Angela_96

Another shameless bump!!

And reminder to research research research before buying a cichlid!
As an avid cichild freak I cannot stand the thought of putting them in less than perfect living conditons, ie mixing them w/ other cichilds from other parts of the world, getting a kick out of one cichild attacking another, stuffing them all in a 20g tank and then wondering why they are sick or killing each other....

Only dwarf cichilds go in a 20g tank, apistos, shell dwellers. Anything else is plain cruel!

I have studied cichilds for over a year now, not just in keeping, spawning and selling them. But seriously studing their behavior, reading textbooks on them, consistantly researching all different types. They are very very smart fish, and will make a wonderful PET not just a pretty to look at.

I have videos of my male kenyi, large male lab, female kenyi to prove how friendly they are, I can reach in my tank and they swim up to me and let me pet them. I have my 50+ cichlids so tame I can reach in the tank w/ my hand and pick up whichever cichild I need to move.. Not chasing with a net and stressing it out. THey come to me.

Knowledge is one thing that will get you far in fishkeeping, please don't listen to the LFS people they want to sell fish! Not promote the best living conditons for these fish.

I avocate good fish husbandry(care) and feel as strong about it as if they were a cat or dog of mine. Because they w/ the proper care and love are happy healthy pets who will show you affection back.

Mike19

Thanks for bumping Angela you are completely right. Members need to remember that the advice given on fishlore is to soley benefit the living conditions of the fish no member is profiting over the advice given.

I think this becomes a problem when a conflict of information occurs when LFS information differs to member opinions sometimes resulting in the poster to follow the LFS as its more intertwined with what they want.

Angela_96

Since there are a lot of people wanting to set up cichild tanks here is another bump for more help.

DSwofford

I just bought a 135 gallon tank off of craigslist and I am turning it into an African Cichlid tank. Specifically for the "Lake Malawi" cichlids. All the articles I have read commonly refer to them in a 55 gallon tank and they say not to mix mbuna with some of the other Malawi inhabitants. In a 135 gallon tank, does anyone see a problem with a male and two female electric blues? I am really excited about putting this tank together and want the perfect environment for my cichlids.

Is it pretty much a 50-50 split on substrate? I hear some people say gravel and others say sand. At this point I am leaning toward sand. Penny for your thoughts.....

Angela_96

I use a 50/50 with crushed coral and sand mix. Its great for buffering the water to a high pH, and great for them to dig in.

That is a wonderful size tank for a bunch of malawis! I wish I had one myself. Electric blues do great in a larger tank like that... Great start on picking species!

DSwofford

So you think a male and two female electric blues will do ok and won't terrorize the mbunas in a 135 gallon tank?

What type of sand did you use? The cheap part of me says to use pool filter sand while the eccentric part says to use black sand :-)

Angela_96

I used the agronite sand (even more buffering that way).. I did use black sand in one of my tanks. Pool filter sand is fine.

Yea the electric blues will be fine. They aren't that aggressive.

Angela_96

I have seen a lot of new cichlid people on here, so I thought I would bump this for them to see....

mmb19000

thanks for the nice articles.