Yeah, sadly the cichla game is not what it once was. You also lost a lot of the OG cichla keepers who were diehard. There are also a lot of new laws that have placed bands on the exportation of cichla out of SA. Now you have a lack of new wild species from different collection points which in return gets people bored of the hobby and brings down the interests for some. Personally, I kept only wild cichla and said I would never keep a farmie. Times have changed and I'd rather keep something instead of nothing. Also the economy plays a huge role. The rise of cost of living and amount of extra money that people have to spend on a hobby, especially an expensive one. You don't just have equipment expenses but maintenance expenses as well. (food, water, electric etc.) I can go on and on but who wants to hear complaining. With that aside, let's see how we can make this section of the forum great again. At one time this was the best area on this forum. It was like the Wild West.
It also had the most infractions and was threatened to be deleted numerous times and for a number of reasons. Hehe I am going to put more time aside for the cichla game and this part of the forum so you will see me lurking around more. I will try to answer any question you or anyone else may have.