That Fish Blog – Aquarium Advice and Information

Some days just don’t go like you expect them to…spilled blackworms on the fishroom floor, overflowing systems…all the little things that can make a good day go bad. I had one of those days a few weeks ago all thanks to my male dovii.

My guy is a bit of an idiot. He likes to hurl himself out of the water and smash into the water droplets that form on the glass canopy of his aquarium. At first, it was funny and cute (at least to me), but when he does it every hour, it starts to get old. He doesn’t just tap the glass, he hits the glass with such force that with the door closed I can still hear him make contact. One day, soon after arriving to work, I happened to get a call from the leasing office in my apartment complex. Apparently, water was leaking into the bedroom of a tenant below my apartment from the room where the tank is set-up housing my Dovii pair. Read More »

So, this time we are going to talk about my 10 from two areas, South America and West Africa. I’ve found through experience that both species can tolerate the same type of water conditions, with pH below 7.5 and softer water than African Lake Cichlids. Most of the species I’ve kept were for the challenge of breeding and/or their rarity. So lets begin. Read More »

What’s up everyone, Jose here again. I’m back for another installment of my top 10 Cichlids. This time, I’m going to talk about some of my favs from Lake Victoria.

In the last 20 to 30 years many Victorian species have been driven to extinction by a variety of factors, including the introduction of
the Nile perch, increased human population and also increased pollution. It’s a real shame, too considering many species were still undiscovered. One more reason why we should never release non-native species.

Vics are very hardy and easy to keep and will do well in most dechlorinated tap water with a ph of 7.5 and up.

Many people have asked me why I would keep certain fish over others and it’s tough to give one  reason. I like them for their rarity, color, attitude and spawning behaviors just to name a few, and most Vics do well in an easy-to-mange 36×18 tank. Well let’s begin with my top 10 in no order.

Astatotilapia Aneocolor– Known as the Yellow Belly Albert this 3 to 5 inch species is a stunner with a red back

and a yellow belly and blue dorsal. One year I put one in my patio pond for the summer and when i brought him back

in he had a purple back and his belly was gold. I would keep them in a 55 as they are pretty aggressive.
Astatotilapia nubilus– If there was ever a candidate for anger management this is the guy. The nubilus tops out

at 4 inches. I like this fish because it is jet black with red fins and some striking egg spots in the anal fin.

 

Haplochromis sp. Dayglow– This 4.5 inch herbivore has a powder blue head, a black verticle bar across the eyes,

red tail fin that contrasts a yellow green body, a red blotch behind the gill and 3 to 4 orange egg spots outlined

in black.

Hap sp. Ruby green– This 4 inch herbivore is sometimes confused with hap Flameback. Males have a red back with a

green bottom, they also have a blue dorsal and large orange egg spots in the anal fin. I have kept and bred this

species and can say that I have had males color at 2 inches. Highly recommended.

 

Paralabidochromis Chilotes– This 5 inch carnivore has many geographical color morphs. The particular strain I like

has a blue face and back, a red body and a blue anal fin. It also has fleshy lips. A very odd and awesome fish to try.

 

Pytochromis sp “hippo point” – Another 5 inch carnivore that is mildly aggressive towards other fish except that it

hates other males. It also likes to feed on the snails Bellamya and Melanoides. Its most striking feature is the

bright crimson red on the majority of its body with the remainder being green. During breeding and fights it also

has a white face with a black bar going through its eye.

 

Pundamilia Nyererei “ruti island” – A 4 inch fish, this is another one of those species that has a few different

color morphs. I chose the ruti island because i thought the red was really intense  with its mixture of green

and yellow body, black barring and red dorsal. I’m happy i did.

 

Xystichromis phytophagus– The christmas fulu. This 4.5 inch herbivore lives up to its name with its red,yellow,

green,marroon body and blue dorsal. It also has a black bar going through the eye and on its cheek; and a red tail.

 

Harpagochromis sp “blue rock hunter“– This 5 inch piscivore is an aggressive species that needs plenty of room.

Males are mostly blue with some tints of yellow or green in the body and a white dorsal edge.

 

Haplochromis sp “all red”- This 6 inch herbivore is a relatively peaceful species except towards its own kind.

It colors up pretty much like a Nyererei except that it has more red in the head and chest area.

 

So there it is: my top 10 vics. I hope this blog might get someone interested in these awesome species. Check out my top 10 Malawis if you haven’t.  Until next time.

Jose

Hi, everyone. Jose here. Ever wonder why some people keep certain species of fish over others? Some people like to keep Oscars and Jack Dempseys because they eat other fish, others keep African Cichlids for their colors. Some choose bloody parrots because they are “cute” (hahaha, sorry), yet others of you have angels and rams for their elegant fins and coloration.

My reason for being a “cichlidiot” (cichlid idiot) at first was their color. I started out Mbuna from Lake Malawi. I got a 55 gallon, a bunch of rocks and plants, and kept Pseudos and yellow labs. Well, the plants got trashed, so it ended up being a tank full of rocks. Then I added the Electric blue Ahli and a Bicolor Peacock (let the games begin). That poor peacock didn’t stand a chance between the Ahli and the Mbuna. Lessons learned along the way, my obsession with cichlids of all types and from all regions has contributed to a lot of fun and interesting aquarium adventures through the years. So, away with the pretty little Mbunas and onto Malawi haps, like the Eye-biter, the Livingstoni, etc. I went. Besides the outstanding colors, each species also had some very interesting feeding and breeding behavior that fueled my interest.

Next came the Victorians. These were smaller than the big guys I was used to, but with color and spunk, careful mixing of pairs (a lot of females look alike and you can end up with hybrids) my reason for these guys was the fact that they were almost wiped out due to the introduction of the Nile Perch to their native habitats. Keeping fish like these is a great way to keep species going.

Next for me were the Tanganyikans. The Brichardi complex with its long flowing fins got me hooked, then, I fell in love with Featherfins and Shell-dwellers. Tanganyika is a very diverse lake with multiple types of spawning rituals. You have egg layers, and mouth-brooders, and egg scattering species, all very interesting to breed and observe.

Then we have the West Africans. These colorful and interesting fish live in the rivers of West Africa, and include different types of Kribs, Jewel Cichlids, and not to forget, some of the tilapia species. After a few years, my madness moved on to South American Dwarf Cichlids and then the discus. Breeding them was an accomplishment.

Dwarf pikes and rams were next on my list, and the fun and headaches of keeping Central Americans soon followed.  They are bruisers; big, mean and with a lot of attitude, and even smaller centrals think they are their larger cousins with plenty of attitude for their size.

Finally I ventured into fish from Madagascar (most of which are either extinct or in danger of being extinct), which were a treat to keep. They are a lot like the centrals in behavior and habitat conditions. And I can’t forget to mention the Chromides from Asia and the new cichlid they’ve found in Iran.

Now that I’ve outlined the path of my decent into cichlid madness, I’ll talk about my favorites from each location in some future installments.

Until next time

Jose

Hello, Frank Indiviglio here.  Among the Cichlids (Family Cichlidae) we find some of the most interesting and highly desirable of all freshwater aquarium fishes.  Nearly all show a startling degree of responsiveness to their environment and owners, with many becoming true “pets” as opposed to animals to be observed only.  Included among the group are Oscars, Jack Dempseys, angelfishes, convicts and other popularly-bred species, as well as a number about which little is known.

Diversity and Range

With well over 1,300 species named to date, and many as yet un-described, this family is one of the fish world’s largest. Ranging in size from 1 to 36 inches, Cichlids inhabit the fresh and brackish waters of Central and South America, the West Indies, Africa, Madagascar, Syria, Israel, Iran, southern India and Sri Lanka.  One species, the Texas cichlid, occurs in the USA.  Found throughout the drainage of the lower Rio Grande River, it is the most northerly of all cichlids. 

A number have been widely introduced, with Oscars (velvet cichlids) being long-established in southern Florida.  I have collected them in the Everglades, and have reports of a great many other introduced populations.

Parental Care

One near universal trait among the family is the amazing degree of parental care given the young. In many cases both the parents tend to the fry, cleaning them and the nest site and driving off potential predators.  The lovely, popular discus (Symphysodon aequifasciata), a native of the Amazon Basin, feeds its young with a modified mucus secreted from the skin.

The Unique “Second Jaws”

Cichlids have a second pair of jaws in the throat.  Known as the pharyngeal jaws, these unique structures process food and have freed the primary jaws to develop an amazing array of adaptations to deal with specific and unusual food items.  Included in this family are species that feed upon bacteria, other fishes, hard-shelled mollusks, algae and an amazing assortment of other food items. 

It is speculated that specialized adaptations have allowed cichlids to become the dominant fish family in many of the ecosystems in which they occur.

African Rift Lake Cichlids

 In Lake Victoria and other water bodies of Africa’s Great Rift Valley live a variety of cichlids that have all evolved from a very small number of “parent species”.  About 90% of these fishes are endemic to a single lake, and the speciation process seems to have occurred in the relatively short time.  Up to 200 closely related species, often termed “species flocks”, may be found in a single lake. 

I’ll cover the care of individual Cichlid species in the future. Until then, please write in with your questions and comments.  Thanks, until next time, Frank Indiviglio.

Further Reading

We have posted a number of Cichlid care articles on our blog.  For information on keeping the popular and aptly-named Red Terror, please see The Red Terror: Cichlid Species Profile .

Ed. Note: Lots of cichlids are featured on our catalog photo contest located on Facebook.  Take a look here and vote for your favorite.