# New Cichlid



## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

just as an opinion poll sorta thing here. I've been moving fish around to form some sort of order in the fish room and I've now got a spare 6 footer.

If you were me, what cichlid would you get. I'm really spoilt for choice at the moment and I can't decide what to get.


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## water_dragon (Feb 10, 2007)

oh get a big pair of oscars! they are so cool :mf_dribble:


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

nah oscars are boring now. I've got loads of cichlids that are much more fun than oscars.

Problem is finding something i haven't got that i like


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## twodogs (Jan 2, 2007)

another dovii :mf_dribble: :mf_dribble:


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## twodogs (Jan 2, 2007)

tell you what give me the tank and ill go and buy the dovii:lol2:


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## Mez (Feb 19, 2007)

Is it a 6x2x2? If so, you might find the dovii could outgrow that!
Have you thougt about mbuna or tanganyikans? I kept tanganyikans for years, really rewarding, especially the shell dwellers.
If you're going americano, though, and you have other tank with bruisers in (i presume you already have citrinellus/labiatum) why no go for some of the dwarf cichlids?
I got really fascinated by Apistogrammas, they were really nice, a few rarer imports coming in too now.
Another option - Big Frontosa? Tanganyikan i know but impressive none the less.
"Sunken Amazon" biotype?
I loved these, i had a 8x3x3 with over 400 cardinal tetras in eventully, a coulple of pairs of dwarf apistogramma/microaltspinosa and a very weird (no-live fish takig) Motoro. I "aquired" this after a friend bought it to go with his arowana, howver he was having to stick-feed the stingray and the arow was making a break for it everytime.
Dont go with discus or angles (unless you can get altums at this time of year?) they bore me!
J


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

i got apistos already.

already got a dovii.

citrinellus/labiatum are possibly my least favourite cichlids lol.

got mbuna and tanganykas.

I'm thinking of getting a few more green terrors. I love them i currently got 6, 1 big male and 5 females.


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## Mez (Feb 19, 2007)

Hmm ok they...Jaguars?
Or, go SW!?


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

jags lol, pikes, texas (both SP) a lot of acaras and geos.

not really sure what to get that i haven't got and is easy to locate


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## deano2 (Feb 20, 2007)

frontosa look really nice in a big tank with a nice arrangement of slate and rock


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

arrowana! not a cichlid, but really cool. i loved them. but you may have to get a bigger tank someday!:lol2:


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## DaveM (Oct 18, 2006)

I would love a bid silver arowana with a massive tank and some freshwater stingray


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

i used to buy baby silver arrowanas and raise them up until they got too big and then would sell them for a mint!! lotsa fun!!


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

i've had an arowana. used to keep him in the 10 footer before the days of the dovii.

I'm raising up a little dovii lol. Was given a young male 'jag' which was brilliant, i wanted a new male as mine has stopped breeding and was gonna use the new one.

he was dropped off this morning in a poly box with his owner. Checked him and i imediately told the guy it wasn't a jag but a dovii. the know then said it's my problem now. he got a bit of a shock when i said i'd love to keep him but i wasn't gonna pay. so he was a little upset but agreed. So i gave him 15quid for his trouble and im now the owner of another male dovii lol


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

dovii's are muy macho!


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

the new little fella is pretty calm and friendly. I'mhoping i won't have to wear thick gloves when i feed him. my other one is completely pysco to the extent that on a bad day i have to put his food on a hook at the end of a broom handle. The way the tank is you have to put your hand about 5 inches above the water to get the food in and he's very good at jumping for fingers and im not messing with his teeth lol. but fingers crossed the new guy will be alright


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

a brilliant preditor!:no1: he is master of all he surveys! (see, i said brilliant! you guys are rubbing off on me ha ha!)


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## carisma02uk (Sep 14, 2006)

nice choice i would have said tillapia or my fav crenichula i had a venizualan one he was awsome....


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

yeah i've got venezualan pikes. they are pretty cool. But i've never been a fan of tilapia. Or to be honest many of the african cichlids. I've only got mbuna because a tank with just 3 frontosa looked pathetic and i didn't want tropheus again


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## jon2thefish (May 5, 2007)

ive often found dovis to be wimps when u work in their tanks, from the outside theyre nutters watching to rip your head off through the glass. Ive only come to trouble when theyre guardin eggs. Then i might burrow ya gloves mike


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

I've only ever had pure aggression from my big male. To the extent that i won't ever put my hand in the tank when he's in there. all my other cichlids are pretty good. all the pikes and other parachromis are pretty calm when i work in the tank. the green terrors are a bit dopey anyway but never aggressive. 

To be honest the worst fish i have for aggression are my texas and my salvini. both species of texas and the salvini are constantly having a go


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## YELLOWFISH (Mar 30, 2007)

The only incidents I have had where my cichlids have attacked me was my fault. I trained my jewel fry to do a "party trick" of cleaning all the fish food and dead skin off my fingers. Kind of like how anglers put their hands in buckets of maggots for a gross but effective manicure. It was kind of cute and tickled when they were 1cm long. Now they've grown up.....


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## daz30347 (Aug 30, 2007)

mike515 said:


> just as an opinion poll sorta thing here. I've been moving fish around to form some sort of order in the fish room and I've now got a spare 6 footer.
> 
> If you were me, what cichlid would you get. I'm really spoilt for choice at the moment and I can't decide what to get.


For me it would be a pair of C.Lenticulata (Lents,if i could find any):mf_dribble:


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## simonas (Apr 12, 2008)

don't know if tank would be big enough but I always wanted to keep synspilium, that is if they are the colourful ones where the male gets a big hump


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## xyra (Apr 26, 2007)

If you've kept lots of other more 'exotic' stuff you may not have kept Oreochromis mossambique. Lovely fish, a breeding group will keep you in live food better than convicts for ever. 

Breeding males have incredible colouration - jet black bodies, with deep red fin edges.

I've even communitied them while breeding so you can put in a few other things.

Lots of people avoid them, but I love em Finding some might be hard though, I got mine at auction about 12 years ago.

Not keen on the gold man made variety though.


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

Seen them around but they don't interest me. Very few african cichlids have any interest for me.

The tilapias are cool, but I just don't want them lol.


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## xyra (Apr 26, 2007)

Fair enough, not a fan of most african cichlids's either, have a soft spot for tilapia sp. and the shell dwellers though!

Not exactly predatory, but a challenge to keep alive until settled and even more of a challenge to breed could be Altum angels. Can be pretty aggresive to, will pick each other to bits in shoals under about 8. Could do a reasonable colony in a 6' tank, assuming it's at least 2' tall!

Bay snook (Petenia splendida)? A nice, medium sized (17") cichlid, tough but without being to aggresive, you don't see them kept to often.

Or of course there's always the old fallback, a breeding pair of convict cichlids. 

Does it have to be cichlids? A nice group of various polypterus & some datnoids is quite a display to see.

Edit: a small group (1m + 2f maybe) of Channa pleurophthalma could work nicely in there too


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## bullet tooth t0ny (Apr 24, 2008)

this is a hard one mike,i have to be honest you have kept most fish.i think you will find it very hard to find something new that will challage you.most people on this forum only keep standard tanks and only dream and drool about tanks of your size.lol

i think its a case that you have been there and got the t shirt,only thing i can think of is a fish that you have kept in the past and you have a soft spot for.

i could run a big list past you and i think you have kept most of them or they would bore you.lol

oh what about a tank of parrots.lol


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

you and your bloody parrots lol.


Anyway this tank is being closed down. Got the bigger ones all running now. 10 8 footers  Fish arrive in less than 48hours. mostly pairs of stuff so they will all have their own tanks. The umbies will be split into 2 as the fish im being sent should be 2.4 so Im gonna put 1 male with 4 females and let him pick his lady. then the other 3 females in with the other male. then keep the 2 spare females as extras in case the males decide they don't like their current girlfriends


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

the new guys are here . All unpacked, in their tanks and the bloody salvini look to be spawning already lol.

Picked them up at 630 this morning. Just finished in the fish room having been in there since about 9 when i got back from the airport. Did a bit of a clean up in the big tank and removed a lot of eggs from various breeders as I don't have the time at the moment, so the eggs were disposed of.

But hey ho. heres the list of my new fish:
3.3 Trimacs (all 6-7")
2.2 grammodes (4-5")
1.1 salvini (6" and 4")
0.0.6 haitiensis (1")
1.1 tetracanthus (9")
1.1.2 Red tiger motaguense (8" and the two unsexed at 4")
1.1 festae (12" and 10")
0.0.6 hoplarchus (6")
and a first for me some Uaru, both amphiacanthoides and fernandezyepezi
0.0.6 Amphiacanthoides. 0.0.8 fernandezyepezi

plus 30 red hook silver dollars


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## bullet tooth t0ny (Apr 24, 2008)

nice one mate should keep you out of trouble for a bit,i did see some trimacs on your list.i dont know to much about this fish apart from it looks stunning.what are they like to keep,looking by the list they can be a bit aggresive i take it.:2thumb::2thumb:


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## gazz (Dec 9, 2006)

mike515 said:


> you and your bloody parrots lol.


What about the real one ?.Not the crap heinz 57 ones.

Parrot cichlid-(Hoplarchus psittacus) there not that common but i have seen them about.
Hoplarchus psittacus - Google Image Search

Uaru cichlid-(Uaru amphiacanthoides) are good tank fillers maybe a shool of them ??.
Uaru amphiacanthoides - Google Image Search

(Uaru fernandezyepezi) i don't think thay have a common name ?? are the new kid on the block i like very much.They would be a sound investment there going from between £60'ish to £80'ish each maybe a even a little more ??.So if you do breed them 'happy days': victory:.
Uaru fernandezyepezi - Google Image Search


Great minds think alike ) l've just seen your new list )..


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

gazz said:


> What about the real one ?.Not the crap heinz 57 ones.
> 
> Parrot cichlid-(Hoplarchus psittacus) there not that common but i have seen them about.
> Hoplarchus psittacus - Google Image Search
> ...


1. Got 10 Hoplarchus lol.
2. Uaru amphiacanthoides got 6 today lol
3. Uaru fernandezyepezi. got 8 today lol.

Nice try mate but Im way ahead of ya


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## bullet tooth t0ny (Apr 24, 2008)

so mine are not real then,you all treat my parrots like they are a fake pair of jeans.lol

i have to be honest when they go i will be getting no more.i will get a true parrot one day.the story is to long on how i got my blood parrot and it will bring a tear to your eyes.lol


is that right for uaru fer 60 to 80.:2thumb:


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## minnow! (Dec 20, 2007)

a nice group of enantiopus kilesa on a sivler sand substrate... few river rocks n maybe a few shellys... thats what id do


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## gazz (Dec 9, 2006)

bullet tooth t0ny said:


> is that right for uaru fer 60 to 80.:2thumb:


This speices yes.
Tropical Fish Finder.co.uk - The ultimate UK fish keeping resource for all types of tropical and marine fish, including fish books, articles, fish shops, fish clubs and more.
Tropical Fish Finder.co.uk - The ultimate UK fish keeping resource for all types of tropical and marine fish, including fish books, articles, fish shops, fish clubs and more.
And bigger will be more toward £80-£90ish.

This speices a little more common.So a little cheeper than the above speices but still fetch a fair price.
Tropical Fish Finder.co.uk - The ultimate UK fish keeping resource for all types of tropical and marine fish, including fish books, articles, fish shops, fish clubs and more.
Tropical Fish Finder.co.uk - The ultimate UK fish keeping resource for all types of tropical and marine fish, including fish books, articles, fish shops, fish clubs and more.


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## Lostcorn (Dec 12, 2005)

mike515 said:


> you and your bloody parrots lol.
> 
> 
> Anyway this tank is being closed down. Got the bigger ones all running now. 10 8 footers
> ...


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

Yeah ill get some up once its finished and i have some time.

Get home from work, sarah wants attention fish need sorting out. and mikes buggering around drinking and been a typical 18 year old lol.

He's just rolled into mine from clubbing, he couldn't afford a cab to his so he came here lol. Filthy stopout.

nevermind but yeah once i have some time (rarely happens at the moment) ill get some pics and stick them up


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