Cichlids are by far the most interesting tropical fish that you can keep in an aquarium! The goal for this website is to become the #1 resource for information related to cichlid keeping and breeding. Anyone with a fish tank can get involved, and write about their tropical fish, aquarium, filter, you name it! We're looking for you to share your information about African ciclids, New World Cichlids, and general cichlid keeping.

To encourage cichlid-keepers to submit their in-depth knowledge and experience to our library, we are going to reward you. All authors will receive 50% of all ad impressions on the articles they write for for our site. You can learn more about our revenue sharing model, or read the rest of this article to see what features you can expect on AllCichlids.com.

AllCichlids.com features:

• Information about African cichlids

1. Lake Malawi
2. Lake Tanganyike
3. Lake Victoria
   

• Information about New World cichlids
• Information on how to breed your cichlids
  
• Cichlid photos
• Aquarium equipment reviews
• DIY (Do it yourself) project guides
• Information on fighting diseases

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Attack on the Cihhlids Christina Grimsley (Unregistered) 2007-04-12 16:02:09 My boyfriens and I just set up an aquarium. Inside we have four african cichlids, an blue,yellow, orange and brown spotted grey. We also have a puffer fish. Although we know nothing about fish, we have been fasinated by the activity of all of them. Its been only one night and I have noticed that the cichlids are very territoral and vivious. They each have claimed there territory already. The puffer fish seems to stay out of the way of the cichlids. This morning I bought a Jack Dempsey central american cichlid and some small guppy fish. As soon as I put one guppy in, the cichlids attacked and fought over the guppy. The guppy died. Later I put in the Jack Dempsy and the yellow cichlid bit off the Lack Dempsy tail and the Jack Dempsy bit off the yellow cichlids stomach. There is a big Chunk missing out of the yellow cichlids stomach. Its was a slow death. Im so sad. What should I do? Reply 26   9

Ouch Justin (Unregistered) 2007-04-13 07:03:12 My first piece of advice: - ALWAYS research FIRST if your cichlids and/or other tropical fish are compatible, BEFORE putting them in the aquarium! Cichlids are territorial, and aggressive, you need to do your research. Your guppies are as good as food. My second piece of advice: - Go back the pet store and ask for your money back. The person that sold you the fish would have known they were incompatible, and was taking advantage of you Reply 14   3

Ouch! Nia (Unregistered) 2008-02-16 14:26:40 That sounds hurtingly!Try to research first! Reply 1   3

Kristin (Unregistered) 2009-02-17 19:18:50 Not sure why you would not research putting fish together. You know how if you mix some meds with others you will die? You have to apply the same logic with fish. Some will die if mixed with others. I know it's a simple mistake, but common sense would tell you that guppies probably wouldn't fair well against an aggressive fish. If a puffer knows to stay away, take that as a warning. Reply 3   2

Kyle (Unregistered) 2007-07-14 19:52:21 African should only go with other africans, the puffer I would say is a bit of a push. In my earlier days of fish tending I had a puffer and it came to an early death due to it liking more brachish water (although cichlids are too, not as much though). But as long as you keep your africans with other africans you should be fine. If you look on websites with info it will say which fish tend to be more aggresive then others, on the other hand you don't want a nonaggresive fish unless you have lots of places to hide. Good luck Reply 4   5

help cichlid happy (Unregistered) 2007-08-23 02:35:39 Ive recently decided to try to enterprise on my hobby. I started a year ago with an albino oscar. I immedietly became completely fascinated.I have four small kenny fish i am trying to breed them but i have a very limted info base. I dont know how to sex them or anything. Also i have a rather large albino oscar. It is about ten inches long maybe bigger. Is it too late to find it a partner and again i have no idea of its sex. I guess what I need is a good website with lots of information for me peruse.I would greatly appreciate any suggestions on keeping my fishes happy and breeding them. please tell me where I can look for some good "free" advice. I thought the internet was supposed to be the information superhighway. The only problem is that now you have to have a credit card to research anything nowadays. Thank you for any assistance or suggestions offered. sincerely, cichlid happy Reply 8   4

oscars and such jc (Unregistered) 2007-08-27 08:23:22 do you have any specific questions to be answered? Reply 4   3

changing colors Cooper (Unregistered) 2007-08-25 17:37:01 One of my bumblebee fish is changing color is this normal? Is there a way to tell if you have male or female fish? Reply 6   5

bumblebee cichlids jc (Unregistered) 2007-08-27 08:22:47 Yes, it's common that they change color. To tell them apart, you can see the males by their dark brown (even almost black) color, whereas the females will be brown and yellow striped Reply 3   2

Help Erica (Unregistered) 2007-12-21 18:57:01 I love my fish tank. I have african cichlids. I've had the fishtank for one year. but i moved four months ago. I'm getting a wired green cloud in the middle of my tank every month. I've taken the water in to get tested everthing they say all is well at the pet store. My fish look stressed. there laying very low. Help. Reply 2   4

Joe (Unregistered) 2007-12-21 18:59:14 sorry cant help Reply 1   3

green cloud justin (Author) 2007-12-24 07:56:28 how often do you do water changes, and what percentage of water? How much do you feed them? What kind of filter do you have? Have you added anything recently, like new driftwood or anything? Reply 6   2

fix Green Cloud Sara (Unregistered) 2010-02-16 13:51:39 the Green cloud might be a green floating algae. It's very difficult to remove, but you need to check the new location you have the tank in. Is it in a bright room or direct sunlight? You will just need to do frequent water changes and keep it out of the light for a while. Reply 0   0

Anonymous (Unregistered) 2008-01-22 09:43:45 Me and my Husband Also just bought some fish for a new tank we bought. not knowing much about fish its been quite a challange. we had 4 angle fish at fist but they all died which we heard wasnt uncommon for a new fish tank. we then moved onto some south american cichlids we have two of them but there extrremly aggressive with each other. at first we had a meduim sized one and a larger one. the larger one was much more dominant and chased the smaller one. we took him back and got another meduim sized one and as soon as we put them in the tank together they went directly for each other locked mouth to mouth and fought. they still wont leave each other alone. The strange thing that has me completely confused is the cichlids we got were already all in the same tank though the tank was smaller. so why would they argue now???? Reply 0   6

Anonymous (Unregistered) 2008-01-22 09:45:52 Is it true the dominant fish will make the rest of the fish change colors? Reply 11   4

a cichlids jg (Unregistered) 2008-03-08 17:25:45 i have a 90 gallon tank its a high tank it has 2 big canister filters on it how many cichlids can i keep in it Reply 16   8

How many? wylander (Registered) 2008-11-19 14:11:11 12to15 will be fine.Also i would use all males,each a different one,with about the same. Reply 0   2

Male or Female Anonymous (Unregistered) 2008-03-26 16:47:19 How do u tell on african cichlids whether they are male or female??? Reply 10   1

African cichlid sexes wylander (Registered) 2008-11-20 14:49:20 Egg spots on older fish,anal fins,sharp fin points also.Your dealer will know,if not you maybe shopping at the wrong place.1 and 2 inch fish can be any ones guess.Some small fish also show these egg spots. Reply 1   1

Texas cichlids SuicidalFishKeeper (Unregistered) 2008-05-20 02:01:41 I wonder... do texas cichlids change colour when they grow bigger? Or is it color at birth? I would like to know what species of Texas Cichlids I have =DD. Reply 3   2

Home keeper Harry Jedlicka (Unregistered) 2008-05-27 15:07:57 Can African Cichlids co bitate with African Oscars? Reply 4   0

Mark (Unregistered) 2008-09-17 05:16:16 Karen, Even though Oscars are cichlids, they are in no way Africans. A. ocellatus (Oscars) are native to Peru, Colombia, Brazil and French Guiana and occur in the Amazon River basin, along the Amazonas, Içá, Negro, Solimões and Ucayali river systems, and also in the Approuague and Oyapock drainages. A large tank may accommodate room enough for all to cohabitate but the odds are at some point in time, one will overpower and kill the other. Best of luck. Reply 1   0

5 cichlid tanks... (Unregistered) 2008-12-06 16:29:29 DO NOT PUT OSCARS IN WITH AFRICANS! I did this and unfortunately my larger oscar was abused. His friendly disposition was taken advantage of the first night by my 4 mbunas (half his size at best). He had several damaged fins and lots of teeth marks. He wouldn't even bite back, and the once or twice he did it was more of a scare tactic he didn't go through with. Reply 0   0

Karen Robres (Unregistered) 2008-06-04 08:42:43 In my experience, the africans will annoy the Oscars. Oscars are gentle giants and its so hard to watch them being picked at by a tiny yellow cichlid! Reply 0   1

Lg. Marble Angels mixed with 2 Becca (Unregistered) 2009-03-02 08:19:22 I recently added Neons to my breeding angelfish 20 gal tank. They ate all of them. PetSmart suggested I try Cichlids and I believe they've met their match. They haven't hurt each other yet, but the angels still chase the eletric yellow one, the ice blue Kenyi one seems most aggressive. Did I make a mistake? Don't want my beautiful Angels to get nipped. Also have a ghost catfish (who they can't see) and cory catfish Thanks! Reply 0   1

wylander (Registered) 2009-03-07 08:23:05 A VERY BIG ONE ! AS YOU WILL SEE IF YOU DON,T SEPARATE THEM. Reply 2   1

Angel Fish karen robres (Unregistered) 2009-04-12 19:22:47 I found that my angels don't like any other fish with them while breeding. In fact, the white ones didn't like the black ones and visa versa. I had to put a screen in my tank to keep them from killing anything that swam past the spot they had laid their eggs on. I have never had any luck with the advice at PetSmart. They are mostly teenagers that have gathered their information from customers. I'm still steamed at them for selling me a dragon fish that died in 12 hours and took out the rest of my tank with it.......Now I only buy from Global Aquatics in Ontario. They know their fish. Reply 0   0

Fish tank basics/African Chicl collin a (Unregistered) 2009-05-14 22:53:29 In this article im going to briefly describe some basics steps for successful fish keeping. I have kept african chiclids successfuly and have bred successfully as well. I have been a fish/planted tank hobbyist for over 10 years now and have competed in multiple aquascaping competitions. Setup Tank: This is where you need to PLAN! Please decide before hand what you are looking to accomplish. because more than likely if you dont plan your fish tank A: will either look cheap B:You will spend to much money or C:your fish will die. Buy a fish tank,lights,substrate(sand is good for chiclids you can use play sand and its $5 dollars for 50lbs at home depot!, if you want a planted tank put flourite substrate underneath the sand and get aquatic plant nutrient feed liquid, also increase your lighting) buy filter(you want to filter twice as much per hour as your fish tank holds, no undergravel filters if you want a planted tank or sand)ex: 55 gallon tank 110 gallons per hour filter. 250 watt heater, for african chiclids keep tank around 75-80 degrees.Put it all together and WA LA! First step is done. Purchase cheap feeder goldfish 79c each: The reason for this is because goldfish are an extremely hardy fish, you want to purchase them to create a antibacterial cycle in your tank that is beneficial for future fish you are going to purchase. Thus more than likely why your angels died. buy a couple more if your tank is larger. The pet store will buy back these fish at a later date and you can use that money to put towards better fish. keep the fish in the tank for 2-3 weeks. Now dont buy anything more v.i.a. decorations, or anything! Pet stores always try to rip you off to buy this rock which is 5 dollars a pound, but for 40 lbs it adds up quick! 200 dollars for some rock! Instead go to a construction site or anywhere i picked mine up from a place right down the road for free, and use your imagination as to what would look good. they work fine all you have to do is boil them or if they are to large, boil water and pour it over the rocks. You can find dead wood in the woods and do the same i just put a giant dead beautiful tree in my tank and guess what! no problems! i had to anchor it down ofcourse with some of the rocks but it looks beautiful and saved me money. none of this wood is live by the way. In my tank i even got 2 crayfish out of the stream for free and they are awesome. So you see how some of the common sense can save you hundreds. So think outside the box. After you done decorating and the tank has been running and you sold back your goldfish. Figure out the right fish for your needs. IF african chiclids is your choice wonderful they are the most beautiful freshwater fish thats available in my personal opinion. They have a lot of color and personality. You want to make sure if you get africans only keep them with africans! South american or new world chiclids doesnt work! each species has different agression levels, They tend to be a bit nastier and will kill most of your common africans! So please research the fish, how big of a tank they will need, how large do they grow, are they agressive, non agressive, what do they eat, etc. You want to buy chiclid pellets and chiclid flakes. i use a combo of the both. you can buy snails and put crayfish in your tank also puffers sometimes work in african tanks. green spotted or figure eights tend to be a little more agressive and might nip your africans fins. Member puffers are meaner than africans considering they have a jaw meant for breaking snail and clam shells, thats what they eat. You are going to want to create many hiding places for the africans as they tend to be territorial and claim parts of the tank as their own. They are agressive fish so it is normal that one might be bullying some of the others but what you have to look out for is a fish bullying another fish to the point where it sits up in the corner of the tanks. IF this occurs take that bully fish out of the tank immediately and go see if you can get another smaller fish of the same species from the pet store. Dont feel aqward doing this many fish stores are use to customers coming in and out they know all about trial and error. Which is necessary for an african chiclid tank.You are going to want to do water changes 30% every other week, Clean the tank walls of algea and build up, and your set if you have any other questions just post them and ill get back to them as soon as possible. Reply 0   0

collin a (Unregistered) 2009-05-14 23:05:07 also i forgott to mention. IF you have an ordinary tank low lighting and want some plants that will grow easily, look at java moss and hornwort, also anubias, java fern etc. if you fish store doesnt have this ask them if they can order it. IF not thats why the internet was invented. A aquarium plant is like a normal plant. They need food, carbon dioxide,and light, which if you look on youtube and search co2 generator diy, you can find many yeast,sugar,water concoctions and homemade designs you can use to put co2 into your aquarium for your plants for cheap! 5 dollars household appliances! Take it easy and you are what you love! PEACE Reply 0   0

fry loose in aquarium Boris (Unregistered) 2009-07-10 17:29:17 can anyone tell me what to do with fry loose in aquarium...they are too small for nursery Reply 0   0

sick cichlid Linda (Unregistered) 2009-08-01 10:50:43 I have a blue african cichlid fish for about 6 years. Three days ago I noticed he was upside down. I assumed he was dying but wanted to see if I could help him live. I did a water change by removing half the tanks water and added prime and salt. Two days ago he is still alive and upside down so I did another water change with prime and salt. Today he is still upside down and breathing. I contacted a very repritable pet store who suggested I bring a water sample. I'm told depending on what type of cichild they can live to be about 10 or 15 years old. Does anyone have any suggestions? Reply 0   0

Crayfish and Cichlids Casey (Unregistered) 2009-08-20 14:24:09 I have got a question for anyone who can answer i have a 75 gallon tank with 2 medium size JD's,2 yellow lab,Scolfi,2 tiger barbs,and a pleco but my question is i just bought 2 crayfish and i was just wondering if this is going to work or not? Reply 0   0

The Lady With American and Afr Bl3ss Up 18 (Registered) 2009-11-06 17:21:21 Well You should not have mix (AFRICAN)Cichlids with (AMERICAN)Because they are not from the same water and there P.H is very Diffrent Not saying that they(African) will die but there not going to thrive very good and the GUPPYS are Community fish and should stay in that same family and you have aggressive fish all cichlids are some what aggressive!and if you put any thing in there that might look like a tastie meal they will try to eat it (good luck)!!! sorry about the miss spelled words Reply 1   0

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