Lucid Posted July 30, 2004 Report Share Posted July 30, 2004 Hi I Am new to cichlids but have had tropicals for a while, the other half suggested a new cichlid species tank upstairs yesterday and I didn't need a second push, but just wondering what are the best dfish to start with, and the staff member in the lfs said we would need to buy all the cichlids we were going to have at once and put them all in the tank at the same time to avoid arguements over territory, Is this correct or were they making sure they got the sale. I have purchased no fish yet, as I need to sort out a tank and stand and some rocks first. just need to decide which tank I want to use, or whether to buy a new one :lol: which sounds like the better idea to me Not sure whether this belongs here or over at beginners corner. Cheers B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted July 31, 2004 Report Share Posted July 31, 2004 Depends on the cichlids. If you are thinking African lake cichlids then yes, it saves a lot of hassles buying all the fish when they are young and adding them all at once. This is how I set mine up. I set the tank up with 4 chunky goldfish (good poo producers) about 8cm each. These fish cycled the tank. When I was ready to add the cichlids, the goldfish were thrown outside into the pond I had waiting for them, a heater was added (not that it made much difference as the room temperature was about 20 - 22C at the time anyway) then I got 36 baby Africans off a breeder and added them all at once. I can't remember how big they were (and they varied) but they were just old enough to be saleable size. You have to be careful which cichlid are added first as some are more territorial than others so adding the more timid ones first allows them to establish territory before you add stroppier fishes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Midas Posted July 31, 2004 Report Share Posted July 31, 2004 It depends on what you like. There many different cichlids out there but I guess you could narrow it down to groups to make it easier to comprehend, i.e. East African (rift lake), West African (riverine), Central American, South American and Asian. African rift lake cichlids (lakes Malawi, Victoria, Tanganyka) seem quite popular (lots of different species and colours available etc) and generally require hard water with a higher pH (alkaline) than other cichlids. I prefer Central American cichlids as I find these have more personality and are generally more interactive with their owners, they can be quite aggressive though (and many are large) and hence its best to carefully manage the tank occupants they reside with and ensure they have an appropriately large aquarium. If CA cichilds interest you, a beginner would probably be best starting off with some of the smaller variaties (e.g. convicts etc) rather than the bigger species (e.g. Red Devils, Jaguar cichilds etc). South American cichlids are probably the next most popular after Rift Lake African cichlids (and this group also probably contains the next most number of different species). There are many small species in this group (Rams, Apistogrammas etc) and generally they more peaceful than alot of other types of cichlids. However they also tend to be less hardy and have a shorter life span. The group is quite diverse however and some south american cichlids are quite large (20cm+) (Geophagus, Oscars etc). The SA cichlids that originate away from the Amazon basin in the north-west of SA (ie the Pacific side) tend to be more akin to CA cichilds in temperament and size (e.g. Green Terrors). West African cichids range from small species smiliar to those from SA (kribs etc) to medium sized moderately aggresive species (such as Jewel cichilds) to even larger more aggresive species (Tilapia etc). Lastly, there are very few Asian cichlid species (about 4 species I think) of which you are only likely to come across Green Chromides (a large (~45cm) brackish water cichlid) and Orange chromides (a smaller ~10cm cichlid than can be kept in fresh or brackish water), of which Orange Chromides are really the only one suited to home aquariums. Anyway I think I have rambled on enough, thats my brief summary of cichilds. The idea of putting all the fish in together may work for some cichlids (e.g. African rift lake cichlids) but not for every situation. For example, for the bigger CA cichlids even if they grown up all togther from a small size in the same tank may decide they don't want to get along once they reach a certain size. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted July 31, 2004 Report Share Posted July 31, 2004 Very helpful ramble Midas :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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