Care of Cichlids-Advice for Beginners

Lake Malawi Cichlid Information-Why Choose Them?

Cichlids can be a pleasurable fish to have in an aquarium tank for the home. The reason why is because they are very energetic, active, and alert thus making them very entertaining to watch. An additional benefit of cichlids over a standard tropical fish tank is you can disregard the rule that says you must have 1 inch of fish per gallon. Also, cichlids like to roam all over an aquarium, exploring all areas, making them more noticeable than other tropical fish that mainly school together in one area of the tank. So it is very important to learn the proper care of cichlids and that is why I have started this cichlid site.

A huge difference between cichlids and other types of fish for aquarium of the fresh water type is they are extremely territorial. Because of this it is recommended that you put in more than what is recommended for typical tropical fish. Yes, packing your aquarium full of cichlids will not allow them to establish boundaries and territories. If you choose to only have a few and you decide to add other fish later it is a good possibility that the cichlids will defend their established territories and can viciously attack the newly added fish. You can avoid this dilemma by adding lots of cichlids.

It is also recommended that you add many species but don't add pairs (unless you are planning on breeding). If you have no pairs then there won't be any cichlids ganging up together and bullying the other tank mates. This will also add much variety in the way of patterns, shapes, sizes, and colors, and thus make your tank really stand out as unique. Because no two fish look alike your tank will be fascinating to view and to show off.

If you want an aquarium full of entertaining and interactive fish then a cichlid aquarium just may be the best choice for you and your family. Listed below are some topics that are discussed in this blog to help you to learn about these exciting and popular fish species and with this information you will know how to properly take care of these beautiful and unique creatures. There are other species of cichlids, such as South American Cichlids, but in this blog I only feature and discuss Lake Malawi Cichlids, particularly Mbuna's .

Lake Malawi Cichlid Care Topics:


African Cichlid Tank Requirements - Cichlid species are a little more complicated then your common tropical fish species and so it is necessary to know how to set up the best possible aquarium environment for them. If you do this right, your cichlids will thrive and bring you many years of happiness. This article helps you to be able to do that.

Cichlid Aggression Prevention - Possessing an aquarium full of aggressive cichlids can present problems. However, with these suggestions you can maintain a relatively "peaceful" atmosphere. Practically nothing can guarantee that your cichlids will not fight but it's worth a try and confronting the challenge can be enjoyable. If you do the proper research you can find relatively peaceful cichlids that can cut down tremendously on the aggression in the tank.

Cichlids and Other Fish - There are some other tank mates that you may want to add to your cichlid aquarium. But since cichlids can be very aggressive fish, it is not recommended that you just add other species in the aquarium without knowing if they are compatible or not. If you don't want your other fish to be ate you might want to consider this article.

Lake Malawi Cichlids Natural Habitat - My cichlid blog only deals with the Malawi Mbuna Cichlids and it is good to know what their natural habitats are like so your can sort of recreate this environment in your tank, if this turns out to be your choice as well. You can decorate your aquarium to closely match what they are used to. These decorations can range from having a sandy bottom, rocks, deep grass, or a combination of the three. Read more about the African cichlids natural habitat so you can setup a great environment for your fish to thrive by learning how to create a lake affect similar to what they are used to.

Choosing African Cichlids - Here are some guidelines on how to buy the best quality and healthiest fish. You will also receive some suggestions on how to spot cichlid diseases or illnesses, thus avoiding getting unhealthy fish.

Mbuna Cichlid Diet - Here you will find recommendations on how to feed your cichlids. I give a thorough feeding plan which will help you to maintain the health, color, and growth of your Mbuna cichlids.

Lake Malawi Cichlid Beginners - This article is for those who are new to having cichlids. It lists some things to keep in mind to be successful.

African Cichlids - Mbuna - These are a very common cichlid species for a home aquarium. They are widely available in pet stores and are very popular among hobbyists. This article provides some common names and their given scientific names.

Hopefully the listed links will help beginners learn the proper care of cichlids.
(An excellent must-read is the book entitled: Lake Malawi Cichlids (Complete Pet Owner's Manual)

Cichlids and Other Fish

When it comes to African cichlids and other types of aquarium fish it is not a good idea to put them together in the same tank. Even though cichlids look beautiful and harmless, they are very aggressive fish and they will harass and kill foreign fish and even fish of their own species. So to save you time and money I recommend that you never put other tropical fish in with African cichlids, because even aggressive tropical fish will not have a chance against them. They are just plain mean when it comes to other fish especially if they are breeding cichlids.

You can keep in your tank any type of cichlid species found in Lake Malawi but you don't want to ever mix South American cichlids and African cichlids together! You must only choose one or the other, you cannot mix different regions together because it will prove to be disastrous!

But you may be wondering, how do I keep my tank free of algae, can I put in a bottom feeder fish or an algae cleaner with my cichlids? My recommendation on this subject is

Mbuna Cichlid Diet

If you want to maintain healthy and beautifully colored fish then you must maintain a good Mbuna cichlid diet. Cichlids eat a wide variety of food from vegetation to other fish. Certain species consume more plant matter than other species, however you can feed all your mbunas a mix of pellets and supplement with spirulina, live guppies, or frozen food. If you do this then you will cover the dietary requirements of the majority of cichlids from Lake Malawi especially if you are part of the bunch that makes up Lake Malawi cichlid beginners.

You can buy a good commercial brand of cichlid pellets and this actually can cover their diet very nicely. I don't recommend that you use normal tropical fish food or food that you would give to a goldfish. Look for cichlid pellets that are designed to greatly enhance their color. These work really well.

They do offer a cichlid flake, but the pellet seems to be the one that works the best in my opinion. I like to watch them chase the pellet as it sinks. It can really cause an entertaining feeding frenzy which I find enjoyable to watch..

Once in a while I will give the fish a treat of good quality seaweed, which I attach to the side of the tank. Most cichlids love seaweed and they will really tear into it.

Feed them only once or twice a day but never

Cichlid Aggression Prevention

Cichlid aggression prevention is a very important topic when it comes to these tropical freshwater fish. If certain cichlids are allowed to be bullies in the tank this can cause undo stress on the other fish and may cause a rise in disease and death. That would not be good! So probably the best way to avoid conflict between your fish is to make sure that you have lots of cichlids in the aquarium. It seems like a strange concept but if you put in a lot of cichlids they won't have enough space to establish territories and the result can be peace in the tank with less aggression. Believe it or not, this concept works!

Within the African cichlids natural habitat, they are aggressive by nature and it is not uncommon to see them chasing each other around. Or you may see them peck at each other's fins or may appear to be fighting face to face. This is their normal action and behavior but if you notice that a single fish is constantly being picked on, then you will want to pay close attention. The peace of the tank can disappear quickly and the fish could get sick or die and sadly this can easily spread sickness and death throughout your aquarium.
Here is some advice to help you prevent cichlid aggression if this type of behavior becomes apparent in your tank:

If a particular cichlid keeps chasing other fish away from a particular area this is a good sign that it has established a territory to protect. You can eliminate this aggression by re-arranging the decorations in your tank, thus taking away the bullies area, which levels the playing field again.

If it continues to happen, it's a good possibility that you may need to add some more fish because obviously there is enough space to establish territories. Never just add the fish and walk away. Cichlids are very smart fish and they will immediately begin to pick on the newbie. Add your fish when you do a water change and when you change the water, move the decorations around. By the time the stress of the water change wears off, they probably won't even

Lake Malawi Cichlids Natural Habitat

My site deals with tropical freshwater fish called African cichlids. I only deal with them and so I won't be discussing Central and South American cichlids at this time (but I may start a new blog about them at a later date!) But I do want to say that African cichlids and Central and South American cichlids are similar as tropical fish species but they are different enough that they should not be kept together in the same tank. The benefit is they can both be cared for in the same way but just not kept together. The most common species for home aquariums are the African cichlids and I have included a little bit of information in regards to the Lake Malawi cichlids natural habitat. They are extremely colorful and most are bred in captivity and so the price is cheaper for them and your tank parameters don't have to exactly match the waters of Lake Malawi because they are used to more normal water specifications. I specially like the Mbuna species and that is the type that I will be giving some background information on.

Lake Malawi, where the Mbuna cichlids originate from, is in east Africa and it is a very large and deep lake. It is roughly 360 miles long and ranges from 20 to 45 miles wide. Its deepest point is 2,300 feet. One of the really cool features of the lake is its visibility of the water. Visibility can be as high as 60 feet in many places because of the rocky lake bottom near the shores there is very little sediment to cloud the water. The north shore is shallow whereas the southern area of the lake is very deep. A lot of areas are