cichla in there, sold 3 today. Frenchy

In Australia, near the city of Brisbane, in the state of Queensland. I feel real blessed gets out stick to beat off the boys :lol: Frenchy

Name; Justin Sex; M Age; 31 No Kids, g/f has 2 girls 12 & 14 someone help me :roll: Lived in Gold Coast for nearly 8 years. Last Book; (Not a big reading fan)The Cichlid Fishes, Nature's Grand experiment in Evolution. By;George W. Barlow. Work; Horticulture & Aqua Retail Manager. Interests; Sports :roll:(Go the AB's) Still play Cricket-Indoor & Outdoor. Roses(51 Hybrid teas at the mo, amongst other plants) getting out & about. Music; Anything with a beat, eg; hard house. Much to g/f's dislike Fav Food; Don't have one, tastes vary, I'll eat anything, bar shellfish. Pets; 2 Border Collies, g/f has 3 cats. Car; Honda Civic Frenchy

Happens in a few cichlid species. As long as he/she seems happy & healthy, should be fine. Could also just be a late bloomer. Frenchy

Yep Frenchy

They can be agro, as they are a cichlid. As you have 3 in a tank chances are they are either trying to compete for terriotories & the others are in the firing line, &/or if one is a female it will get worse. Frenchy