We have currently 20 of them. Two in our 55 gallon tank ( Ug & Pretty ) and the rest are in our 75 gallon tank. We love all of our Cichlds but I think my favorite is Ug (short for Ugly) |
Blue
was the first Cichlid that we got.When we brought him home and put him in our 75 gallon community tank. But he started chasing all the other fish. At the time we had a blue red tailed loach we called Scaredy Cat. Blue picked him up with his mouth and started thrashing him back and forth. It was at this time Blue got banished to the 10 gallon. |
Then after a few weeks we bought a freshwater puffer fish and put him in our community tank. We learned, after we lost the first one, that it actually needed to be in a brackish water tank. So we got another one and converted the 10 gallon tank to accommodate the puffer. So blue got bumped to a five gallon tank. After the puffer craze, and 3 puffers later, when we realize that they were just too hard to keep. So Blue was able to reclaim the 10 gallon, where he stayed for a year or more. I was really surprised that he lived as long as he did since we would just plop him in tank to tank. I guess he was just to mean to die! |
It was at this time we set our aquariums up with sand in- stead of gravel. That is when we learned that Cichlids like to dig and rearrange their tank. Then one day we noticed just how pretty Blue had become. So we moved him to the 30 gallon. At which time we started to buy him tank mates. Thus starting our craze for Cichlids. They now dominate the 75 gallon and some have claim the 30 gallon too. |
We read books on Cichlids and search the net. And came to the conclusion that we would learn from trial & error. Everything we read contradicted each other. So we could not determine fact from fiction. So some of what you will read on our site will be from what we figured out on our own and others what we have gathered from books & the net. |
We found out that our fish prefer to
eat 3 or 4 times a day. When fed they swarm for about 3 minutes then they kind of lose interest. So we started feeding them in small amounts several times a day. We found that it helps to keep the aggression down and the tank clearer. |
We Found that our fish also prefer sand rather than gravel. They love to dig and are constantly changing the layout of their tank. But if you use sand, make sure your rocky caves can withstand the digging. We used very large flat slates to build the caves on. Also you may want to reinforce your tank depending on the rocks you put in it and how many. |