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An older snap of one of my cichlids an adult Haplochromis nyererei (media.piefed.world)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/aquariums@lemmy.world
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[–] 3 points 2 months ago* (3 children)

I miss having African cichlids. I don't miss taking care of a 90 gallon tank lol

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  • [–] [S] 3 points 2 months ago (2 children)

    Oh yeah. I've got a 50 and a 45. And a couple of twenties and fives with tropicals. It's definitely a bit of work to keep them clean. They tend to make a pretty good size mess. Worse than tropicals. But then they tend to be much bigger fish so that makes sense. Right now I've got a 45 with a hybrid blood parrot and a few mixed Africans that I raised from a small size. They're all about four or five inches or larger. The parot is as big as my palm. For their demeanor they're definitely one of my favorite cichlids. They would be fairly territorial amongst themselves. But in the 45 with the other mixed Africans they tend to leave him alone and he tends to leave them alone and is just the friendliest little guy. When I'm cleaning the tank or doing anything he's right there by my hand.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 months ago (1 child)

    I had one in a ten gallon by himself named Heinrich because he wouldn't stop attacking everyone else despite there being plenty of room! He was a fun fish, but way too aggressive to keep with other fish.

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  • [–] [S] 2 points 2 months ago

    Yes they are extremely temperamental sometimes. You certainly aren't going to have a large community of fish without an ungodly amount of space when you're dealing with cichlids.

    Contrast that with swordtails. Schools of them swimming about just doing their thing. I have a 20 gallon I keep having to move swordtails out of. Because they keep having Young. And there's just not enough space to support them all. 30 or 40 at a time in there from juvenile to adults. The trick with them anymore is finding the nice brick red ones. The silver and green ones are more their natural color. But I grew up in a seventies and eighties with the brick Reds so they always have a special spot for me

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