African Cichlid Community Tank

Also , I think you will agree, that fish in Aquarium's , pet shops, are
only there for a relative short time. It's up to you, the new owner to
provide the correct conditions. and who knows what some of these shops add
to the water, to keep the fish looking good.
bassett


"Amateur Cichlids" wrote in message
...

"Sokar" wrote in message
...
All of the Tropical Fish Stores in my Metropolitan Area (300,000+
population) do not adjust the water parameters of their water for African
cichlids. Also, all of these Tropical/Marine fish stores sell their fish
from at least one tank called mixed cichlids. I suspect that Petsmart,
which has about six stores in this area, sells about 10 times more fish
than all of these smaller tropical fish stores combined.

What economic advantage is it to them (Petsmart) to keep their fish in
poor, life threatening, water conditions, as you claim they are doing.

snip

I think you may be missing my point completely. Petsmart, Wal*Mart,
etc, etc do not sell expensive tropical fish. They don't carry some of the
nicer fish one may find in Lake Tanganyika, because "They're too
aggressive" or "They're too hard to keep alive.". Much of which is bull,
but I've heard it from numerous shops in my area. These little shops and
big chains for their African cichlids selection, they carry "Mixed
Africans" which come from their supplier that way. These are cheap fish
that cost these big chains little. If they lose a couple fish in the week
they spend in the store, it's not a big loss to the store. As I mentioned
with the N. leleupi that were imported and put in soft water, they died
within a year. It's not an instant death in many cases. These are fish
that should be living many, many years.
I enjoy my tanks and I enjoy the programming on my site. If you don't
feel the need to match fish to conditions to prolong their life, that's
your perogative. If you feel your fish will live just as long as mine
will, more power to you. I can only pass on what I've learned and give the
point of view of the biologists and ichthyologists. Either way, it really
doesn't matter to me. Happy fish keeping. =)
Tim

My thoughts on the Mixed Africans can be found in this article.
http://www.fishaholics.org/articles.php?ArtId=1

Ok, this is more of the answer I was looking for, I understand that there are many varieties of chlids out there, I am going to start off slow and rescue a few from my local Petco. I am partial to the Tiger Barbs, always wanted some but felt they were too aggressive for fish I was keeping at the time. I know that the ones that are currently at my local Petco are sick but I also know that the "Aquatic Specialist" there is an idiot so I plan on rescuing them as well... I wish I could rescue them all in fact.


So sad. Wish I had the will power to boycott them all together…

Originally Posted by Sokar

I keep 5 Bucktooth Tetras in a 65 gallon tank with 3 Green 8 inch Pike
cichlids and seven Tropheus Duboisi cichlids. I also keep about 10 Debauwi
Catfish in a smaller 30 gallon cichlid tank. There are no hard and fast
rules about mixing different types of fish in a cichlid tank.

When you overcrowd a cichlid tank, it forces a community tank feeling upon
the tankmates.


"Jamie" wrote in message
...

Need a bit of help... I would consider myself a well-versed
ichthyologist. I have fully planted aquariums and have breed a wide
variety of fish from egg layers to bubble nest builders, but never
African Cichlid. I finally have the chance to make the switch, I have
maintained them before, just never had them myself, and I thought I had
a good handle in what I could put in the tank with them, but someone
shook my confidence today at work. I would like to put Tiger Barbs,
some Leporanious Facti (sp?) and a variety of your run of the mill
African cichlid togeather, thought I had seen it done before. Who has
had success with others in their tanks with the African Cichlids? Any
suggestions? I am currently in an Eclipse 12 fully planted, but I am
also going to be getting a bigger tank, 55gal.


--
Jamie

You are correct, pet stores, Petsmart, etc. do not change their water parameters, for anything, they also do weekly water changes (or should do) and generally the people in those beginner pet places barely know anything...

What most people do not know is that the breeders don't do not change their water parameters either... the more chemicals you dump in your tank make it harder on your fish, with the ups and downs in pH and the like, I to have found fish are happy when you do frequent water changes. People do not believe me when I tell them how long my fish live (recently lost my oldest fish my mommy corycat that was over 10 years old – she had a good run)

The only exception I make is when you’re setting up the tank and water changes, I use the cycling aids like biozyme help a bunch, salt and de-chlorinator.

Originally Posted by Sokar

The local pet stores, Petsmart, ect., do not charge their water parameters
for their cichlid fish, but please note that they want to sell you water
conditioners, pH adjusters for your tank, and special dietary food for your
fish in your "special" African tank.

Marketing rules, "profits are us" rules, are meant to be broken.

"agent smith" wrote in message
...
there most certainly are rules! when you mix lakes, you stress the fish
out. different lakes have different water parameters, not to mention the
different lake fish also have different dietary needs. different lakes
CANNOT be mixed.

--
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for information on my fishies! also, sign up for a *FREE*
ipod he
http://www.freeiPods.com/default.aspx?referer=9570045
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/daewootech/
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contact info:


remove UNDIES to reply

Are you in San Antonio, Texas??

LoisLaneTX


"agent smith" wrote in message
...
there most certainly are rules! when you mix lakes, you stress the fish
out. different lakes have different water parameters, not to mention the
different lake fish also have different dietary needs. different lakes
CANNOT be mixed.

--
Be sure to check out http://home.satx.rr.com/satxcichlids
for information on my fishies! also, sign up for a *FREE*
ipod he
http://www.freeiPods.com/default.aspx?referer=9570045
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/daewootech/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/daewoolanos/
http://www.geocities.com/daewoolanoshatchback/
contact info:


remove UNDIES to reply

No, I am near Houston.
=)
Would like to add that I have purchased the 5 tiger barbs, 5 red zebra mbuna and 2 kenyis and they all are doing fine togeather... they are not even eating my plants as much as i thought they would. bought some base rock and they really seem to love hiding in all the noocks and crannies, still have plenty of room in my tank, i was even thinking of getting maybe some more kenyis and maybe some (yellow) labs.

my thought is that if I over load it (doing frequent water changes) the fish won't know who to fight with... or eat.

Originally Posted by LoisLaneTX

Are you in San Antonio, Texas??

LoisLaneTX

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Yeah, its called overstocking for aggression, and is a generally good
idea. You don't want to push the biological limit on your tank too much,
but with enough fish, there will be no big problems with aggression. Its
one of those things that are hard to understand, but work none the less.



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