5 African Cichlid PROBLEMS | Are They WORTH IT?
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
- African cichlids can be very troubling for the average fish keeper. If you're not used to all the problems (not limited to African cichlid aggression) having an African cichlid tank can put you through, then these fish will take some getting used to, and they might honestly be too much for you to deal with. I'll tell you five reasons to stay away from African cichlid fish, and I'll also tell you why I, and other African cichlid keepers, still have them and love them. Additional note: the fish in the growout tank are johnstoni, not livingstonii
Cichlid Charmer is dedicated to sharing the joy of keeping African cichlids and American cichlids and sharing information about them. Much of my content is not cichlid fish specific, however. It also pertains to all tropical fish aquariums. I will share what I have learned about cichlids and other fish, and everyone is welcomed to comment with their own experiences and information about fish and aquarium practices in general.
Timecodes
0:00 Intro
0:19:07 Problem One
04:01:22 Problem Two
05:48:15 Problem Three
08:05:24 Problem Four
10:08:28 Problem Five
11:52:08 Not All Bad!
13:03:22 Conclusion
13:27:07 Nuchisquamulatus
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What’s your experience with African cichlids? Did I miss any of the top problems with these psychos? Remember to hit the LIKE button or RUclips will come and steal one of your fish 😮
You missed everything 🤡
Great listening to your cichlid experience. I have African cichlids living with clown loaches, red tail shark, Silver shark, they are all a very happy little family, any bullying that goes on is strictly between the cichlids, pecking order. I wouldn't have any other tropical fish. I enjoy them very much.😅
Man I’ve been watching your vids for a little while now and just realized Alcatraz is absolutely beautiful and huge!
I had a guaranteed male lay eggs yesterday. An albino Taiwan reef that mated with Taiwan reef.
Good videos man
How funny, and thank you! I am very happy with Alcatraz right now 😎. LOL about the guaranteed male. It’s a miracle!
It’s a bummer but the breeder I went through said they’d give me store credit or a refund for the fish that are female. I purchased I think 10 or 12 from them so I gotta keep an eye out for any others. Good thing is their guarantee has no time limit. I’ll probably go through rons cichlids due to your videos. He charges a little bit more but I think his quality is top tier. We really want a bright or deep red and a nice purple since we have mainly blue and yellow in the tank.
I commented on one of your other videos about the king of diy canister filter and just wanted to lyk it’s not worth it to do with a 5 gallon plastic bucket. I found a company online that sells leak/waterproof 5 gallon metal buckets with locking lids for about $30-$40, however I ended up sacrificing a pressure cooker to use instead of the plastic bucket and it’s working great with no leaks. Sturdy*
I have 8 african cichlids in my 55-gallon tank. I've had aggression issues in the past but got a lot of texas Holy rocks and the aggression has left sure they chase each other every now again but with all the rocks it stops pretty quick. I added some bamboo to the tank to contain the nitrates and ammonia. I now went from cleaning my tank 1 time a week to 1 time a month and change out 30 gallons of water every water change and clean my filter in between my tank cleanings and i have 0 issues with nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia. Love my african cichlids.
Sounds like a well oiled machine 🤩🤩
I haven't kept African cichlids for years.but after watching your channel..I want to be a Nut Job too!
Welcome to the family! 🤪
I love the colors of the African Cichlids. But I don't keep them just for the aggression part, my brain can't handle that stress of dealing with all that. I'm a South and central American Cichlid person. And have learned over the years what works well together.
You’re a smart fish keeper! Do what works for you 🥰
You said your a south American/ central American person yet dont like an aggressive tank lol? Dont hate on cichlids because you dont know how to have them. I have a tank full of beautiful peacock cichlids, red jewel cichlids, blood parrot, BOD Cichlids and much more and they all get along just fine lol
@@SurroundedByNPCs not hating on them like think I am. I can just deal with my South and central Cichlids easier as they are not all aggressive like Africans are.
@@razinfishes1918 You must be talking about those small central and south Americans cause that's all I keep and my fish are aggressive lol
@@JoeHigh-lc4is not small one I keep Uaru's and Sevrums and Oscars Geophagus and silver dollars all get along together 99 percent of the time
Happy New Year fella. Just done a 3 hour shift rescaping with new rocks. Glass clean. Big scrub out. It’s time as well as money. All a labour of love eh?
Oh you’re giving me goose bumps, Paul. Happy New Year to you too, btw!
Ex idahoan here. You are so right about these fish. They are so weird. Mine are almost full grown now and still leave the platies alone. I thought they would be murdered long ago. Have 26 peacocks and about 20 platies in 125 gallon tank. Love your videos 😂
They must be charmed. You never know with these weirdos, do you? Thank you so much!
I love my cichlid and They DEFINITELY all have unique personalities.
They really do!
Had several, favorite were a Venestus & Livingstoni, both were around 8-10" long. That was roughly 20 years ago, getting back into the Africans now. My daughter is really excited, son is interested too. Great video
That's so exciting -- my kids aren't interested at all. That will be a lot of fun! I have two livingstoni's ready to move into Alcatraz soon, and I'm looking forward to that. Thank you 😍
@@CichlidCharmer she's 5 & he's 8, so maybe part of the excitement is their age & it's something very new. Hopefully they will enjoy them as much as I had & will. Appreciate your videos, she likes them also. 👍
@@yotaman492 Jealous of the good times you have ahead sharing your hobby 🥰
Another nice vid for the archives. Brawl in Cell Block 99 was a good movie. One of my favs and it doesn't get the attention it deserves. Gotta love that face drag at the end. Brutal! Just watched Bone Tomahawk too (same director) but I didn't like it as much.
Excellent! You’re right - Tomahawk wasn’t as good ❤️
Thanks for sharing your beautiful tank. I’ve been watching your videos for a while now and I can say your fish are thriving. I’ve got peacocks and mbunas in my 75G. They’re mid size and surprisingly my peacocks are more aggressive than the mbunas!! Especially my beautiful OB peacock. He’s a real meanie. Haha
Thank you! Yeah those peacocks - I tell ya!
It's nice to see someone pointing some of the bad stuff too instead of the good ones. That can save people from trouble and fish from dieing.
I have a question though. By doing a water change once a week and one Extra every now and then, do you have any problems with algae? Many people tell me that one Extra problem having that kind of fish is algae. How do you deal with that?
Thank you, and that’s a good question! So I don’t have the tank in direct sunlight so that helps, and I only have the light on for about 4-5 hours per day. It’s also not a plant light, which I would stay away from. Not really much algae at all in this tank, but occasionally I’ll have to wipe down a section or two to remove some of it.
@@CichlidCharmer Glad to gear that! I suppose that if you put a dark sticker at the back, or any sticker at all, or paint it black like i have seen many people do, then this could help too, right? A very small part of my 120gallon aquarium is hit by sunlight, not direct fortunately, but i am thinking about this too if i have a problem.
If it keeps sunlight out, I’d do it. I have a link in the description for some good film for the back, or black paint works. Just make sure it’s well ventilated or the fumes can harm your fish.
@@dermentzoglouagapios9480 Definitely will help.
Haha I definitely have a problem! Nothing better than watching my peacock cichlids. Thinking about reinforcing my floor for 125 gallon tank 👍
Oh yeah - now you’re talking
I was thinking of setting up a peacock cyclid tank because of the brilliant colors, but because you have pointed out their repeated aggression , and heirarchy, there is no peace in keeping these fish other than there beautiful colors. Do you agree ? Alcotraz
I mean I'm sure it can work, but it takes the right balance, decor, tank size, and patience with rehoming. I've decided it's just not worth it. And I actually like haps better anyway.
Red parrots go along really nice
Great video as always sending love from Australia 🇦🇺
Thank you Michelle! Ah, to be in Australia right now…🥰🥰
what is the name of the fish you first mentioned from Ron's?
Furcicauda. Really nice peaceful fish. He needs a big tank
do you have custom lids, where did you order them?
My kids for the acrylic tanks came with the tanks.
I love watching your videos. You are so funny. great video.
Thank you, Danny!
It’s crazy how different experiences can be from person to person.
My red tail shark chased 4 of my smaller peacocks.. I kept Pictus catfish with mine and it worked great, they both ignored eachother. And I never had an issue keeping a bristlenose pleco with them. As long as they are getting food :)
It really is hard to predict. And things can work great for a while, and then all of the sudden… not so good
@@CichlidCharmer yeah my red tail catfish was rehomed the next day lmfao! But my pictus and bristlenose were with them for 4 years. I had a super overstocked 125g 60-70 peas haps 3-9” but as I’ve shared before, one would always own half the tank and I couldn’t stand it lol. My mom told me to leave their water dirty, that’s been her trick to keep peace haha
What exactly you're using to cover your tank and prevent them from jumping? 😓
The acrylic tanks have an attached cover with cutouts. The cutouts come with removable covers.
Love your humor
Thanks 😁
I'm planning to start an african cichlid tank when I move to the US this year. Any suggestions on where to get my fish around Virginia?
Ron’s Cichlids is fairly close. They are awesome and have a 10%discount in the description.
I have an Mbuna tank with 4 tropheus and one jewel cichlid. Mbunas are my favorite
I would like to have an mbuna tank someday
I was born in Zambia, and I've been to lake Malawi. I've snorkeled in the crystal clear waters and seen all the beautiful fish. I've kept aquarium fish for decades....but I'll never keep these cichlids in captivity. They need a huge amount of space and are very territorial. Putting them in a confined space is totally cruel!!!!!¡!!
I can understand your point. I’ve often thought about this myself - is it ethical to keep African cichlids? Am I doing a bad thing by keeping them in a smaller confined space? I mean mine seem very happy (eating well, energetic, colorful) and they don’t have to be concerned about getting eaten by other creatures. But this is definitely food for thought. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences with these incredible fish.
I came from having a peaceful discus tank to switching over to African cichlids. I made that move because even though my discus where beautiful I didn’t get that aggressive feeding behavior that African cichlids have. Plus I wanted more action and movement to my tank thus why I switched over.
At first it took some time to get used to I lost some nice peacocks due to having some females in my tank, at the time I didn’t have much experience keeping Africans so I didn’t know any better. It’s definitely trial and error but once I removed the females and the hierarchy got established in my African tank I no longer have any issues whatsoever. From time to time I’ll have an overly aggressive African peacock/hap and have to rehome him but that’s rarely.
I’d say if you love explosive colors in your tank and your heart can handle some mishaps it’s totally worth it. I think I’m always going to have an African cichlids tank wherever I am they turned out to be my favorite cichlid to keep 😊
I did the reverse... Bcoz i can't be bitten by the aholes everytime
I think Discus would be boring after experiencing these monsters. It’s good when your tank is all good like yours.
Oh, one other thing. Except for the 2 yellow labs I don't even know what I have. I ordered the fish online as a 6 pack assorted mbuna. Does that mean I have a bunch of mix breeds? The 2 yellow labs I bought from PetSmart when I didn't receive any in the 6 pack. One of the mbuna didn't make it through the night 😢
I think the assorted means you don’t get to pick, not that they are mixed breeds. Sorry to hear about the negative experience. Ihope the rest make it okay!
@@CichlidCharmer Oh I'm not looking at it as a bad experience. I'm happy with the fish I ordered. It was unfortunate that one didn't make it but stuff happens and I don't feel the breeder was at fault. They told me they will help me to identify the fish they sent me. All I have to do is send them some pics of the fish I received. When they get bigger I will try to sex them. They are all juveniles. It will be a good learning experience for me.
BTW I'm starting this hobby a little late in life, I will be 70 next month.
Aside from few new fish massacres my Africans have been copasetic for a while. Just found a beautiful 5” Red Borley I kandango? Bright red body with blue head but he was ripped apart by day 2. Put a blue kobalt in same day and he fit right in. I wouldn’t trade these fish for any species. I also have a 10” green terror in with my 45 Africans and he is submissive and gets along great with neutral water parameters. Going on year 3. Fish are amazing tho and everyone’s experience seems to be unique! Lot of water changes only hassle but🤔
There are definitely some downsides, as you've just shared. There sure are a lot of positives though, aren't there? That's incredible that you have a green terror in there for three years!
where did you purchase the decor in your tanks?
Aquadecor
@@CichlidCharmerThank you very much, Alcatraz look great
I have a rainbow shark and 3 petricolas is my mbuna tank. Lots of places to hide and they all seem happy
Glad it’s working!
Nice
Beautiful tank with some comedy
Thank you! 🥸
I kept 2 African Cichlid tanks (90 gallon) for 6 years. African Cichlids do suck! The idea you can "manage aggression" is a myth. African Cichlids wil kill the weaker fish & you're endlessly trying to re-stock - which you cant do with juveniles because the adults kill them when added to the tank. In Australia each juvenile cichlid is between $40-100+. Adult are rarely available and of they are are well over $100.
I tried every possible approach to "managing aggression" with AC's overstocking, understocking, breaking line of sight, hiding spota etc. Etc. Every tactic leads back to fish being killed by other fish.
And if you take a beat up fish out of the tank you can't reintroduce it without adding more fish because they'll kill it.
I got burnout from the hobby doing AC's - I wish more RUclipsrs where more honest like this. Many perpectute myths so you'll watch their channel.
I now keep South American Cichlids and wont go back they're so much better IMO.
You obviously have lots of experience here. One thing I did notice is that adding juvies that aren’t bite size has never failed for me. After the first few hours they seem to unnoticed because they aren’t a threat. I just stared a 435 gallon American tank, and I love it so far! Thank you!
I’m going to switch from Africans to South Americans
I was going to stock
5 red head tapajos
2 ebas
And on big ciclid like a Sevrum I maight do angelfish
Going with a more peaceful setup then
@@CichlidCharmer yes I have my little mbuna monsters and I can’t do it with the aggression in another tank
can you just keep one to avoid aggression
You would have a very happy fish! They still need more room than many fish do - like 4 feet for a 6”
These guys are always hungry. They are intelligent compared to other species and know the timing when I will feed them. If I come near them without giving food during the feeding time, They splash water to gain my attention.
Isn’t that the coolest thing? Good to see you here again, nandhubt 🥰
African Cichlids suck? Nice way to alienate yourself from 50% of the Cichlid owners community.
Gotta watch the whole video and read the title.actually the first 15 seconds should do it.
Nothing is more messy than a pleco lmao.
Super messy, you’re right!
These fishes are cheep if you bought them at 1 or 2 inches long. It cost only about $2 Singapore dollars per fish.
They are about $20-30 at 1-2” but they are unsexed. Most peacock and hap tanks are male only tanks. I don’t live in Singapore, but that’s very inexpensive
I do have other species of fish in my tank and they are left alone why I don't know but I'm grateful
Such a high quality video. Thanks for sharing. You make me want a 6 foot tank with display males now.
Aw thank you! They won’t bore you, that’s for sure 🤘🥰
For the most part my OB Cichlids are good together but I had one I had to move to my other tank in our fish room. He was a bully. But he is fine in his own tank.
Man, that sounds complicated and expensive. I have a 110 gallon Mbuna tank. There is absolutely not stress. Try this.
Just started my first mbuna tank two weeks ago. Did a video on the unboxing and set up.
I don't know, I find my cichlids to be very easy to care for, I don't sex them, I have about 25-30 in a 90 gallon tank, if I have an aggressive fish, he get put in time out in a mesh enclosure for 2-3 days and it has seemed to work for me, ive had them reproduce a few times and even then they haven't picked on or eaten the little ones....
Sounds like an African cichlid paradise 🤘🐠
If you want to save money, Don't keep fish! BRO
Okay
Your Pothos are growing!
I feel like they always stay the same - you see a difference? I think they just need more light because the nitrates are high enough for a good meal
Great commentary.
I appreciate that. Thank you!
Wheres your closest fish store?
Fish World in Spokane is the closest GOOD fish store.
It seems all your new inmates have settled into their new daily routines just fine judging by all the fins on everyone being intact and bite free!
Yes! I can’t believe how uneventful it has been! Weird, huh?
Regarding cost, I used to order online also, but recently I've had good luck buying from one of those big box chain stores near my house. They have a decent selection of small to medium sized cichlids. Not the greatest variety, and it's obviously hard to get specific or unusual fish from one of those places, but I can get quite nice fish that I enjoy for like $10 a piece usually, but I think often times those types of stores vary from location to location.
As far as water changes go, I do 20% once every 2 weeks. My tank looks good imo, and the fish seem happy and healthy. I have about 50 fish in a 125 gal btw. When I was getting into the hobby back in the 90's that was what I was taught to do and I've never changed, but I can't argue with your methods either. Your tank looks fantastic and the fish seem very healthy, but I personally would get completely out of the hobby before doing 70% water changes once a week, lol.
Thank you for sharing your experience 🥰. That’s hilarious - no 70% water changes for you haha!
I had a 40 breeder with about 16 mbuna, which was more than enough drama. Then I got a couple peacocks and I wasn't careful enough to NOT GET ANY FEMALES and wouldn't you know it they mated! Then I had about 40 African cichlids and needed a bigger tank so i got a 55.... Now I'm down to just my OB and he lives in the 55 by HIMSELF.... he's my beer drinking buddy/conversation piece in the kitchen lol
He probably prefers it that way. And African Cichlids love beer and TV lol
@@CichlidCharmer that's funny that you say that because every African cichlid I've ever kept alone LOVED watching 📺 it was quite entertaining to have the same favorite shows as a fish lol
@@wisconsinaquatics They actually have good taste in TV shows and movies.
@@CichlidCharmer they do lol especially when kept by itself, that's when the fish's real personality comes out!
Honestly I have a fish room in my basement around 400 plus fish all African cichlids and I’m thinking on getting out the hobby I’m still thinking 💭 tho
That’s a lot of 🐠! Why are you thinking about getting out?
@@CichlidCharmer honestly idk just not loving them like i use to I even stop posting them in kave group on facebook I’m still thinking tho
I'm interested in learning more about your water change routine using the submersible pump. I have a 75g tank slightly overstocked with mbuna and lots of rocks. I currently do two 60% water changes per week. But I do it the old school way: gravel vac and buckets. I'd love to reduce the time I spend on water changes. The submersible pump looks like a good idea, but what about vacuuming the sand? How do you vacuum up the fish poo?
Thank you for the suggestion. I’ll have to do one here soon. I don’t do gravel vacs typically because of the way I have my wavemakers installed. They push 95% of the detritus to the intakes where it gets sucked up.
I love haps and Victorian cichlids because they can be kept in large groups. But I still don’t think they are very mean though, maybe moderately aggressive. When I think of mean fish I think of
Melanochromis chipokae which I had a long time ago. I had him with mbunas and he steadily killed off his tank mates. There is no way I would try to keep a venustus cichlid or other haps with him at the time. I eventually had to put him in with my larger cichlids like my oscar, jack Dempsey and frontosa all of which were about a foot long. I always had haps and Victorian cichlids after my chipokae was gone.
Yes, haps can be aggressive, but nothing like CAs and some other fish are. I had a tropheus once that was the spawn of Satan.
I do weekly water change as well for my peacock and haps. I get tormented by the thought of what happens if I ever plan for a month long vacation… No water changes, no addition of cichlid trace for a month😳 I haven’t been able to lure a friend into this hobby yet 😛
Month long vacation- every fish keeper’s nightmare!
Recently, everything had been going fine in my frontosa tank. Not much fighting or aggression, so I wasn't worried about them. Left the other day for about 2 -3hrs and came back to one fish beat up and missing both of its eyes. I've dealt with aggression but coming home to that has been making me rethink african cichlids
And understandably so. That is absolutely horrible. Sorry to hear about that. Your poor guy…
That’s a perfect description of African cichlids mate,totally agree.It takes a nut job to love a nut job. Wouldn’t have it any other way. Great video buddy .😊😊
Ah good to hear it, Stefanos 🥰 thank you!
You know I'm brand new to keeping fish about 3 months in. Last week I started a mbuna tank. I've watched a 100 video about cichlids and they say you can't keep a yellow lab in Alcatraz or at least it's not a good idea.😮
Yeah you’re right - don’t do it 😉
You’re right! I watched not expecting to hear what I heard besides they suck. What you said was very true and I absolutely love em
lol, yep they suck but we love ‘em anyway. Amzing fish!
Very good! Are you going to do a discus sucks in the same series!? I’m over mine after having kept discus for 4 years….
lol, I would need to get some access to discus first, but that is hilarious
OK I picked up on The Bawl in cell block 99 not the other movie lol, Stella you just wanted to be a movie starlet you pretty girl!, Thank you for all this info on "Nut Jobs" and you know my head is rolling with what I want to get for my 2 new tanks (well one new one I just got yesterday and the 75gal in the future) probably going to stay away from German Blues well the babies that is haha! I just love Cichlids and have had many in past years so thanks again......Polly! PS sticking your hand in a tank, man I sure can't do that now with the Killifish, I have PTSD from that one that latched onto my arm oh well he went flying through the air when I shook him off my arm screaming "who's biting me" OK all, he is just fine along with his buddies, JERKS!
Isn’t Stella just the bees knees? The 75 is going to be awesome. I’m excited to see what you put in there. I wish I could turn my 75 into an mbuna tank. That’s hilarious about your killifish 😂😂
If you get the time I sent you an email explaining the tank situation, just a day in the life of mine lol!@@CichlidCharmer
Great video, good looking fish love those colors… I feed my fish Ron’s cichlid food as well, but i heard you say you give a dash of TDO Chroma Boost. Is that daily? Then when i looked it up it comes up with saltwater tanks, please advise….. i am always looking for ways to get my fish colors to pop….
I usually have a mix which includes about 20% TDO. Right now I am experimenting with a few weeks of almost 100% TDO to see if I still notice a boost in reds. I love all three foods including Northfin. I had to buy the TDO from bulk reef
@@CichlidCharmer i will be on the look out for the results but may give the TDO a try…..
If you are planning to set up another tank, you must keep the Oscars, they share similar characteristics ( not aggressive like these sweet psychos). I am sure that you would like them.
Thank you! I actually wanted oscars in my 180 a long time ago, but I wanted them to have more room.
Stupid Take. Oscars are more aggressive 🤡
I want to start a tank but I don't have any money
And they are pretty expensive.
They do be
Cichlid Charmer,
Great video sir. The fish are beautiful and growing nicely. I tried the af cichlids and failed I was coming back into the hobby and wanted them and failed miserably and I was so stressed out about all of it I almost quit the hobby altogether. I decided to give it another shot and went with CA / SA cichlids instead and love them so much. The way they great you with the puppy eyes. lol. They are still aggressive and act the same way when I do a water change where they chase each other around but not like the af cichlids. They love the water changes also. I can’t keep live plants because they either eat them my Severums or dig so much my red devil constantly redecorates the tank. She is very pretty though but her temper gets crazy when she lays eggs and it is enough for me to handle lol. But she is sweet to the other fish and the dither fish in there. Surprisingly they don’t eat my Buenos Aires Tetras or black skirt tetras. They are fed really good food so no need for them to eat each other lol. I also have a few catfish at the bottom to clean up the mess these cichlids make. 100 percent recommend a CA / SA tank. Big fish with big hearts lol. ❤
You’re my go to for the new American tank when I have questions. Didn’t you tell me you think 30” high minimum?
@@CichlidCharmeryeah CA need height because they are so tall vs long but of course the bigger the better like you say. But I prefer taller tanks because CA / SA don’t swim like AF cichlids they like to swim slow and stare lol. Like admire me see my color lol. 😂❤
Thanks, Jeremy. 30” may be a little too much weight for me.
@@CichlidCharmer it doesn’t have to be that tall if you have width that works to but it all depends on the fish you are going to keep as you know.
And if ur in NY , don't buy from a petshop.. there's a guy in the bronx who breeds them at home for 1/5 the price.
Ah, NY… 🔥
Money isn’t an object to us when it comes to our children in other words haha, they get the best🫶🏻 it’s more of a mental foundation than a hobby!
You… get… me ❤️