Why african?

[em_witt]

I have an empty 46gal bow front. And an emperor 400 filter for it. My family likes the look of the colorful fish and so do I. But what you guys have to do is really convince me to go African!

Ps I was thinking Malawi.
Leaning towards yellow labs

And my ph out of the well is 7.8

 

[MarMan]

If you have to be convinced to go African, then maybe they are not for you. Anyone who sees an adult male cichlid and is not amazed at the color and intelligence surely can't be wowed by a few words. Anyone who is not instantly impressed to find out that they are mouth brooders and how the female cares for her young surely won't be impress by a posting. The cost, the color and their courageous nature should be enough but these guys are not for everyone.

 

[Jakepen]

They are a really fun fish to watch. I've only had mine for about three months. I'm doing an all male tank 70 gallon. I have twenty in there, mbunas and peacocks. They are territorial, Chase others away, I've seen a few lip locks (the bullying isn't bad though, everyone is happy and living well.) I think I have one or two females though, I see a lot of vigorous shaking from a few sure males, really entertaining. They are always moving sand, in natural sunlight they look absolutely beautiful, shine metallic bright. When I walk into my living room they all rush to the front of the tank, when my girlfriend walks in, they don't bother with her. So they are a smart fish, they recognize the hand that feeds them. When I open my lid they rush to the top, I can put my hand in and touch them, not able to cradle them yet though. Rarely do they just swim with no meaning, they always have a motive, I can sit down in my couch and nut turn on the tv for an hour, just watch them. Also it's very rewarding to watch them grow, because of all the color they attain...

 

[Mrs.h2012]

I will say, I made the switch from my 55g being a tropical community tank to African cichlids. And quite honestly I wish I would've done this from the first day I got my 55g. I have yellow labs in my tank, and I love them! Cichlids have such a fun personality! Mine swim up to the front of the tank whenever they notice me and they will follow me if I walk side to side in front of my tank. The prices of cichlids are a bit shocking if your coming or used to tropical fish prices, but trust me, it's worth it and you WON'T be disappointed!

 

[em_witt]

After reading up on them for the last few days. And hearing what you guys say about them I really do want to go for it!!
Can you tell me more on any breeding hints? And when I do get the fish. I am sort of limited to my Lfs. Which has worse of a variation than petsmart/petco

 

[kjacks]

Breeding hints will more then likely not be needed especially if you get them young they will let nature run its course as long as they are happy in their environment.. I ordered all mine online or got from members here except my newest which where acei (too big for your tank if i recall it was a 46g)

Just give plenty of hiding spots and research what you are getting personally i would stick to smaller ones say 3.5 in like the cynotilipia afras ... in my experience they all like to swim noticed a huge difference in behavior after upgrading from a 55g to a 125g with an added 2ft of length... oh and do lots of research just bc someone says oh yea this goes with this every tank is different and peoples opinions differ...

 

[em_witt]

So what can i do for stocking wise?
And I would like to get more numbers with less species. Rather than loth of species with 1-2 per species.

 

[em_witt]

What about an all yellow lab tank?

3 males and 6-8 females?

 

[Andrew McFadden]

What about an all yellow lab tank?

3 males and 6-8 females?

What can you get at the store if ordering online is out of the question?

 

[em_witt]

Most of the time it is a "mixed" tank and yellow labs

 

[em_witt]

And sometimes a acei and bumblebee cichlids

 

[kjacks]

You should check and see if.your lfs could order you specific ones and see if they have some sort of list for what they can get..

Most of the tike cichlids in the assorted tanks get big or can be hybrids and unless you are great at identifying them you dont know what you are getting

 

[Andrew McFadden]

And sometimes a acei and bumblebee cichlids

You could try finding a facebook cichlid buy/sell/trade page for your area. Just be careful before buying there are a ton of hybrids out there. Find a good seller and try to stick with them, it's normally an older person.

The biggest problem is in lfs mixed tanks you don't know what your going to be getting at an lfs and the ones they do have listed can't go in an average size tank like the bees.