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Care of Cichlids-Advice for Beginners

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Lake Malawi Cichlid Information-Why Choose Them? Cichlids can be a pleasurable fish to have in an aquarium tank for the home. The reason why is because they are very energetic, active, and alert thus making them very entertaining to watch. An additional benefit of cichlids over a standard tropical fish tank is you can disregard the rule that says you must have 1 inch of fish per gallon. Also, cichlids like to roam all over an aquarium, exploring all areas, making them more noticeable than other tropical fish that mainly school together in one area of the tank. So it is very important to learn the proper care of cichlids and that is why I have started this cichlid site. A huge difference between cichlids and other types of fish for aquarium of the fresh water type is they are extremely territorial. Because of this it is recommended that you put in more than what is recommended for typical tropical fish. Yes, packing your aquarium full of cichlids will not allow them to establish bo...
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African Cichlids-Mbuna

Here are some common cichlid species that are oftentimes available to be purchased. I have included their scientific names as well as their common names, which are mostly used to help find them in your local fish store. I have also included a picture of these colorful fish, their 'temperament' (whether they are aggressive or peaceful cichlids ) and 'size'. This should help you in choosing African cichlids. Metriaclima lombardoi (Kenyi)   Temperament : If taken from the wild they are very aggressive. If they are captive bred, then they are a little less aggressive. Size: Up to 5 inches ______________________________________________ Labidochromis caeruleus (Electric Yellow Lab) Temperament: Very peaceful Size: Up to 3 inches for a fully grown electric yellow cichlid ______________________________________________ Melanochromis johannii (Electric Blue) Temperament: Moderately aggressive Size: Up to 4 inches ______________________________________________ Metriaclima es...
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Cichlids and Other Fish

When it comes to African cichlids and other types of aquarium fish it is not a good idea to put them together in the same tank. Even though cichlids look beautiful and harmless, they are very aggressive fish and they will harass and kill foreign fish and even fish of their own species. So to save you time and money I recommend that you never put other tropical fish in with African cichlids, because even aggressive tropical fish will not have a chance against them. They are just plain mean when it comes to other fish especially if they are breeding cichlids. You can keep in your tank any type of cichlid species found in Lake Malawi but you don't want to ever mix South American cichlids and African cichlids together! You must only choose one or the other, you cannot mix different regions together because it will prove to be disastrous! But you may be wondering, how do I keep my tank free of algae, can I put in a bottom feeder fish or an algae cleaner with my cichlids? My recommen...
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Mbuna Cichlid Diet

If you want to maintain healthy and beautifully colored fish then you must maintain a good Mbuna cichlid diet. Cichlids eat a wide variety of food from vegetation to other fish. Certain species consume more plant matter than other species, however you can feed all your mbunas a mix of pellets and supplement with spirulina, live guppies, or frozen food. If you do this then you will cover the dietary requirements of the majority of cichlids from Lake Malawi especially if you are part of the bunch that makes up Lake Malawi cichlid beginners. You can buy a good commercial brand of cichlid pellets and this actually can cover their diet very nicely. I don't recommend that you use normal tropical fish food or food that you would give to a goldfish. Look for cichlid pellets that are designed to greatly enhance their color. These work really well. They do offer a cichlid flake, but the pellet seems to be the one that works the best in my opinion. I like to watch them chase the pellet as...
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Lake Malawi Cichlid Beginners

This is some simple but important advice for Lake Malawi cichlid beginners. If this is your first freshwater tropical fish tank setup and you have had a chance to study up on the information I have provided through this blog and you have reached the point of wanting to start an African Mbuna cichlid aquarium then here is a tip that you will want to know to be successful. Cichlids are an awesome tropical fish species to have but it is very important to know how to properly take care of them. What are some of the African cichlid tank requirements? Well, your new tank needs to be cycled before live fish are added. What does that mean? It means that you allow enough time for your tank water to properly build up a sufficient amount of natural bacteria that aids in reducing or breaking down organic material. Fish waste, plant matter, rotting fish, uneaten food are all broken down by certain bacteria. This bacteria produces ammonia and this is very dangerous for fish. So you can understand ...
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Cichlid Aggression Prevention

Cichlid aggression prevention is a very important topic when it comes to these tropical freshwater fish. If certain cichlids are allowed to be bullies in the tank this can cause undo stress on the other fish and may cause a rise in disease and death. That would not be good! So probably the best way to avoid conflict between your fish is to make sure that you have lots of cichlids in the aquarium. It seems like a strange concept but if you put in a lot of cichlids they won't have enough space to establish territories and the result can be peace in the tank with less aggression. Believe it or not, this concept works! Within the African cichlids natural habitat , they are aggressive by nature and it is not uncommon to see them chasing each other around. Or you may see them peck at each other's fins or may appear to be fighting face to face. This is their normal action and behavior but if you notice that a single fish is constantly being picked on, then you will want t...
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Choosing African Cichlids

You may be like me and like the tropical fish species called Mbuna cichlids. If this is the species that you have chosen to put into your tank then, good for you! I will like to suggest that when choosing African cichlids that you purchase all the cichlids you want at one time. It is not a good idea to buy a few now and then a few more later because the original cichlids in the tank will have probably already established boundaries and adding in new cichlids could cause some major fighting. By adding them all at the same time eliminates one particular species from gaining total control and terrorizing the rest in the tank. This approach can level the playing field, so to speak. But if you already have a few Malawian cichlids in your tank and you want to add some more then read the post I wrote called "Cichlid Aggression Prevention". And of course that post can help you if some fighting does start in your tank some time in the future (hopefully this doesn't happen, but it ...
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