There are many misunderstandings when it comes to keeping cichlids. With this article I aim to clear a few up, and hopefully encourage more people to try their hand at cichlid rearing!

Myth: Cichlids are aggressive
The truth is that some cichlids are aggressive. Some are territorial, and will not be aggressive if they have enough cover, shells, or rockwork to call their own. Others become agressive while selecting a mate, breeding, or protecting their eggs/fry. Others are very mild, and well suited for a community tank. There is no blanket rule, you're best to research the individual species of cichlid before buying it.

Myth: You cannot keep New World cichlids with African Cichlids
Again, this depends on the species of cichlid, and their individual needs for water chemistry and temperature, as well as temperment. If you are able to find similar fish from the separate continents, they will no only live together, but may even breed.

Myth: Piranhas are cichlids
OK, so maybe this isn't exactly a common misconception, but I have heard it. I used to occasionally drop into the local Petsmart see if there were any females with mouthfuls (20 fish for the price of one!). On one particular visit, there were a group of pre-schoolers being given a tour through the fish department. The oh-so knowledgeable employee was highlighting the Oscar tank, and these were her words to the naive children: "now these fish are called Oscars. They're very mean. In fact, they're also very closely related to their cousin the piranha!" Oh those poor innocent children...

Myth: Fish will grow to the size of the tank
Each fish has a maximum potential size. However, when they produce waste in the water, they release hormones into the water. The hormones and waste will slow and potentially restrict their growth. So as long as you continue to remove these by making frequent water changes, the fish can quickly reach its maximum size, uninhibited.

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Decent Master Debater (Unregistered) 2008-03-26 10:04:56 Nice aritcle, short and sweet Reply 10   1

Size Frontosa (Registered) 2008-10-22 16:45:09 I've heard and refuted this myth myself hundreds of times, but my understanding of the situation also involved the cramped space leading to an early death of the fish, hence, people thinking the lifespan of so many fish is so much shorter than it actually is when kept properly. In my experience, working in poet stores myself, often fish kept in too small of a tank with frequent water changes, good filtration, and so forth, do live longer, but suffer crooked spines and the like. Side note on the petsmart employee, that's precisely why I always recommend going to "mom & pop" type pet stores which are privately owned, usually by people who have a sincere interest in what they are selling, rather than a chain store which is only interested in selling enough fish to afford paying the employees minimum wage. Reply 7   2

n/a hyatt (Unregistered) 2008-11-06 06:30:22 how long do ciclids normally live Reply 14   0

Hyatt Allan (Unregistered) 2009-02-02 19:39:50 Depending on which cichlid it is they will approximately live up to an average of 10yrs if kept correctly. Reply 3   0

anon (Unregistered) 2009-09-16 10:06:58 how long will convicts live? and how long till fry leave there parents? Reply 1   5

very helpfull jmil328 (Registered) 2008-11-22 01:00:25 i find the articles,very helpfull and though i am new to cichlids i have 13 fish in a 30 galoon.1 cat fish,1 pleco,5 south americans and 6 africans they all seem to be getting along pretty well hope to be writting articles about my xp soon thanks. Reply 11   4

food Danny Guy (Registered) 2009-06-07 16:26:24 i am new to having a cichlid tank and im trying to find out whats best to feed them. i have a few small random ones (bumblebee, and assd peacocks) a red empress (about 6in), a fontosas, an electric blue olie, a jack dempsey and a few other african cichlids. im alternating from frozen bloodworms, mysis shrimp, brine shrimp and beefheart. i have a 75 gallon tank and a very good filter, any recommendations? thanks Reply 9   1

FishGurl (Unregistered) 2010-04-05 12:10:13 SPECTRUM!!! It is an excellent fish food! They have some specially fomulated for cichlids and there are a lot of natural ingredients for enhancing the color and letting the fish reach their full potential! I deal a lot with all kinds of fish and I have hearn nothing but wonderful things about spectrum and it seems to be a big favorite especially among the cichlid hobbiest! They are now begining to carry them a Petco! Just ask their aquatics specialist about it! Trust me, Spectrum is definately the way to go! Reply 2   0

Food Joe Banks (Unregistered) 2010-08-08 12:09:13 I get all of my cichilds from Blue Lagoon.Dave Turner is the owner and he has been breeding for 40+ years.His cichilids are known around the world and all he and myself use is SPIRILINA adn NEW LIFE.I highly recommend it.It helps bring out the natural color without the hormones that so many other companies use Reply 1   0

Kobo (Unregistered) 2009-07-21 22:30:45 here are a few super aggressive african cichlids, I forget their names now been a long time since I kept them. One was a long yellow with brown and white stripes. It killed everything in the tank. It was the meanest fish I had ever seen, I think it just did it to be mean or it was bored. Strangely I had several of them and I moved that one into a small tank by itself. Immediately another one took it's place and terrorized everyone into the corner of the tank. I put that guy into the tank with the other and the violence was incredible. SO I took the first guy out and put him back in the big tank because I didn't know what to do with them. Of course it immediately went on the rampage killing everything and terrorizing the tank. So out of desperation I once again put it in the other tank, but now the other bully terrorized him into the corner and it died. Crazy fish. My advice with those is to put a ton of rocks and stuff and over populate with only them it will be stressful but there will be too many fish and they won't be able to single any out and terrorize them. Oscars are pretty tame actually they can be aggressive when they are hungry but they are actually pretty friendly and will even let you 'pet' them when you feed them. Of course they will also eat just about anything in the tank that they can get in their mouths too. Reply 3   1

anon (Unregistered) 2009-09-16 10:11:25 how many gals would be needed to keep a par of oscars and how frequent water changes Reply 8   0

Jessica (Unregistered) 2010-05-06 12:17:42 just for the record... i work at petsmart and some of us DO know what we are talking about. it doesn't have to do with the company this employee was obviously wrong and nieve on her own accord. anyway.. good article overall and thank you for clearing up some misleading information Reply 4   0

Mom & Pop vs. Chain Erin (Unregistered) 2012-03-18 23:44:34 You get what you get. I work for a chain store, took the time and effort to learn about what fish I didn't know about, listened to my customers and co-workers who have experience with other fish (especially cichlids). If I don't know it, I find out. I have been at a variety of stores where the associates didn't know squat - chain as well as M&P. My thing is if you are interested in a particular animal - fish, reptile, bird, furry, etc - do your own research too. People who work at a pet store are expected to know everything about everything but we are only human. I will say this though, if you don't know and you want to argue the facts with the person at the pet store, you will feel like a real heel. Knowledge is 50/50. Yes, the people at the stores should know what they are selling, but you should have some knowledge of what you are buying, not just "I want a cool fish that gets big and eats other fish". Reply 0   1

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