Pet Forum / Aquaria / Cichlids / December 2006

Hi there,

i'm not exactly new here, as I subscribe to this newsgroup, I must
admit it really is one of the quiet groups on usenet.

I have been in and out of the hobby since the age of 12 and I have kept
a lot of the more common fish, in addition to New world cichlids, like
angels, discus, texas cichlids, firemouths, ruby cichlids and others.
Currently I'm keeping discus, some of which I've has over three years
and counting.
I'm kind of new to Malawi cichlids and African cichlids in general.
Having kept kribs and some other lesser known west african cichlids, I
finally decided in january last year that I would try my hand at
Malawis. So I got a few small ones, like melanochromis, yello labido
and electric blue hap, as well as some other striped cichlids. In
September last year I moved them to their new home, which is a 4ft 300l
tank, with crushed coral for substrate and an integrated filter unit in
the hood. lately I've added a couple of peacocks and tanganyikans like
tropheus and julidochromis spp.

Well they are a whole lot different in manner than the new world
cichlids and are quite a bunch. I'm very happy with them and I still
have lots to learn about their breeding and husbandry.

The discus on the other hand are in a 4ft 300l tank as well. The tank
design is similar if not identical. The filter is situated in the hood,
so the inlet pipe leads into the powerhead which pumps the water up to
a spray bar that sprays the water over floss mat and then sintered
glass rings. There are three such compartments , the last is where I
put the Activated Carbon and peat occasionally. goes without saying
that the African themed tank has crushed coral as opposed to peat.

Cichlids are and most likely always will be my favourite class of fish.
I'm hooked, yes, definitely!
Kind regards,
Stokes