African cichlid behavior
As for plants in a cichlid tank, it is better to do without them. Or decorate the aquarium with a large hard-leafed plant such as a giant Cryptocoryne or anubias. The cichlids of Lake Tanganyika and Lake Victoria do not usually bite aquarium plants, but tear their roots apart. Suitable representatives of underwater flora with a strong root system, the roots should be covered with stones.
When choosing the soil, it is also important to take into account the habits of the cichlids in African lakes. The Utaka group of Malawian cichlids burrow into the sand when they sense danger. Cichlids burrow through the ground in the hope of finding something to eat. This habit allows the aquarium owner to siphon the soil only occasionally, as the cichlids themselves do the cleaning. African cichlids need soil to build a mound for spawning.
The bottom of the aquarium can be laid out with sand or other soil of a fine fraction-from 0.5 to one millimeter. You can use marble chips and do not worry that this soil increases the water hardness. This is the kind of water that cichlids love. Shells for beauty can also be added. There are species of cichlids that hide their eggs in empty shells.
In terms of decorations, you can do with just stones. With the help of light porous stones and a blue light lamp you can create the illusion of a Marine Aquarium. African cichlids, although freshwater fish, but the originality of color is not inferior to marine life. For decoration, you can use Kenyan stone, dragon stone, Carpathian stone, yellow cave sandstone, basalt. The abundance of caves and shelters will partly help to avoid conflicts between cichlids over territory. The main thing is to fix the stones so that the structure does not collapse during the construction of the next spawning mound.
If you want to get-bred offspring, it is better to make a species aquarium. Otherwise, the fish can easily be fried with a cichlid of a different kind. The result of such love will be a cross between two species of cichlids. Such young fish are no less viable, only the fishkeeper must know that this scenario is possible.
When purchasing African cichlid fry, you have the right to ask the breeder for a video or at least a photo of the parents of the baby. How do I choose a healthy fry? When young African cichlids lie on the floor in the aquarium or are buried in the wall, their health is not completely smooth. These exotic fish are active and energetic from childhood.
The myth of contentious behavior
In materials about African cichlids, you will find references to their cool temperament and fighting nature. Do not jump to conclusions. The volume of the aquarium is important for African cichlids. This should be a capacity of 200 liters or more. The corresponding length of the aquarium is 1.2 meters or more. Suitable width of the Aquarium of 50 centimeters. It is important to install a lid on the aquarium. The fact is that during the showdown, active African cichlids can accidentally throw a relative out of the aquarium. The longer and more voluminous the aquarium, the less territorial disputes the fish will have. African cichlids are harem fish. There should be three or four females per male.
If you decide to keep several cichlid species in the same aquarium, remember that you must have a similar biotope, necessary living conditions, and diet. The Basic Rules of the fish neighborhood always apply. Do not need to settle with herbivores and predators, active and slow, large fish with small ones. Try to fill the aquarium with species that spend most of their time in different water layers. Fish cannot converge signs due to individual characteristics. Partially compatible fish get along well if they have been settled in the aquarium as roasts.
More intensive guide on What other fish can live with african cichlids:
African cichlids can live with the barbs and Botia. Tiger barbs and botia are known for their active nature and the desire to live in a herd of six or more fish. Please note that they themselves alone are prone to aggression. African cichlids usually get along with armored catfishes – the same ancistrus. We wish you and your African cichlids always mutual understanding.
African cichlids are divided into 2 kinds – mbuna and Utaka. These are fish that live in Lake Malawi and the Amazon, which differ in a very bright, colorful variety of colors from most other fish of the cichlid family. African cichlids always have an elongated, slightly fast shape with a blunt forehead. At the same time, they can be called quite elegant.
There are a large number of species of African cichlids, the most important Yellow-tail acei, Demanson’s Cichlid, Bumblebee cichlid, Aulonocara multicolor, and others. African cichlids have a reason to have such interesting and beautiful names – you can spend hours looking at their bright and varied colors, and their behavior will not leave indifferent even the most unscrupulous and dry feelings of the most inopportune and reserved fishkeepers.
The fact is that African cichlids are excellent fun! They spend all their time in the aquarium with each other and courting the opposite sex, so they are very interesting to see. Often they have fights – two men compete for territory and furiously circle around the opponent, causing each other different injuries: sometimes it is difficult to distinguish-whether it is a mating game of a couple in love or a fierce fight of don Juan arguing over a cute fish.
African cichlids like to pull stones and eat live aquarium plants, so the maintenance of the aquarium with these cichlids should be carried out carefully and regularly, otherwise, they quickly bring their “creative Chaos” into the aquarium.
Some species of cichlids (such as demasoni, aulonocara, yellow, and chameleons) reproduce successfully even in simple and unprofessional aquariums. And if the aquarium is cleaned at least once a week, there is a great chance that in a few months, with sexually mature parents, the first babies will appear in the aquarium, hiding in crevices and shelters. The fry take care of their own diet – they have enough leftovers of half-eaten food and living dust, which is always present in small quantities in a successful aquarium. Children grow up in three months and start swimming with the rest of the fish. They can no longer be afraid that they can be eaten by older competitors or greatly frightened. And when they reach the age of puberty, which is 8 months, former children can become full-fledged and ambitious owners of the aquarium.
Aquarium for African cichlids
Its inhabitants are African cichlids from Lake Malawi (Malawian cichlids), which aquarium enthusiasts have long known. The most popular representatives of the five genera of Malawian cichlids-aulonocara, haplochromis, melanochromis, labeotropheus, pseudotropheus.
The content of cichlids from Lake Malawi (Nyasa) has become an independent direction of modern aquariums. But they should only be bred after a certain experience.
For the maintenance of Malawian cichlids, aquariums with a volume of at least 250 liters are used, equipped with a compressor and filters (preferably with a biological filter). You can use an activated carbon filter with an active silver nozzle. If there are plants in the aquarium that need to be conserved and ensure their rapid development, the silver-containing nozzle must be removed from the filter. Filtration is established to remove metabolites that are harmful to African cichlids.
The biological composition of water in nature is very different from the composition of water in aquariums for different fish species. It should be slightly alkaline (pH = 7.5-9.0), highly mineralized with a hardness of 12° or more. Water in the aquarium should be replaced every other day, not more than a fifth.
African cichlids pull plants out of the ground. Therefore, many fans use artificial plants in their aquariums, and yet it is not possible to replace the original plants with artificial ones without losing the usefulness of the underwater world. Therefore, with natural plants, it is necessary to use a protective planting method. In a clay pot, expand the hole and carefully insert the root system of a large-leaved plant such as Echinodorus. Unfortunately, Cryptocoryne cannot grow in water with such pH and hardness values. The pot is covered in three layers, first with small gravel (2 mm), with peat topdressing, which creates its own micro-climate for the root system (pH= 7.0), and again with gravel. After that, the pot is covered with thick paper, holds it, turns it around, and puts it on the bottom of the aquarium, the paper is pulled out. The pot is decorated with large dark stones. Now it is almost impossible for fish to get to the root system and damage it.
To create conditions that mimic the natural environment, many shelters are installed in the aquariums-caves, niches, grottos. The bottom is filled with fine gravel, which the fish constantly dig and carry small stones to their refuge, which are piled up in front of the entrance to the slide.
African cichlids are very aggressive, so it is best for the aquarium population to buy fry of the same age and put them in the water at the same time. Also, there are no “hosts ” and “guests” in there. When a large number of fish of different species are held together, their aggressiveness is noticeably reduced. In addition, it is possible to pick up a male of different species that would get along peacefully. It is risky to have only one male of this species in the aquarium because in the event of his death a rather difficult situation arises: the new male is usually not accepted by the old inhabitants of the aquarium. Two males of the same species do not manage in any, even a very spacious aquarium, fights constantly arise between them, which affects the appearance of the fish.
Under natural conditions, fish eat both plant and animal food, and the absence of any component in their diet (mostly vegetables) has a negative effect on the growth and color of Fish and leads to infertility during puberty.
It is necessary to include fish salad, spinach, cabbage, rye, and wheat bread in the diet in such a way that the food of plant origin accounts for 40-60% of the diet. The common care of different species makes it necessary to give animals half the vegetables and half of the animal feed. Hope you got answer on the question What other fish can live with african cichlids if not I recommend you to go look more on youtube. In addition, it is best to use marine products from the animal feed: meat from Atlantic shrimp-krill, sea fish fillet, scallop. This helps to increase the number of eggs in the clutch.