Easier to keep cichlids? South American or African?

[jaajaa40]

I ended up restarting my Cichlid tank to get rid of tons of little white worms which I found out were "nematodes". I may have made a mistake about restarting the tank, but I almost did it. I only had a few fish, one peacock, one hap, and one joule and a big pelco. I just had my water tested at the LPS and they said I was about a week away from being done. I was happy, all my fish were doing fine and then I just lost my peacock over night. He was eating great and active the the night before and they were floating the next morning. Lost my favorite fish.

To be honest with you I have 3 small kids that I need to focus my care on ranter than the fish, but I like the lively colorful cichlids. Now I am am down to only a few fish and rethinking what type of fish I should keep. Should I move to south american or keep the african.

Honestly I can only find one pet store in the my chicago suburb area that sells the peacock tank I wanted to start. I am looking for easy to keep fish with a good variety of color.

I am up to the one every two weeks small water change and looking after the tank. But I am not up to every day maintainance.

I want to do a lot of research before starting again, but I would like some advice to get pointed a the right direction.

Thanks for you replies in advance.

 

[Menagerie]

What is the gh/kh and pH of the tank? That will help decide which fish will go best in your tank!

 

[jaajaa40]

Menagerie,

I would love to know how to reply to you. I have seen you made a "lot" of post and I have been reading them. To get the the gh/kh and pH of the tank I guess I need to start with getting a test kit or can the LFS tell me these?

Thanks much... I would love to get your thoughts on the kind of fish. But it may take a few replies.

 

[Menagerie]

The LFS can test for pH, I'm not sure about the hardness. The reason I mention these tests is SA and African cichlids prefer very different water conditions. Generally, any fish that is tank bred locally will be used to the local water, but many of these fish are imported from over seas, or bred else where.
Using Calgary as an example: a trusted LFS worker who only sells cichilds said he had not bought rams in ages because they cannot handle Calgary water and it is best to find locally bred rams. Luckily in the nine months that I have been shopping there, he has gotten in some gorgeous rams from both semi-local and over seas. I have been lucky enough to pick each kind early after their arrival and get them into my tanks with driftwood that lowers the pH and hardness. The fish are doing well. They probably will not breed unless I do more to make them comfortable. On the other hand, I have an 80 gal with Africans, there's no messing with the water and they breed all the time!!!
I hope that story made sense. It is simply easier to keep fish that already like your water. Since you have a family that needs your attention, let's work on fish that can be put on "cruise control."

 

[spence0416]

I have found that it is typically easier to keep SA cichlids rather than African. SA seem to handle poor water conditions better, and do not have as much to worry about with dietary needs. Only problem is SA cichlids are not as colorful and some just get HUGE.

 

[Voodoo Chilli]

If you're looking for a low-maintainance system, I'd suggest steering away from the cichlids and perhaps going for more of a tropical community system. Cichlids simply do not tolerate poor water conditions very well- especially Africans.

Many of the community fish available will provide you with the color you're looking for and will be much less demanding as far as water quality goes.

 

[TankGirl]

Consider yellow labs - they have been tank-bred for so long now they can handle a wider range of water conditions than your average African cichlid, and their color is wonderful. They are commonly available, as well.

Conversely, to echo Voodoo, if you want to change the tank over completely, you can't go wrong with the good ole platy - lots of varieties in color, hardy and easy to breed, the kids will love them.