Hi I am new to this Forum and quite an amateur when it comes to Fish keeping but after being on this forum for the past week or so with my own questions I just had to chime in on a topic that I have seen alot of while on this site.I posted earlier a question Africans or Barbs for a 45 gallon and after reading replies and taking a long hard look at my own experience I could have easily answered my own question without hesitation thats why I felt the need to write this mini novel.
The topic is about keeping African Cichlids.I was in the same boat as alot of you beginners looking to raise africans and all I can say is buyer beware know what you are getting into.I was in the same sitution as alot of you I started with a 45 gallon tank after always having a 30 or smaller all my life so going to a 45 I thought wow I can put a bunch of fish in this thing.I instantly fell in love with the antics and colors of Africans and never really took the time to FULLY research and understand them and their behavior.Water condition aside thats a whole different subject this is about their temperament they are a fickle fish with a mean streak.
So I jump right in not fully grasping how territorial and aggresive they really could be so I went out a purchased a small batch of mixed africans thinking I was getting just a variety they were just called zebras on the tank well lo and behold in this mixed batch I got stuck with a Chipokae anyone who has raised africans know that a male chipokae is much like an auratus of any arican tank they are pure Chaos if you don't have a group of them I knew nothing of pairings or any such thing 1 male to to 5/6 females I never really heard of such nonsense so I continued to add fish simply for their pretty colors putting no thought into what a war zone I was creating yellow labs(very docile)polit's,greshakei's,various zebra types,afra's and my all time favorite my Afra Green Mbweca at this point I had found a store relativley close to me which just dealt strictly in Africans I thought I hit the jackpot I would not have to order any fish online I would just visit Tony and he would show me books and try to get me anything I wanted thats where I got the mbweca's & polit's from at this point I was a good year or so in since then his place has closed anyway my fish came and went I did my water changes but not quite as often as I should have I though Hey I have a cannister I can neglect this for a bit or I'm tired I will do it next week meanwhile my fish continued to grow.when they got too big I would trade them in and get juvie's at this point I was starting to understand the male/female ratio if I did not have the numbers right my tank was pure chaos all this in a 45 gallon tank.At the time I was renting and had my tank set up.since then I traded in all my fish and broke down my tank after buying a house and starting a family and in the process learned a valuable lesson about raising african cichlids.
My daughter is now 3 and I think it would be nice to set up the tank for her but as much as I would love to set-up another african tank I now realize how much you really need to think about the size of your tank even going to a 65 which I may do is probably close to the smallest necessary to house theses beautiful but temperamental fish,if I was to go this route again at least I now have the knowledge to know what I am getting into.
Africans can be a handfull and having the right size tank is crucial one bad apple in a group will turn your tank into a warzone I just wanted any beginners who want to raise Africans to know what they are getting into they are beautifull and active fish but there is alot more to them than just the right water parameters you can't just buy a batch of them and throw them in together you may get lucky like myself and get a chipokae who is a loner luckily I had only one male if I had more than one there could have been problems also most of the fish I had at one time had very different coloring and as I had my tank for a bit I tried my best to keep my male/female ratio at least at a 1-4 or 1-5 to lessen the aggression there is just so many fish though of this temperament that you can put in a 45 especially when they all grow to be 5+ inches.These fish are territorial and act as such especially when females are present and if females are present if you don't have those ratios correct the males stress the females out so much from the constant chasing that they most times wind up dying.
Again I just wanted to let any beginners who want to start up a African Cichlid tank just to know what they are getting into I see alot of stock posts from people wanting advice on Cichlids(much like myself once upon a time)not really knowing what they are getting into.if you can put them in the proper home with the right rock work or ample hiding spots they very active beautifull fish and will bring you lots of enjoyment they have a very unique personality each and every one of them but they need to be put in the right environment.so to conclude
If you want to raise African Cichlids my Check list would be
A) do you have the proper size tank some say at least a 55 From my experience it depends how many different species you want to mix if its one or two a 55 may be ok but 3-4 you would definetley need at least a 75
B) Though I did not touch on it much but Africans can be quite sensitive to water conditions so with their large bio-load it is crucial to have good water conditions and do your water changes at least once a week the bigger the fish the bigger the change africans can be quite messy
C) Substrate I've always used sand or very fine gravel as Africans like to dig
D) one of the more important points have your Male and Female ratios right if you don't a dominant Male will pick on the one female and stress her out to the point till she is always hiding and sometimes won't eat
E) have plenty of hiding spots whether it be rock work or caves Africans are very territorial and will claim spots in the tank
F) try not to put like colored males together even if they are different species if you do not have enough females as they will be aggresive towards one another even with plenty of females this does sometimes happen with like colored males
I think those are the most important facts aside from Diet Which afriacans have a long digestive track and are natural vegetarians so any kind of Spiruluna works best try not to feed them worms as it takes awhile to work through their digestive track and can cause problems
I know this was a very long read but I just felt the need to share it with any beginners who have their heart set on starting an African tank I don't want to discourage any of you because they are beautifull,fun active fish but to have the right success with them don't jump right in with them like I did without knowing all the facts if I would have read something like this before I jumped into the cichlid world I may most probably would have gone through the whole experience alot differently
Any African owners feel free to chime in I think I covered all the main points if you made it this far on the read than hopefully you take something out of it and make less mistakes than I did.
The topic is about keeping African Cichlids.I was in the same boat as alot of you beginners looking to raise africans and all I can say is buyer beware know what you are getting into.I was in the same sitution as alot of you I started with a 45 gallon tank after always having a 30 or smaller all my life so going to a 45 I thought wow I can put a bunch of fish in this thing.I instantly fell in love with the antics and colors of Africans and never really took the time to FULLY research and understand them and their behavior.Water condition aside thats a whole different subject this is about their temperament they are a fickle fish with a mean streak.
So I jump right in not fully grasping how territorial and aggresive they really could be so I went out a purchased a small batch of mixed africans thinking I was getting just a variety they were just called zebras on the tank well lo and behold in this mixed batch I got stuck with a Chipokae anyone who has raised africans know that a male chipokae is much like an auratus of any arican tank they are pure Chaos if you don't have a group of them I knew nothing of pairings or any such thing 1 male to to 5/6 females I never really heard of such nonsense so I continued to add fish simply for their pretty colors putting no thought into what a war zone I was creating yellow labs(very docile)polit's,greshakei's,various zebra types,afra's and my all time favorite my Afra Green Mbweca at this point I had found a store relativley close to me which just dealt strictly in Africans I thought I hit the jackpot I would not have to order any fish online I would just visit Tony and he would show me books and try to get me anything I wanted thats where I got the mbweca's & polit's from at this point I was a good year or so in since then his place has closed anyway my fish came and went I did my water changes but not quite as often as I should have I though Hey I have a cannister I can neglect this for a bit or I'm tired I will do it next week meanwhile my fish continued to grow.when they got too big I would trade them in and get juvie's at this point I was starting to understand the male/female ratio if I did not have the numbers right my tank was pure chaos all this in a 45 gallon tank.At the time I was renting and had my tank set up.since then I traded in all my fish and broke down my tank after buying a house and starting a family and in the process learned a valuable lesson about raising african cichlids.
My daughter is now 3 and I think it would be nice to set up the tank for her but as much as I would love to set-up another african tank I now realize how much you really need to think about the size of your tank even going to a 65 which I may do is probably close to the smallest necessary to house theses beautiful but temperamental fish,if I was to go this route again at least I now have the knowledge to know what I am getting into.
Africans can be a handfull and having the right size tank is crucial one bad apple in a group will turn your tank into a warzone I just wanted any beginners who want to raise Africans to know what they are getting into they are beautifull and active fish but there is alot more to them than just the right water parameters you can't just buy a batch of them and throw them in together you may get lucky like myself and get a chipokae who is a loner luckily I had only one male if I had more than one there could have been problems also most of the fish I had at one time had very different coloring and as I had my tank for a bit I tried my best to keep my male/female ratio at least at a 1-4 or 1-5 to lessen the aggression there is just so many fish though of this temperament that you can put in a 45 especially when they all grow to be 5+ inches.These fish are territorial and act as such especially when females are present and if females are present if you don't have those ratios correct the males stress the females out so much from the constant chasing that they most times wind up dying.
Again I just wanted to let any beginners who want to start up a African Cichlid tank just to know what they are getting into I see alot of stock posts from people wanting advice on Cichlids(much like myself once upon a time)not really knowing what they are getting into.if you can put them in the proper home with the right rock work or ample hiding spots they very active beautifull fish and will bring you lots of enjoyment they have a very unique personality each and every one of them but they need to be put in the right environment.so to conclude
If you want to raise African Cichlids my Check list would be
A) do you have the proper size tank some say at least a 55 From my experience it depends how many different species you want to mix if its one or two a 55 may be ok but 3-4 you would definetley need at least a 75
B) Though I did not touch on it much but Africans can be quite sensitive to water conditions so with their large bio-load it is crucial to have good water conditions and do your water changes at least once a week the bigger the fish the bigger the change africans can be quite messy
C) Substrate I've always used sand or very fine gravel as Africans like to dig
D) one of the more important points have your Male and Female ratios right if you don't a dominant Male will pick on the one female and stress her out to the point till she is always hiding and sometimes won't eat
E) have plenty of hiding spots whether it be rock work or caves Africans are very territorial and will claim spots in the tank
F) try not to put like colored males together even if they are different species if you do not have enough females as they will be aggresive towards one another even with plenty of females this does sometimes happen with like colored males
I think those are the most important facts aside from Diet Which afriacans have a long digestive track and are natural vegetarians so any kind of Spiruluna works best try not to feed them worms as it takes awhile to work through their digestive track and can cause problems
I know this was a very long read but I just felt the need to share it with any beginners who have their heart set on starting an African tank I don't want to discourage any of you because they are beautifull,fun active fish but to have the right success with them don't jump right in with them like I did without knowing all the facts if I would have read something like this before I jumped into the cichlid world I may most probably would have gone through the whole experience alot differently
Any African owners feel free to chime in I think I covered all the main points if you made it this far on the read than hopefully you take something out of it and make less mistakes than I did.
