African Cichlids

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African Cichlids come from three of Africa’s great lakes - Malawi, Tanganyika, and Victoria. In these lakes there are more species of fish than in any other lakes in the world. We don’t know the exact number of species and new ones are being continually discovered in all the lakes, so you can understand how difficult it is to count them. Cichlid fishes in these lakes often have extraordinary opportunities to instigate speciation, an evolutionary process that leads to differences. That is why they are the most spectacular examples of speciation and adaptive radiation within any vertebrate family. The process is what makes Africa’s great lakes, and the cichlids that inhabit them, so interesting.

African cichlids are beautifully coloured freshwater aquarium fish. They have amazing social behaviour, display extroverted personalities, and are intelligent too. It is easy to care for cichlids, and they will bring a great deal of pleasure to the aquarium enthusiast if you take good care of them.

This fish is territorial and it can be hostile towards other cichlids. Most often the largest cichlid is the dominant one and will behave aggressively towards other fish in aquarium - especially during breeding and spawning. The smallest cichlid is sometimes attacked and killed by the larger.

African Cichlids have aggressive behaviour so their tank should be as large as possible. A long tank is the best choice. In the aquarium should be a rock structure with caves and platforms, but with an open area for swimming. Light can be any colour you like. The water in African lakes is different from other bio-topes and looks more like marine than tropical fresh water. Because of their high pH and hardness levels it is necessary to treat the water with some sort of African Cichlid lake salts. Try to ask in your aqua shop.

African Cichlids breed like this: the female comes into the territory of a courting male and lays eggs. She immediately picks them up into her mouth and there they are fecundated. Her newborns stay in her mouth until it can no longer accommodate the growing fries. During this time the female usually does not eat. But a few clever cichlid females are released from maternal
(paternal - father, maternal - mother) care by unusual coexistence with a fish 100 times bigger. The cichlid and catfish have their young in one place and they defend them collectively.

Their food should be rich in vegetation. African cichlids should be fed by supplements of peas, romaine lettuce, spinach, and zucchini which is cut into small pieces. You can also buy flakes and algae disks. African Cichlids, especially from Lake Malawi, also eat all available sources of food including phytoplankton, zooplankton, soft bottom deposits, algae on the surface of rocks, algae that grow upon other submerged plants, higher plants, molluscs, insects and benthic arthropods, fish scales, fish fins, fishes, and fish eggs, embryos, and larvae. Food especially made for the needs of cichlids is available in most pet stores.

List of species

Here are listed just some species. For advanced search visit this link, please.

1) Altolamprologus compressiceps (Compressed cichlid)
2) Anomalochromis thomasi (African butterfly cichlid)
3) Aulonocara jacobfreibergi (Lake malawi butterfly cichlid)
4) Aulonocara stuartgranti (Grants peacock cichlid)
5) Cyphotilapia frontosa (Frontosa cichlid)
6) Cyprichromis leptosoma (Slender cichlid)
7) Haplochromis chilotes (Victoria biglip hap cichlid)
8) Hemichromis bimaculatus (Jewel cichlid)
9) Hemichromis lifalili (Lifalili cichlid)

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African Cichlids

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