i am going to start a chichlid tank and i read up on them a lot, but i still do not get why it matters if they are african, or Malawian, or etc, does this afect them in any way, which one is worse..so on
i am going to start a chichlid tank and i read up on them a lot, but i still do not get why it matters if they are african, or Malawian, or etc, does this afect them in any way, which one is worse..so on
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You got some nice input from most of your answers, there is just some low life and low self esteemed person who hates people smarter then they are downing everyone, yet, while your last few answers had greater value then the first couple, no one said anything incorrect.
You want to know your species even more then the location, as that you know the species, you get the location at the same time if you study them. One GENERAL and I say in general because in this hobby, there are alway some exceptions, Africans that come from the major rift lakes, Malawi, Tangyangika and Victoria, come from waters that are very alkaline and high in pH. Not all Africans come from just these lakes though. There are some riverine types, as well as Madagascar, and the waters in these locations are slightly different.
Now you will get some newer as well as older hobbyists that swear this doesn’t mean as much as we make it out to be, but it is with common sense. Even though many people buy stock of tank kept species, and not wild caught, the species itself has spent 10,000 plus years evolving in these types of waters, and evolutionary change doesn’t occur in just 1 generation removed from that habitat. You should strive to keep them in conditions as close to the natural habitat as you can.
Now South, Central, and even the few North American types, generally have evolved from waters more softer and acidic then the African general waters, though it is worth saying, many Central American natural habitats are VERY similar and close to that of Rift Lakes in Africa. However, across the board, many SA and CA types, and all the NA’s (which I think only the Texas Cichlid is the only NA, just not sure) get significantly larger and display aggression, as well as breed in quite a different way then Africans. Usually, when young, you might have some level of success mixing the groups, but when full grown, the Africans won’t have much of a chance. They could either be swallowed whole by something like an Oscar, Jack Demspey, Green Terror or Jaguar cichlid, or just literally beaten to death.
Dietary needs are often quite different as well as spawning techniques matter. I can tell you from primarily keeping mouthbrooding Africans, that these do NOT mix very well at all with the substrate spawning types. I have a few Madagascar species that do this, and it’s also worth noting, these Africans have many close similarities to that of South American substrate spawning. Both mom and dad watch over a brood closely and drive off ANY fish of any size that comes near it. This poses a big problem when you try to mix in mouthbrooders that dwell mostly in the substrate area.
These are just a few of the reasons why it’s important to know the species you are getting, long before you get them, and as well, make sure your tank is cycled out first. It’s not going to kill you one bit to read read read and read again over all the sites to get a greater understanding of proper keeping. Some reference sites I use many times for your assistance:
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com
http://www.nycichlids.com
http://www.eastcoastcichlids.org
http://www.cichlid-forum.com
To the four that answered before me, I tried to even up the hateful low life that downed you. Normally I don’t give a flying you know what about the TU and TD game, but you said nothing wrong to deserve it.
You can read about African, South American Cichlids on FishPlenty
no it’s just where they are from but the places they are from might need different requirements but they basicly have the same ones
CICHLIDS (sick-lids) come in many varieties from many places.
Their location determines how they should be kept in captivity. Different bodies of water, have different water parameters. Though many fish can be acclimatized to a certain pH, they will always thrive in the water parameters of their natural habitat.
There are also compatibility issues to take into account.
it matters where they are from, because the different lakes have rather different water parameters….those are just the lake cichlids. There are river cichlids that are still african(like jewels). their water is different from the lakes.
none are "worse". some are more complicated to keep than others. Some get quite large.
the names come from where the fish are located (where they came from)
so that in itself tells a hobbyist what they need, what water requirements, what foods, breeding conditions and what tank mates will be compatible
you need to read some more or perhaps find a collector that you can talk to – many cichlids are aggressive and will kill each other if certain conditions are not met, make sure you know what you are doing before you sentence some to death by their mean tankmates