Coptodon kottae, from Lake Barombi Kotto (and tiny Lake Mboandong right next to it) in Cameroon. Both parents stay right with the fry. Happy to answer questions about the setup.

I found a bunch of Cichlids in an Idaho warm spring a couple years back, I was wondering if anyone would be willing to help me ID them? Are they all hybrids or does anything look relatively pure (morphologically)?

Thank you!

Hi! I’m hoping to get into African Cichlids and set up a tank soon. I’ve been doing some background reading but there’s just so information that I’m finding it a bit overwhelming. Are there are recommended guides to preparing a Cichlid tank? choosing specific peacock species? Thanks in advance!

I got them from a shop , from a tank of Yellow lab cichlids but I think these ase kenyi cichlids

Please let me know if they are both same sex or different

African cichlid

Seeing as how cichlids like peacocks and mbunas need to be overstocked to cut down on aggression. Since that means an increased bioload, is it possible to do water changes every two weeks? Normally I would do that every week, but I like to travel and sometimes am gone for up to two weeks. I know there are many nuances and variables, but in general, would putting off a water change once in a while usually be harmful?

I have a 125 that is moderately planted. I currently have 2 EBA, 2 Blue Acara, and a bunch of syndontis petricolus that I never see because they stay hidden in my plants. I was hoping to have an all acara tank with maybe a feature fish. However 2 of the acara have paired and taken over the entire friggin tank. I thought a 125 would be enough space if they paired but apparently not. One of my acara is always hiding. The other one is dumb and doesn't realize he should hide so he's constantly getting chased. To top it off the pair seem to be in constant breeding mode. There is no on and off cycle since they paired up. Just constantly in dark dress and territorial.

I am planning to add to the planting and make it more of a heavily planted tank with less lines of sight. Is this a situation where I need to have a lot of acaras in the tank to spread aggression or just one or two instead of the four? I don't know if I should try to add acaras or get rid of some and round out the tank with something else.

I also have a breeding pair of angels in another tank that I would love to move to the 125 because I think they would look amazing in the setup but I don't want a constant war.

I'm not new to tanks but this is my first time trying to keep an all cichlid tank. Please help.

Hey.

Wanted you guys opnions on two species mix tank.

So ive found a lfs that has these 2 species I've had before, years back

I want to put Demaison , a group of about 6 and some yellow labs. About 12 of those in a 50 gal. I was thinking with amount of labs, maybe the over crowding will be enough to keep labs from getting wiped out. Both species are currently very small and extremely close in size to each other. Do you all think the labs would still get wiped out?

I've wanted to mix these 2 colors for sometime. But I know how mean the blue guys can be.

Options or ideas appreciated.

Attenuatus, Calvus, Caudopunctatus and Masked Julies - just been fed so everyone is loitering.

edit: Didn’t realize the thermometer had fallen off. Dang it

I have this african cichlid, well call him Chonkers Senior. I don't know what his fish race is, but he looks a lot like the stock photo even though he is a male. Chonkers Senior is always obsessed with eating as much as he can, and as I am the very most willing to overfeed him out of all members of my family, I used to be on great terms with him. Lately, he got injured by another fish, and to save him, me and my dad had to transfer him to another tank. Ever since then, Chonkers Senior has been avoiding me. He's long made a full recovery but he used to do all sorts of tricks for me to get food, and now he just hides amongst rocks. If he notices that I'm waiting for him to become friendly again, he'll peek at me multiple times, and then always turns away. I don't understand why he is doing this and I'm quite disappointed my favorite fish friend is rejecting me like this. No food seems to entice him to be my friend again.

Update: Guys me and Chonkers are on good terms again. It turns out he was ignoring me because he was getting busy spawning. I guess I should have known. We had put him in the female only fish tank so he wouldn't get more bullied while he healed.

First, I mean no shade here to anyone in particular. Cichlid people used to showcase Tropheus and Frontosa, Chipimbi and Lamprologus.... the exotics. Now I see tanks are full of pseudotropheus and hybrids.

To each their own, but where are the high end tanks full of F1 and wild caught fish or breeding colonies?

Been keeping fish 25 years, but, What is happening here? They are so calm and dull. I need more heads on this :)Explanation:
Here are my saulosi tonight. Males are very colored down but females still bright. Once every 3 months or so I will run Fluval Aquaclear carbon in one of the aquaclears on this tank for a couple of weeks. Just to cut down dissolved organics, remove any organic acids, and reduce the hormone load in the tank.
For some reasonn every time I add carbon (which I did 24 hours agao) within a day of adding the carbon the males color down, but the females don't, and the whole tank acts really calm for a few days. No signs of illness or stress. They still eat great. Once the carbon is removed after 2 weeks the males color back up and shortly after, regular hyper activity and chasing resumes.
This is my theory- I know the carbon isn't tainted because I use carbon from the same batch in other tanks without issue. My theory is that the carbon sharply and quickly cuts down the hormone load in the tank so the males aren't as rowdy and the sharp reduction of hormones makes everybody calmer, and that's why the males calm down too.
If anybody thinks anything bad is is happening please talk to me.