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August 4th, 2008
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| | Fish Master
| Bought fish today! I FINALLY got outside of my house today & went and bought a few african cichlids. I only have 6 fish as of right now, but money's tight, lol. I bought 2 zebra cichlids, 1 jewel, 2 red tops, & a dwarf that I can't remember the name of I know if starts with a 'p'.  |
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August 4th, 2008
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| | Fish Helper
| i always wanted to start a cichlid tank... |
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August 4th, 2008
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| | Moderator
| Congrats, you'll have to post some pics soon. 
It's fun to get new fish. |
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August 5th, 2008
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| | Fish Master
| My Jewel & 2 Zebras still in the bag. I have to confess...I bought these 3 at Petsmart. I didn't think the Jewel was even going to make it. BUt it has! 
My Dwarf Roloffi 
Jewel as soon as it was released from the bag. Not colored up yet. (Looks AMAZINF today) 
This is the boss of the tank! My big Zebra. 
The little zebra 
The Jewel & one of the Red Tops 
The dwarf & the 2 Zebras-and the Jewel 
My Clown Pleco & Apple Snail 
The whole clan!! They all travel together all the time. 
The 2 Red Tops  |
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August 5th, 2008
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| | Moderator
| Awwww, nice fish, I like the Red Tops. Thanks for posting them. |
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August 5th, 2008
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| | Fish Master
| Nice fish. 
Jewels shouldn't go with the other ones from Lake Malawi.
Malawi cichlids should be a species only tank. 1 male to 2 females or more depending on the species you are keeping.
There should also be only on zebra type per tank. You have two red zebra and the red top and I've never even heard of that dwarf one?
Here a site which is great. Lots of info on how and what species you can keep together. This site is very helpful. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/compatibility.php http://cichlidforum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1730 |
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August 5th, 2008
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| | Fish Master
| The Jewel is the most shy fish in the tank, lol. I'll keep a watch in them, if any of them get too aggressive then I'll take it back. So far they all get a long great, always swimming together. http://www.dwarfcichlid.com/Pelvicachromis_roloffi.php |
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August 5th, 2008
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| | Fish Master
| Congrats on your new fish
I was going to say the same thing about the jewel cichlid, but Allie beat me to it, lol. If you have a 20 gallon tank, it would be great for a breeding pair of jewels though
The link Allie listed has so many great articles, profiles, and cookie cutter setups. It is a constant resource of information for me and I highly reccomend it to anyone keeping cichlids. |
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August 6th, 2008
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| | Fish Master
| I completly agree w/ Allie, I am a big lake malawi mbuna keeper and they are hard enough to find mbuna that go w/ mbuna, so mixing them w/ fish from another lake is not recommended.
It took me a week of making a chart, and plan to disperse my cichlids out into tanks that will go together... and finally after getting rid of some species, I have got the fighting down to a bare min. They are hard fish to match up. |
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August 6th, 2008
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| | Fish Master
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Amanda | A krib species...I've kept them before. In my mind I call them west african cichlids....yes I read too much. 
Baby fish usually get along for awhile, until heir adult tendencies kick in. |
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August 11th, 2008
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| | Fish Master
| Just an update on the new cichlids - and maybe some advice on what gender I have of each. The two Red Tops - one I can clearly tell is a male; he has dark blue stripes & a yellow strip across his dorsal fin. Absolutely beautiful fish - getting big too! They grow so fast. The other red top is smaller, and is a dusty purple/light blue. Can barely see any stripes. The two red Zebras - one is getting huge! The bigger is a very rich, deep orange. The other is a little smaller & is a paler orange - its undersides are almost white. The little dwarf is coloring up well with a single dark brown stripe going down his side. The Jewel is starting to turn red - starting at the gills. He looks like he has the wrong head for it's body right now, lol. But it's not eating well. There is zucchini in the tank for the pleco & snail - I've seen the Jewel nibbling at the piece before. Could this be what it's mainly eating? It doesn't come to the surface to eat when the others do & he pretty much keeps to himself in a little granite cave most pf the time that he shares with the dom. red zebra. Weird roomies, I know. |
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August 11th, 2008
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| | Fish Master
| Quote:
Originally Posted by Amanda Just an update on the new cichlids - and maybe some advice on what gender I have of each. The two Red Tops - one I can clearly tell is a male; he has dark blue stripes & a yellow strip across his dorsal fin. Absolutely beautiful fish - getting big too! They grow so fast. The other red top is smaller, and is a dusty purple/light blue. Can barely see any stripes. The two red Zebras - one is getting huge! The bigger is a very rich, deep orange. The other is a little smaller & is a paler orange - its undersides are almost white. The little dwarf is coloring up well with a single dark brown stripe going down his side. The Jewel is starting to turn red - starting at the gills. He looks like he has the wrong head for it's body right now, lol. But it's not eating well. There is zucchini in the tank for the pleco & snail - I've seen the Jewel nibbling at the piece before. Could this be what it's mainly eating? It doesn't come to the surface to eat when the others do & he pretty much keeps to himself in a little granite cave most pf the time that he shares with the dom. red zebra. Weird roomies, I know. | Here's pix of male and female Red Tops http://burnel.club.fr/Photos/Maylandia_pyrsonotos.html http://www.cichlidae.com/forum/viewt...st=0&sk=t&sd=a |
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August 14th, 2008
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| | Fish Master
| The smaller isn't white like the female in the profile. It's just a very light purple/blue. Maybe it's just a subdominent male? The other Red Top is definently dominant - coloring up nicely. I also have another question. I've been doing research on the red zebras - and one site said that most of the males are blue. Does that mean that the two oranges I have are both female? |
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