African Cichlids can be a most enjoyable and rewarding hobby if you know what you are doing. One wrong move and $ $ $ $ just goes down the pan. Let us point you in the right direction.

Nearly all African Cichlids come from the three great lakes of Malawi, Tanganyika and Victoria. These lakes include the distinction of being the deepest freshwater lake (Tanganyika) and the second largest lake in the world (Victoria). In this area of east Africa the water is a very hard and alkaline with a pH of 7.5 – 8.5.

The African Cichlids are known for being territorial and aggressive with it. This becomes even more so when mating time comes around. Aggression has its place within the tank to reinforce the pecking order and so to establish who’s in charge. It might come as a surprise that the largest fish does not always win and sometimes the smaller ones will gang up on the outsider.

The upside of this is that male cichlid colours reach full strength during this time of and of course cichlid babies.

You need to be aware that some cichlids can grow to over 30cm in length and as a result they need space to move about in. I’m not saying to go out and buy the first six foot tank you can find but just be aware that you may have to trade up at sometime in the future. Although a brand new tank will cost 0′s you can find some great bargains on eBay if you are prepared to travel to pick it up.

If you decide you want to set up a community tank with a variety of different species you need to make sure that they are compatible and won’t eat each other. A major consideration for any size tank is the filtration which should be both mechanical, to physically remove floating waste, and biological to break down that waste and purify, at least to fish standards, the water they live in.

When setting up the tank you really should try to closely mimic the cichlids natural habitat with rocks and driftwood.

This provides hide-a-ways for the smaller fish and territorial boundaries for the larger fish. Plants are usually not necessary in an African cichlid tank as their natural habitat is mainly algae and cichlids will only end-up digging up the plants just for the sake of it.

Cichlids love food and will generally take anything that you put in the tank. They can be a little slow to eat when first put into a tank but once they are settled or so there should be no trouble getting them to eat. African cichlids will take a wide variety of food. Live food, pellet food, or special cichlid food is all gobbled up greedily. However, you should find out which is best for your particular species of cichlid. It is generally accepted that you should only feed what they can eat within 20 – 30 seconds of feeding

Cichlids can be a great source of amusement, entertainment and joy but in order for this to happen they need to be happy and comfortable in their surroundings. And that, my friend, is down to you…
But maybe I can help you to Keep African Cichlids – Successfully!