African Cichlids

[starr]

Does anybody know anything about these? I am getting these from a friend who is moving. I just have fancy tale goldfish in another tank so I am about clueless when it comes to this breed. Any help would be apperciated.

[slik]

African Cichlids can be tempermental. They like a higher ph water then goldfish. What is kind of nice is that I'm on well water and the ph seems to be perfect so there is not much I have to do to adjust it.
These fish also tend to be aggressive - between each other and definitely towards non-african Cichlids. I have two Kenyi that beat the snot out of all the others
Some species can get large - I have a couple that will grow in excess of 10 inches, so tank size is important. I have 7 in a 55 gallon tank.
Check out www.liveaquaria.com - they have some good information. There is also a shop in Waldorf - think it is R&K Fish - or something like that. The guys there seem to know quite abit about these types of fish.

Also, African Cichlids have a diet specific to their types - some are veggie only others are meat based.

Overall - they are not very difficult to care for and they almost seem to have personalities (?) as difficult as that might seem. Anyway, they can have some really nice coloring and can be fun to watch.

[Cletus_Vandam]

Aren't these in the same family as the Jack Dempsy's and Oscars. They are pretty agressive (eat other fish)....

[slik]

Yes - same species as Oscars and Jack's.
There are a lot of subspecies though and although they are aggressive I have not had any of mine eat another fish. They will beat it up pretty bad though. I would not reccommend keeping African Cichlids with any non-African Chiclid fish - with the except of a pleco/algae eater.
The bigger the tank the better. They have a tendency to develop territories and defend them.

[angelphish]

Cichlid is a species. They come from Central and South America (oscars, demsy's, angelfish) African cichlids come from 3 great lakes (Tanganyika, Malawi, Victoria) and the non-lakes.
Though they are from the same species they do not have the same care factors (ph, temp, breeding habits) so it is best not to keep american and african cichlids together.
It is best to have a tank no smaller than 55 gallons for them to thrive. The smaller the tank the more likely they will kill off each other since they are very territorial.
Cichlids are also some of the most beautiful freshwater fish. If your interested in seeing some pic's www.aquabid.com is a good place to visit.

[BabyGurl1978]

Originally Posted by starr

Does anybody know anything about these? I am getting these from a friend who is moving. I just have fancy tale goldfish in another tank so I am about clueless when it comes to this breed. Any help would be apperciated.

African Cichlids are aggressive and are on the same lines with the jack dempseys and oscars. My husband used to have a tank full of all the different african cichlids and they all still picked on eachother - very aggressive fish. Now all we have is a community tank and a tank with two big albino oscars (mean things). I am not sure how well it will work out with aggressive fish and community fish you might need another tank because the gold fish may get eaten. Good Luck though.

[starr]

The goldfish are in a serperate smaller tank. But thanks for the advice.

[Cletus_Vandam]

Originally Posted by angelphish

Cichlids are also some of the most beautiful freshwater fish. If your interested in seeing some pic's www.aquabid.com is a good place to visit.

Link doesn't seem to work....

[angelphish]

http://www.aquabid.com

[angelphish]

Should of checked first. It looks like they are down right now. Try checking back later.