Heavy Metal Guppies

[xoxoxoBruce]

If someone says Cichlids (cychlids), how do you know what they are talking about? There's over 1400 vastly different fish that are in that family.

[monster]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

If someone says Cichlids (cychlids), how do you know what they are talking about? There's over 1400 vastly different fish that are in that family.

Are all of them generally available in aquarium stores? I know when beest says cichlids he means a selection of those available at our local Fish Doctor, which is only about a dozen types as far as I recall. Is there a great variation in those regularly kept as pets? Cichlids will be a whole new thing for us if that is the direction he chooses. Current tank has a variety of tetras, a couple of catfish and a dannio. Beginner stuff, but we do now have the hang of keeping them alive beyond the 10-day return period, so beest is dabbling with the idea of slightly more expensive and interesting fish....

[xoxoxoBruce]

OK, Wiki names these as common aquarium fish.

Cichlid keeping aquarists tend to divide cichlids into groups based on regions such as Central America, South America, Madagascar and India, Lake Tanganyika, Lake Malawi and Lake Victoria. Others divide the cichlids using the combination of geographical, taxonomical, and behavioral criteria. Some notable groups resulting from this type of categorizing are the mbunas, haplochromines, dwarf cichlids, and shell dwellers.

Cichlids from Lake Tanganyika were first collected by German hobbyists during the 1930's. However, it was during the 1970s and 80s that the cichlids from lakes Tanganyika and Malawi began to become popular aquarium fishes. This trend continues to the present unabated.

Perhaps the most commonly encountered species in retail aquariums is Pterophyllum scalare from the Amazon River basin in tropical South America, known in the trade as the "angelfish". Other cichlids commonly stocked by retail aquaria include:

Astronotus ocellatus (oscars)
Cleithracara maronii (keyhole cichlids)
Hemichromis sp. (jewel cichlids)
Labidochromis caeruleus (electric yellows)
Mikrogeophagus ramirezi (blue rams)
Pelvicachromis pulcher (kribensis)
Sciaenochromis fryeri (electric blues)
Symphysodon discus (discus)
Species of cichlid can be kept in aquariums with other fish, however, many cichlids are aggressively territorial or predatory towards smaller fish. Conversely, some cichlids, such as Apistogramma or Julidochromis spp., can be timid in the aquarium. In such cases the use of dither fish is recommended.

So I guess that would be the maximum of your choices, and probably less. Fish on.

[monster]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

OK, Wiki names these as common aquarium fish. So I guess that would be the maximum of your choices, and probably less. Fish on.

Middle child got a beginner fishing rod and accessories for the consumer-oriented holiday.

strange child, loves all water creatures alive, but also loves to eat them and wants to catch his own. Now we just have to find someone to teach him how.....

[xoxoxoBruce]

Oh yes, and if he catches too many, just keep them in the aquarium till you're ready to eat them.

[monster]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Oh yes, and if he catches too many, just keep them in the aquarium till you're ready to eat them.

Might bung 'em in with the crayfish.....