Can Anyone Help Me?

[Curlie]

Hello,
I am looking to set up a tank and buy some African Cichlid's for it... i was wonderig what the best Cichlids are...like their life span, colors, and an average price on a Cichlid...
Thank you. When i get my fish i will post pictures up real soon. :D

[tom]

Hi Curlie.

Welcome. You've posed some sweeping questions, so here are some generalized "answers" (and I do use that term very loosely). The lifespan of a well-cared-for African lake cichlid in a home aquarium might be ten years--give or take a few. The most common color of an African lake cichlid is blue. Price is a regional, even local, issue: I guess $10 would cover a juvenile specimen of the more common lake cichlids in many US cities.

Take a look at the topic in this forum titled "Is there a site." Another member presents a similar question (albeit phrased very differently :) )There you'll find some sources on the web where you can begin putting together your plans.

I'd recommend a species setup at the outset (all fish in tank of the same species), obtaining all juveniles of a relatively peaceful and hardy genus--Labidochromis, for example. The L. caeruleus Lion's Cove (commonly called "Yellow Lab") is a beautiful species that remains a favorite among veteran aquarists.

And continue to ask questions: There are some very knowledgeable folks here (hopefully next time, one of them will answer first.) :D

[aharris]

I'd say find some good internet sites or some good aquarium books that you can thumb through to look at different types of fish. Get a rough idea of what you like; research it any way you can (luv that internet for fish research). If that all looks good or you still can't find much info on it, then start asking questions here.

Some things to keep in mind when you research your fish are it's adult size (jaguar cichlids need lots mroe space than 20g) versus the size of your tank, it's water parameters (I don't keep dwarf apistos because my tap water is 8.5 pH; way too high), it's dietary requirements (mixing vegetarian mbuna with predatory haps is bad), it's temperment (hyper aggressive or laid back), and it's social needs (some cichlids like company some don't).

There are fish that aren't necessarily a good idea for a beginner to jump into. Hopefully, you'll get a good idea of that from your research. I found so much about the delicate nature of Tropheus for example along with their prices that I backed off of them for the time being. IMO, I'm only going to plunk down a lot of cash for a fish if I'm reasonably certain I can keep it alive and get it to thrive. That might be one good reason why I'm not ever going to be interested in either discus or salt water!

[Curlie]

Thanks Tom and Ahharis.

[DR.J]

hi curlie may i make a suggestion to your african tank. buttikoferi are very nice and very agressive alot of people like them.

[Karl]

i would also suggest a buttikoferi. they look very nice get big and are very aggresive. just you may not be able to keep other cichlids in with it. but i have heard that people have kept them in comunity mumba tanks.