African Cichlids Or American Cichlids????

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Mrs. Nicky

Feeder Fish
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Jun 3, 2014
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Norfolk, Va
Ok so which do you prefer African or American cichlids and why?? I only wanna hear from people who have experience with keeping both. Please go into detail on why you prefer one over the other.

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Alright so both American and African Cichlids are very interesting to have in the home aquarium.

-I like African Cichlids for their different verity of colors which can cover the rainbow. They also have an interesting hierarchy the largest of them being the top dog while the smallest is usually the lowest on the pecking order. They also remind you of a huge fish feeding frenzy every time food comes around even if you only have a small group. Overall they are very cool when kept with other Africans.

-Central and SA Cichlids are in my personal opinion the better of the two. My reasons being they have so much personality large or small. They have a wide verity of attractive colors and patterns that would make you want all of them! Most species of SA from what I know of get very large and can be aggressive but they are so worth it! There are just so many variations and different types I personally can't get enough of SA Cichlids.

Hope this helped!


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Thanks Lead20 very helpful. I am trying to decide if I want to do Africans again. I love the feeding frenzy and I love the colors. Idk why but highly active fish seem to be very calming. Personality is good too tho. Is it possibly to keep Africans with an American center piece?

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In my experience they are both great. But personality really depends on the fish. I've had Americans that are very interactive and then others that are extremely shy and skittish. I prefer Americans just because with Africans you have to either do all male. And setting that up can be difficult. Or you must get a 1:3 male to female ratio.

With Americans I find they are more aggressive though. My Africans got along fairly well but weren't as interactive as some of my Americans. And you have to worry about holding females getting picked on.

My favorite would me the american dwarf species. Like apistos

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Why not keep both American and Africans in the same tank to get the best of both world. I have mixed American and African tanks and some told me the combination is ridiculous because they don't fit into the same biotype. I disagree. I like a united nation tank for diversity of body shape, size, color and behavior as long as the fish can get along and share similar water requirements. To me, an all Malawyian tank is boring because they are all blue and yellow mouthbrooders with similar body shape and size. An all CAs can also get boring after the honey moon period because you can't keep enough variety of big fish except for the biggest tanks.

Here is a video of my mixed American and African 125 gal that provide contrast in size, shape and behavior. Despite huge difference in size, they get along well because I picked only the peaceful and non-prediatory Vieja and Green Terror species that won't feed or bully the the smaller Africans. The diminutive Tangs thrive and even raise babies succesfully in the rock piles I created for them .

[video=youtube;hBPYIduq29Y]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hBPYIduq29Y[/video]

Here is a video of my mixed 75 gal

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsTDjx0E1pg
 
That is just down right!... Amazing!!! I have that same vieja! What kind of vieja is that? That is exactly what I'm gonna do!!! That tank is beautiful! Imma throw some Africans in my tank with my current stock. I can't wait! I know it may take a few try to get it right but that is how I want my tank to be

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TheBroc said:
I thought you can't mix them cause they require different water parameters
Click to expand...

That was what people used to say, and some still do. But due to people doing this, and all the breeding and stuff. Plus the hardiness of cichlids.

I don't think it really matters as the cichlids are hardy and either adapt to it, or dues to breeding and raising, the fish adapt and evolve to accept the parameters.

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I personally prefer the American cichlids over African based on size behavior and coloration. I have kept Africans and find them boring. Only African I really like are butti. I also can mix my tanks because the Americans I keep are usually to aggressivecand slaughter Africans.

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Many people think all new world cichlids require soft water.
This is a fallacy.
Many Central and North American (Mexico) cichlids come from waters very chemically similar to rift lake waters of African.
And there are also west African species that live in similar soft water parameters as the Amazon region.
I mix North and Central Americans with Madagascans all the time, and have mixed African rift lake species with many new world types.
I must admit the geographically incorrect mix does look a bit goofy at times, but....




 
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