Cichlids

Cichlids come from various parts of the world however Rift Valley Cichlids must not be kept with any other fish that doesn't come from their area.

Rift Valley is the area around lakes Tanganyika, Malawi, Victoria & other small lakes, ponds & rivers. Millions of years ago, earth had major movements. By doing so, this large area developed for millions of years & such things as volcanoes created rivers to be formed. As for today's fish, they are hardy but as already mentioned they are very territorial.

Those in other parts of the world are territorial but as said, some are worse than others.

Angel (Pterophyllum scalare) is a fish that has regularly been seen in films & I think some of you have seen 'A Fish Called Wonder'. I found out that it could ages for those involved with the film to locate the Angels they wanted.

In the wild, they come from central Amazon & they are unlikely, in colour, to be like the ones in shops. Their colour is a silver background with dark stripes & can grow to 8". A number of colours are available in shops & as far as mine; the largest is 3" but still growing. Having had them for a number of years, I can't decide which sex they are & apparently that is quite common. They're not especially territorial however one of them laid eggs & two were fanning the eggs. As soon as another fish came close, they were soon cleared off. Sadly the eggs never hatched & possible got eaten somewhere along the line.

Brichardi (Neolamprologus brichardi) come from Lake Tanganyika & grow to 4", mine got halfway to it. These were one of the first to be exported & are liked by buyers. Due to the surrounding area of the lake, no plants are there. The tanks should be full of rocks, which form a cave for the fish.

Golden Cichlid (Melanochromis auratus) often has 'Malawi' in front of his name with the reason being that they come from Lake Malawi. This fish is very territorial & has caused serious damage to other fish, sadly with some others I had! In wild, the size goes to 5" however the largest one I have is 3" & hasn’t stopped. The colour changes between males & females. Males, when mature, become blue with strips. The word 'Golden' is never seen as it is in the wild. There the colour is a yellow gold livery & hence the name 'auratus' means gold in latin.

Herotilpia multispinosa appears not to have a common name therefore Latin it is. Their natural habitat is Panama to Lake Managua, Nicaragua. Having said that, it has been captive-bred in Canada. I'm unaware of their size, in both wild & tanks, however the two I bought, their parents were beside them. The parents' size was roughly 4". They are classed as being not too territorial but should be kept with fish of a similar size.

Out of all the fish I've got, Kribs (Pelvicachromis pulcher) have given me the most enjoyment. Kribs is usually used but it's an abbreviation to Kribensis, which is a Latin word meaning 'beautiful'. Their size in wild is 4" for the males & just over 3" for the female & they are from Nigeria & seen in River Kribi.

Like most Cichlids, they pair themselves & the purple belly is the sign of possible breeding. I put the two, males & female, into a tank on their own. Within a few days, the eggs were in a submerged flowerpot. When the eggs hatched they were taken care of. After a period of time, the parental part seemed to stop therefore I took the parents out of the tank & watched the other grow.

Lemon Cichlid (Neolamprologus leleupi) is from Lake Tanganyika, with its size being 4" but mine was 2". The male is larger & does have a bump on his head. In the lake they swim to the levels of 20-40 yards. Food wise, they tend to eat small invertebrates however it has been warned not to give them meat products, which include bloodworms, but obviously flakes are fine. Up to now, I’ve not seen any of them breed but hopefully soon it will happen.

Zebra Cichlid (Pseudotropheus zebra) is sometimes called Nyasa Blue Cichlid. They are found in Lake Malawi & is known to have a number colour varieties called Red, Cobalt Blue & Green Zebras. The fish is pugnacious & territorial & should be kept in a large tank. They are a maternal mouthbrooders, which mean they carry the eggs in their mouths & the fry leave when their capable of swimming.

The Ram (Papiliochromis ramirezi) is popular fish. They're shy & shouldn't be put into a community tank if any of the others are boisterous. To tell the difference between males & females there are two things. The male's second dorsal fin is larger than their other & females are plumper.

They are peaceful however during breeding they guard their eggs & soon their fry. In case you don't know, fry are fish that have just been born. Rams are found in Colombia & Venezuela & their size is 2" with the female being less.

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