Watch BEFORE Buying African Cichlids - Beginners Guide
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- Опубліковано 6 сер 2024
- I get a lot of questions regarding African cichlids. This is a beginners guide to give people new to African cichlids some tips and pointers on what to do, as well as what not to do.
For an easy guide on how to setup an African cichlid aquarium, watch here: • How to Setup an AFRICA...
African Cichlids playlist: • African Cichlids
Link to fish foods, plants, and aquarium supplies www.aquariumcoop.com
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For an easy guide on how to setup an African cichlid aquarium, watch here: ua-cam.com/video/ikkVq_A_oXk/v-deo.html
Follow me on Instagram for more content: instagram.com/Tazawa_Tanks
Thank you to my channel sponsors and supporters, Aquarium Co-op, Xtreme Aquatic Foods, and Fritz Aquatics.
To see the products in this video and to shop for Xtreme fish foods and Fritz Aquatics, shop here: www.aquariumcoop.com
I prefer community fish with planted tanks personally, but African Cichlids are beautiful. I love watching them and I give props for those keeping them. ♥
Good stuff. I am recommending Cichlids to a new-bee and shared your video with them. Cichlids are wonderfully unique and worth the effort. When I had my 55gal Cichlid tank, I was lucky enough to have a mating pair and it was amazing to watch the female hold the fry in her mouth for so long. About 5% of the fry survived and the tank population grew at a nice pace. I built about a dozen "apartment" units for them using slate and flat river rocks, in rough a pyramidal shape. Only plastic plants and an "over-the-back" bio-filter system, as they dig like crazy and make an under-gravel filter system a bad choice. I'll get back to them again someday.
Great advice and great video!!
Cool and timely info for me, thanks!!
I'm a beginner, but did grow up with my mum having about as many tanks as you, I love all ur fish, U do such an amazing job, thankyou for all the tips !!
Just the video I was looking for. Thank you
I have to admit African Cichlids has never been my thing but I've always liked the way you keep them
Excellent content! Great detail.
Thank you. Very helpful knowledge
Thx for the vid ima keep researching:)
I think I got lucky that I was very poor when I got my first Africans since I could only get a few. 12 years later I have just 1 maingano male( he is 12 this year). He is beautiful but won't tolerate any others in his tank. This advise would have been great when I was just starting.
Not many people keep it real like this, great job.
Awesome video! I set up a 40 breeder African Cichlid tank in my dining room, I added 4 fish initially. I will be waiting a month or two until I add 3-4 more of similar size. I bought small ones and they are like $10 a piece now, so I will be patient so I don't waste money. I made that mistake years ago of adding like 15-20 African Cichlids of various species to a 38 gallon tank, I pretty much lost 3/4 of the fish within a few weeks and it wasn't a fun experience.
Great advice to go slow. Excellent reminder that those beautiful, successful mixed tanks come after putting in the time learning the fish individually. We should be building confidence and experience with the fish and not just jump in.
Love my mbuna and peacock cichlids. They get along great in my 55 gallon. Little to no aggression, just have to overstock. I do a water change once every two weeks.
Excellent video, Zenzo, you really made excellent points! I liked how you made the analogy with keeping a Cane Corso in an apartment vs a Chihuahua. I can't keep large tanks where I live, currently, so my African Cichlid tank is a Caudopunctatus home and they spawn! There's a cichlid for almost any size aquarium.
Nice work 🏖
Thanks. Stocking list out of window. Will follow your advice.
I love all cichlids have always had at least one tank with them in it I go out ever week to find ones that have colors i have never seen have a few that took a long time to find you are right take your time and make sure you know the care it will take for the fish and if there compatible with the fish already have
Awesome 👌
I kept african cichlids for over a year. Mbunas for the most part were really aggressive and didnt get along with the peacocks. I re homed all the mbunas and kept only male peacocks for a while until the aggression was just too much to handle. I have now converted my 75 gallon african cichlid tank to a mixed reef. Lol. Listen to Tazawa people. His knowledge is on point.
DEFINITELY A BAD MIX. MBUNA WILL DESTROY MOST PEACOCKS. OCCASIONALLY YOU GET A DOMINANT MALE PEACOCK THAT CAN HOLD IT’S OWN. I HAD A JACOB FRIBERGI PEACOCK WHO WAS BOSS IN A 75 GALLON TANK FULL OF MBUNA!🐠🐠🐠
User error
So I am just really getting into fish keeping…I’ve had betas and goldfish and want to get into cichlids as they are my favorite freshwater fish. I recently got a 15 gallon tank and introduced one yellow tail Acei. I know it’s not a big tank but really only wanted one or two in a smaller tank to learn over some time how the tank maintenance, temperament and overall investment would fit my lifestyle. My question is this, would I be ok adding one more cichlid to a 15 gallon tank for a total of 2 or would I be better off upgrading to a 30 gallon tank. I specifically have a fluval flex 15 that appears to have really good filtration and love it. Would the 15 be too small for a second cichlid? Also what variety is best to go with a yellow tail Acei? Thanks in advance, I’m really trying to do this the right way the first time around. 🙏🏼
@@Average_D yellow tail acei gets huge like 7-8 inches fully grown. I would upgrade to a 30 gallon tank with lots of hiding places to lower aggression. There are some peaceful mbunas fish who stay on the small side. Psudotropheus solosi stay tiny and males are blue and females are yellow. 7-8 solosi in a 30 gallon should be good enough. They will also re produce like crazy.
Couldn't agree more. I've kept Demasoni, Johannis, Melania, Auratus, Labs, Kenyi, Zebras, Acei, Cobalts, Hongis etc all together successfully in a 55g for many yrs. It didn't start out that way, but hate to see good fish be sent back or released for no other reason than user error. It was all about breaking line of sight, fish placement (too few this never works), and over filtration is always the general rule. I'll also freely admit if I tried that exact combo or half, it could end up in disaster all things being equal. Really chill alphas are a God send! Also, know when to cut your losses! Sometimes you'll just have no other choice but to get rid of a psycho fish. I've had a lab that was just insane, to the point he had to go. And by no means try the above if new to the hobby, this was 10+ yrs of trial and error back in the super snobby forum days, & these fish even made it through Katrina. Always have a nursery tank ideally ready to go or be able to screen off a section of a tank at a moment's notice if nothing else. Do not skimp on your heater, I've had a cheap backup fail & the main fried them. I didn't get back into the hobby for many years after that. Cheers.
A new subscriber, but a huge fan. Beautiful aquariums. I have kept tropical fish since I was 9 - over 40 years now. However, your knowledge is incredible.
Much appreciated!
That's good advice 👍👍.
Great advice! I did exactly what you said when I set up my 1st African cichlid tank 2 years ago. I kept community fish for decades but I wanted a challenge. I bought a 125g tank and slowly added fish over time. You are right some fish just won’t get along. I advise if you keep these fish have a back up plan. You will probably have to pull a fish or 2 out. Keep a cycled tank handy just in case ! Or have a lfs that will take on refugees! 😂
Thanks For Sharing ✍
Great points, I’ve been slowly switching over to African cichlids from south/ Central American cichlids over the past year and a half. And slow and steady always seems to work best, patience is key. Thanks Zenzo🙂
I managed to get a 6' x 2' x 2' (approximately 170G) tank reasonably cheaply.
My current tanks are all tropical fish so I was thinking of using this big tank for cichlids. I would like it to be a heavily planted tank.
Very overwhelming as to what ones a beginner like me should get. Would love a couple of different types just for a variety of colours (not a Noah's Ark - just 2 or 3 different colours) but not sure about lots of things:
1) which ones look good and have similar water parameters and get along together.
2) doing stocking at a slow rate as suggested - how to add additional fish (either same species already in tank or a different one) without causing fights.
So much research ahead. Haven't done anything with the tank at the moment.
Oh wouldn't mind some cleaner fish in there eg Otocinclus, Plecos and/or Corydoras. Having some smaller tropical fish for variety would be nice but suspect they would become dinner.
Sorry for the ramble. Back to more research. 👍😄
Took me a little bit to get into this channle. But now that I'm am I'm all in.
This is totally why I subscribe.
a quick and maybe silly question. I've got 2 Marineland 55s and a Marineland 75. They have all been sitting empty for at least 10 yrs. Is it safe to fill them with water again? do the seals on the tank's interior ever just ... go bad on their own? I had the tanks of for about 13-14 yrs before we ended up taking a break from fish keeping. I'd love to get back into it again, but don't have the money to get all new tanks. Obviously, the seals can be damaged or cut away...but if they appear to be as good as the day they were purchased...is there a need to worry? I'm in an apartment and if I can avoid 185 gallons of water spontaneously pouring all over the floors that would be great. lol Is there normally a "set" number of years recommended as a limit on use for a single tank? Any info would be appreciated...thanks!
With 400l tank and 120l sump how would you setup heating and return pump when from bottom to top tank is 4 feet something between 4k-8k/h flow? Thx
Love this video ! Very helpful.. I have a 40 breeder. What stock would you recommend ?
Here is a starting point. It should give you some ideas. ua-cam.com/video/24_l0KC9Nm0/v-deo.html
just wandering ... how many of the viewers are currently seeing this and ended up restocking guppies ? xD
good video man .... keep up the good work !
you are the reason why i have a Mbuna tank and a Peacock tank....your beautiful OBs.
How can I save my
Mbuas and still take a vacation. I have had my 55 gal tank with about 16 red stripe zebras for years. Also includes a pleco, a red tail cat and a African brasher. The Cichlids are various ages and 6" down to 2". I would like to take a vacation this winter. I need a plan for fish care. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
I inherited a 125 gallon aquarium with stand and filter. I am researching what to stock it with. My thought was African cichlids, but I definitely need to do more research before I make that decision.
Great video. I think I'm on the right path in creating my new 90 gal mbuna tank. I've noticed that you use a lot of live plants in your tanks. I chose to go with cichlids because I was better at keeping fish than plants. Lol
I was also told cichlids would eat plants if I included them.
Interested in your thoughts.
NO LIVE PLANTS. AFRICANS WILL DIG THEM UP ESPECIALLY MBUNA!
Thanks Bro. have a 40gal. would like to stock Cichlid fish in the 40gal. ,cost and up keep slowed me down, made me think what if they spawn? already have convicts caught on sale and learned what they like and who they fight, started off with three down with two ,3 skunk loaches separated them convict s seemed to aggressive .....life is is peaceful no more worries.
live and learn......
I’m so excited but at the same time I’m so scared for my first cichlid tank. But I have learned patience with this hobby is the most important thing you need..
Great information 😁 Notification squad 👏 i did a video on beginner fish with tons of info 😀
Sence you use a lot of spong filters and its something new to me as a always used underground filters and power heads and some hob filters I have switched over to canister filter on some tanks to try of getting off subject my question is can you use a small power head on a Sponge Filter and it be effective or is it too much water flow I asked you this because you tend to use a lot of sponge filters in your tanks and I'm trying to simplify my filters cause have to meny tanks and I work full time and trying to make life easier for me to take care of my hobby and still have time to enjoy them rather than always cleaning and never have time to just enjoy my fish I know cut down on tanks no I love all my fish just trying to make sure they have clean water and cut down on cleaning time I can clean spong filters quickly and most tanks are species only tanks so there's very minimum amount of bioload and all my tanks have plants witch with cichlids is a pain in the butt but I will replant every day cause I love the benefits of live plants plus cichlids eat them
I have little to no experience owning fish and yesterday my mom brought home two electric cichlids because the aquarium at her workplace broke. Since it was not planned for us to get fish I dont even own the basics. Basically im looking for low a budget aquarium setup to begin with and advice regarding pH and water conditions. Actually this morning one of them died propably because of the shock or change in water??
Hi sir love from India..came to research asusual.. i have a 5ft tank which has mbunas and venustus , sevrums, daffodil chichild, masked Julie (tangyanika) and small green terrors and 5 colour haps.. please advice it's been over an year and there is more agression and i have lost a few of them.. please advice
😎💛🤟 here learning.
Got my boyfriend these to start with bc he wants a salt water tank. I said well we both love fish so let’s get you these and if I see you take good care of them and we do all our research we can see if he can handle a salt water tank! I know it’s just different but I’m the fish person in the relationship so I just want to make sure he can HANDLE having fish before going into salt water😂 he does good with mine but doesn’t fully take care of them I mostly do. thank you for the advice he will be watching this and many others to get started!
Used 2 go 2 Nippon on Geary..and another cool store was in Brisbane..back in the day🐟
Question. I've had my cichlid tank (50g) up n running for a bit now and last night I took all the water out and moved them along with the water to a different tank. Some of the fish weren't doing so well when I added them back into the new tank(55). Again I kept all the water other than a normal water charge amount. Out of 11 fish 2 really looked to be going down hill fast. I was able to save them as i have a 20 gallon tank that has perfect water readings. I woke up today to everyone doing great. Crystal clear water all water test look good ECT. What do you think was going on that caused a couple fish to take a dive. Oh and they are the biggest 2 in the group. Thanks for any input.
the beneficial bacteria isn't carried in the water, it's in the substrate and filter, they probably went into shock or felt sick from ammonia, glad they got better!
I have 100 gallon tank I'm trying to get rid of with the stand. Are you in California
Thnaks for the amazing video man! I've got a question, what do you think of using dead coral rocks as decorations in an african cichlids tank?
I do it all of the time. Dry rock (dry coral) will also help maintain the water parameters that are ideal for East African cichlids.
@@TazawaTanks thanks man! If these rocks have previously been used in a saltwater aquarium, would soaking them in boiling water be enough to make them safe for my cichlids?
@@darkriderx3 I would just rinse them off with a hose. A little salt residue is fine for them.
@@TazawaTanks Will do! Appreciate it man!
Thank you so much for this video! It convinced me that I did not want African cichlids and saved me a lot of time and money, but most importantly saved the lives of some fish that may have otherwise been not properly cared for because I ended up getting burn out. I think maybe fish in general are not for me and I should just stick to reptiles.
I used to have an awesome Frontosa aquarium years ago, I miss it
I have 2 African cichlids in side 20 gal but they are small is that ok
Which go best with each other
My dad just bought a tank of African cichlids first ever having fish and there is like 15 in the tank but it’s a big tank!! Had a buddy come over and set up the pump and oxygen pump and stuff!! But my dads wants more Colourful ones !! Would it be fine just putting a few more in there
Probably. How big is the tank?
Can you mix Africa cichlid with koi fish like in the same tank is what I mean
I lost my South American Cichlid tank. I am not ready to set the tank back up yet after that but I am thinking of maybe switching to African Cichlids.
Do you think ocean nutrition flake is a good food? I know you did a review on it before but has that changed?
I haven’t used their foods in awhile, but I did like the quality when I had used them. It was good for me.
I had mbuna only tank. Just yellow labs… still lot of chasing😢 either over stock or have lot of rocks. Few fish with rocks I hardly saw them come out…
can i keep two dwarf mubuna in a 15 gallon tank with lots of hiding places
So before you decide what fish you’re going to get. Get fish in your tank? So should I enie-menie-miney-mo it?
Please help me, I have small black bugs around the top of the water in my cichlid tank. What can I get to kill them and not my fish?
I’m setting up a 100L tank . Planned to keep Morph.
I had one of these when i was 14 he lasted 3 years then i gave him to my brother and he died shortly after. I recently brought a 20 litre fish tank and im not sure what fish to get.
Are you restocking tshirts by any chance?
I have a single male aulonocara bi color 500 can i put a female in?
Very important information! I would prefer if the presenter show far less of himself during the video while showing alot more of his tanks/aquaria. He can do the voice narrative without being in front of the camera most of the time; his fishroom is remarkable but he's in the way of the viewers!
I have been considering peacocks for my 50 gallon recently. The tank is empty and this was a good informational video. Is it true that peacocks are some of the less aggressive types?
It’s hard to say, but I think they can be as challenging as others. I also don’t think peacocks do as well in a 50 gallon.
@@TazawaTanks what then would you recommend for that size tank 🤔
@@Davidsmithisyourdad For peacocks, I recommend a 75 or larger because they are open water swimmers.
oh my god how the heck do u have 63k u need 1 million subs the quality has always been crisp I have a question how many yellow labs can I keep in my 55 gallon tank and can you make a video on the yellow labs tank size,food,sexing, and more
Very true. This channel deserves way more love than it's currently getting
MBUNA ARE GREAT FISH 🐠 TO KEEP. VERY COLORFUL AND AGGRESSIVE. FUN TO WATCH. BEST PART IS THAT THEY DO NOT GET TOO BIG.
How many African cichlids can I fit in a 220 and how many other types can fit all together (tank friendly) I have 18 so far
What’s the ideal tank size for 20 peacocks I am not gone start with 20 just want to work my way up to that number but I want to learn before I do I want to have the right tank size already instead of having to change tanks
A 5 or a 6’ long tank. A 125 would be ideal if you have the space and budget.
@@TazawaTanks thank you very much will be ordering a tank soon as we recover from hurricane ida
I've never kept the African ciclids. I've watched your videos a lot. This was a very informative vid. Thanks. Liked.
African Cichlids are just $2 here in Thailand. Lol. Pairing them with quick, semi aggressive tertras are totally fine. I love them. I have one of each rather than pairs and I learned lots from saltwater fish, and when you have two of the same, it's pure chaos.
The black background versus the aluminum look is way, way better
Would a 29 gallon be fine for a 4 ish inch albino African cichlid? There would be nothing else in there just the fish and some live plants.
he also is already pretty much fully grown, he’s a few years old it’s my friends cichlid
For just one fish, yes.
Lmao, he said, “folks this isn’t Noah’s ark” I’m dying rn 🤣🤣
Well yeah this video is real unlike the Noah's ark fable.
Hello, i appreciate your videos. I was given an Eye Biter Cichlid and can’t find any care videos. Any suggestions would be helpful
I love parrot chiclid very hardy and cool looking
I just got a ton of small assorted cichlid I got all Mauna species
Ok so I’ve Ben involved with fish and water quality most of my life. I grew up on 60miles of freshwater canal in my backyard in south Florida I was also the aquatic systems manager for many years of the largest aquatic fish store in the nation I’ve had countless 150g+ size aquariums lots of reef tanks over the years and several freshwater aggressive tanks with peacock bass oscars catfish and they have all usually had a handful of cichlids in them like fontosas yellow labs large clown loaches and so on I also used to breed African discus all came from jake watley…reason for telling you all of that is To give you an idea of my background in fish but I haven’t ever had higher end are quality African cichlids as a main fish even tho I’ve Ben around them so what I got going on now that I built beside my back patio in the ground is a 4,000g+ pond that is 4ft deep and fully rocked with caves and lots of spaces to hid are for territory I have a good amount of koi 3 smaller oscars angle fish a shovel nose catfish a red tail catfish and some others also currently have 1 to 3 larger cichlids and I’ve bought around 8 small peacocks and one red devil all seem to be doing very well what I’m wondering is what would you recommend far as adding them small goes to be my stopping point for African cichlids how many would you say I could get away with in 4K pond fully rocked with 3 bog filters one filter that holds just under 500 gal waterfall holds about 450g so my water volume should be close to 5k gal I’m really starting to enjoy finding nice African cichlids I’m buying most of them small about 1 to 3in in size but I don’t want to buy to many thinking it’s fine then when they all grow being way to much.btw I keep a close eye on the pond and haven’t seen much fighting going on at all at this point so far.mainly wanting to no how many peacock cichlids I can get away with with the koi?
thinking of rescuing some
Beyond Cichlid Dome!!!!
Lol
I know its wrong but my mind instantly flashed a picture of a tiny Dean riding Cory around the fish room. More food!!! Less air!!!! NO SNAILS!!!!
I will have a tanganikan biotope setup in my house till the day I die. I love my shellies and my 5 bar cichlid
Do you have fairy cichlids?
I just got a 400l fish tank for african chillids
i was sure i had an Apistogramma, it turns out it is a Aulonocara. So now im here. PS she doing great
I have my Africans, true parrot and Oscar in my 6FT 155GL (:
Just a tip, if you could put all your other videos mentioned in this video in the description that would be very helpful. You got a lot of content to sift through haha. Thank you!
I actually I got albino peach cichlid but sadly
Died this week
When I was growing up (70s-80s) African Cichlids were THE thing. I found it fascinating that in co-op's AquaHuna video that the owner said the biggest change he's seen in the hobby was that Cichlids aren't nearly as popular anymore, and Shrimps have taken over the hobby. Even Aquarium Co-op doesn't carry Cichlids.
Any opinions on what caused this shift?
I think some of it is because of space. Many people that live in smaller homes and apartments have small planted aquariums.
My guess would be that because now the big trend in fishkeeping is ADA style planted tanks, and most african cichlids don't go with plants, people stopped keeping them
Personal experience had taught me that a mixed mbuna tank is not good for beginners
Can Africans, mostly mbuna’s, live with peacocks?
Yes, as long as you offer a variety of foods and some vegetation for the mbuna to eat once in awhile.
Mbuna and peacock
How many peacocks and haps for 75g?
ua-cam.com/video/Bu80xaPM_po/v-deo.html
Watch this video for my advice on stocking.
I had 9 African cichlids I’m down to 6 in a 65 gallon tank there eating each other what do I do ?!?!?!
How long has the tank been setup? How long have the fish been in the tank?
I had for about 3 months I had the fish about the same 3-4. Months
@@kellyjordan2155 Are they mbuna or peacocks? If they’re mbuna, have lots of caves and hiding places. If they are peacocks, you may need to change some things up and add some more. Here is a video I made a few years ago: ua-cam.com/video/7pvpMjLzVDA/v-deo.html
@@TazawaTanks thanks I’m try and add more and see what happens
@@TazawaTanks yes there all Mbunas
I have 2 blue baby electric acaras 2 black ghost knife fish 2 angle fish 2 guramis 2 dojo loaches I have a 125 gallon soon getting a 250 gallon also I have an Oscar
Kinda off topic but chihuahua arent really easy dogs. They require the same amount of discipline and walks, maybe not 6 a day but still require walks. It irks me so much when people abuse chihuahuas
Skip to 4:00 minutes to start the video .
"Battle royale" inside the Noah's ark.. just imagine.. lol
120-150 lbs