Anyone else keep African Cichlids?

Hey all, I just got my first tropical fish tank about a month ago and I am loving it!

Im keeping various African Cichlids. Electric Blues, E.Yellows and a few more besides.

Anyone else got the fish bug? Pardon the pun...

Gib

yeah my gf does we now have a koi and 2 other that i have no idea what they are

I've got heaps of different types of tetras. Have had others but I got sick of stressing about them so I've stayed with sturdier fish. The Sailfin Catfish I had for 2 years was super cool though!

I have had them for years, although as we are building a new house and moving a bit, they are at a mates house. Make sure you keep the acidity low. The best to do is get crushed coral/coral sand for the bottom of the tank. It is white and looks good and keeps the tank alkaline. Regular water changes will promote breeding, and if they are getting territorial, then re-design the tank with more rocks.

Matt

sorry guys but these fish are an exotic pest - if they get a hold (and they are being released) they have the potential to have a bigger impact that Carp - they are ferocious eaters and will out-compete many native species already getting hammered by carp and habitat loss!! cichlids that is!

[ Edited on 9-11-2005 by YIOughta ]

Well mine are staying firmly in the tank. So they wont be harming anything else.

Yeah, I have coral subtrate and that keeps it all pretty good in the 3ft'er..

I have the bug now and am hankering after a bigger tank!

gibbo

i've been keeping fish since i was 10 - thats nearly 20 years - ATM i only have a red devil - he's about 10 years old (i got him when he was a few days old) and a native tank (rainbows, blue-eyes etc). I've started getting into marines and am building my own tank (with ply) to culture corals....I've got a few empty tanks at home since moving house that I'l be getting rid shortly - nothing bigger than 3' though.

theres a heap of cichlid keepers at http://www.drumpak.com/forum/
you should be able to pick up a cheap tank there as well. the trend seems to be having higher tanks rather than wider (front to back) but with fish (and especially africans) habitat surface area is more important so go for a tank that is at least as wide as it is high...

yep YIOughta they are exotic pests - but so are you, and your cat and dog and half the plants in your garden....well yo get the point. As for native fish the biggest problem is degradation of habitat which benifits these introduced species and gives them a competitive advantage...

I used to have a 4ft x 2ft x 2ft tropical fish tank when I lived in Sydney a couple of years ago. Had all kinds of wonderful fish in it (including gay Siamese fighters, and 12" Silver Sharks that had brain damage!). Ended up with 4 pairs of breeding Discus, such picky but awesome fish.... and then they all died when I visited Melbourne for 4 days. The automatic feeder went haywire and overhead them, polluting the tank water and suffocating all the Discus (they were all about 8" diameter). The smell was like a very ripe corpse.... I almost chucked, and was so upset.

Now (at my Mum's) she has 3 tanks..... a 4ft, 3ft and a 2ft. They just have Angelfish, different Tetras, Gouramis, Bristlenose catfish, a huge Rainbow Shark and two 7" long Clown Loaches!

I have a Lake Malawi tank. Full of Peacocks, Electric Yellows and Dolphins Blues.....And a smaller American Tanks with 1 Discus and Neons....I do think that the Lake Malawi cichlids have some of the best colours for fresh water fish 🙂

NiceWhiteCar, I have a Malawi tank also!

Nice work.

I have 2x E.Yellows, 2x E.Blues, 2x Blue dolphins, 2x Venustus and 2x Tangerines.

All great looking fish, but all juvies at the moment.

A great forum for Cichlid lovers is http://www.cichlidcity.com.au very friendly and helpful. None of the sniping you get here either. Sorry to say.

Great to see others from Bris with similar fishy hobbies!

I used to have a breeding pair of Kribensis in a community tank.
But my favourite fish are Guppies..........though, I haven't got any at the moment, our ratties are using the fish tank as part of their set up.

obviously this should be in the watercooled chapter

any oics gibbo ??

pics i meant ...shoot

Heres the tank before the fish went in.

Yes, that is a kombi in the tank!

More kombi and some fish....

where did u get that from, and how much??.. the bus in the tank..

Hahaha, Kombi in the tank is so damn cute!! :P

YIOughta wrote:sorry guys but these fish are an exotic pest

Europeans are exotic pest.
Ferals even more so.

I dont have cichlids yet.... saving that for my next tank.

I've got a tank full of tetras, another tank of guppies only one of which is male and he is a certified poof, and another which I dont actually have at my house yet. I've got the Aqua One tanks, curved glass front that make it a pain in the ass to catch fish.

Its kinda like a disease, I always wanted one tank but wasnt allowed to have it.. then got one and wanted another (made up a story about needing a hospital tank) and now a friend wants to get rid of theirs cos they wont have room when the staircase goes in. Im getting it for free. YAY.

Only fish I have ever had a problem with is pictus catfish. Bastard could eat fish 3/4 its size. After a month or two on a neon diet I was pretty fed up. When it ate Otto it was time for him to go back to the store.

So far none of my fish have grown legs and walked down to the lake.

Here's our, complete with Beetle, Kombi and Kubelwagon . . . oh and some fish.

Why doesn't anyone has the' humble old goldfish in a bowl' any more?🤪