# whats your favourite cichlid?



## Ian.g (Nov 23, 2006)

just a bit of fun to get the fishy peeps going....i used to keep fish in a pretty big way! i had a main 6ft tank and had 3 4ft tanks and 2 3ft tanks and one 2 ft tank, i mostly kept and bred malawis and tanganyikans (tropheus duboisi) but my ALL time favourite was my tilapia butterkofferi! awesome fish who in the end had to be kept alone in the 6ft set up...but soooo much character! would literally attack me through the glass, and lets just say that any in tank maintinance was fun!! :lol2::lol2: when i have the room for another 5-6ft tank i will DEFFINATELY get another one :mf_dribble:


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## Ian.g (Nov 23, 2006)

not mine but he was identical!! :mf_dribble::mf_dribble: ohhh how i miss my big fishy!!!


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## beckys_dad98 (Jan 23, 2006)

I used to keep Oscars... They were my fave, I got three lil white tigers they had them listed as from the pet store for 10 dollars for all 3... They were barely 4 inches when I got them and 2 years later they were closer to 16 inches... Unfortunately when I moved, I decided to sell them, I got 40 dollars for each one though, so 110 dollars profit, lol... A few years later though I got a couple of black tigers instead, but they never got anywhere near as impressive as the whites...

Steve


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## Marinam2 (Sep 4, 2007)

I have two severums one a golden and is fully grown, roughly 12 years old we call him Boris. He plays peekaboo and is happy to watch TV but loves sitting next to someone. We got a green severum a little while ago which we named pixel and he was very cautious and shy but now full of character also.
I have never owned any other large fish except plecs so i guess i am a bit biased.

Marina


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## DaveM (Oct 18, 2006)

I really like the south american dwarf cichlids, one species in particular that I can't remember hot to spell, lol


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## twodogs (Jan 2, 2007)

my absolute fave would have to be discus ....used to keep them a few years ago ...they were great ,,,,however if i had the room and a tank big enough id have a dovii...fericious :lol2:


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## snake9400 (Jul 22, 2007)

i like the albino kribensis i have only ever found one but he is gorgeous really nice colours with some very bright blue and red on him


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## snake9400 (Jul 22, 2007)

my fav named cichlid has to be the jack dempsey wicked name


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## mrsfluff (Jul 15, 2007)

Here are some pics of my fav cichlid shes called Bert!!









Shes a Nicaraguan Cichlid.
Shes about 8" and has a great personality, about 10 years old.
I used to have a male aswell he was quite aggressive.

Nick


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

The blue ahli i have. When the lights are off there almost WHITE!  looks great...but there my favourite Malawi that i have kept...​


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## snakelover (Dec 17, 2006)

Oh and my favourite Cichlid is the Frontosa...never owned one though.


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## agazzis (Dec 20, 2006)

agazzis dwarf chiclid lol can you tell


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## Mez (Feb 19, 2007)

Apistogramma are really nice, i had borelli for a while...
I think you always tend to go for your first 'proper' fish, so i'll go for Firemouth Cichlids. t. meeki


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## Jinx (May 31, 2005)

I do love dwarfs.
I have a kribensis and a pair of golden dwarfs.
I want some blue rams and some different flags at some point.


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## vicky1804 (Dec 12, 2006)

Blue rams are definatly mine, the colours on them are gorgeous, my dad bought me my very first pair


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## Jinx (May 31, 2005)

vicky1804 said:


> Blue rams are definatly mine, the colours on them are gorgeous, my dad bought me my very first pair


 
my local fish shop was going to get some in for me, but they never did, so im not bothering to ask again, i'll shop else where.
:lol2:


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## MBurt (Oct 19, 2007)

blue rams for mine


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## Mujician (Mar 7, 2007)

Pike Cichlid


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## SNAKEWISPERA (Aug 27, 2007)

mmmm i don't keep fish but a and now nothing about them

fav must be duboise (SP?) lol

red head tapper joyces(SP?)

and channa plueropthalma


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## snickers (Aug 15, 2007)

I don't keep fish anymore, but I had a couple of large tanks once.
I loved oscars from the first day I saw them. Never could get them to breed though. Wrong kind of water.
Then got a pair of synspilums. I couldn't get them to stop breeding!

I also had an abino clarius catfish, who was a bit of a character, and a osphrenemus gourami. I wanted an electric catfish, but wasn't allowed.


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

frontosa all the way....


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## tokay (Mar 13, 2007)

Oscars everytime , just cant beat that personality!


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## sami (Oct 23, 2006)

oscars are great... we had some.

they would knock on the top of the tank when they wanted feeding! 

but my favourite would have to be Bolivian Rams... going to get some more for our community tank...

sami


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## crazycat (Sep 23, 2007)

green severum: victory:


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## agazzis (Dec 20, 2006)

Mez said:


> Apistogramma are really nice


understatement of the year lol


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## agazzis (Dec 20, 2006)

for all you ram lovers these are beautiful
YouTube - Ram cichlid


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## MoK3t (Aug 22, 2007)

I loved my oscar 'Monster' he was like a giant aquatic cat. Loved interacting with me and making eye contact. I think oscars are very clever fish., i taught him to jump for food when he was a baby, which was cute. Wasnt so cute when he was 16" and i needed to refill the tank after the daily feed. 


So oscars win here too although Jewel Cichlids come a close second. Just for pure balls. One of my 5" jewels wasn't at all scared of that oscar and stood up to him many times. 


Yes he did end up as lunch eventually, but thats not the point :S


I no longer keep fish, but i'm looking at getting a small tank of assorted puffers


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## grevo (Jul 31, 2007)

I don't keep fish anymore either but I used to have a pair of convicts and a pair of Jack Dempseys, both were great


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## Ian.g (Nov 23, 2006)

some great fish there! i sooooo want the room for a 5ft aquarium! i MUST have another Butterkofferri!!! ...YouTube - Crazy Butti By Miles - monsterfishkeepers.com

not the nicest looking fella but the charecter is SPOT ON!! lol


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

Nandopsis salvini. quality to look at and completely psychotic for their size. Great fun.

Pretty much any of the parachromis feature pretty highly on my list as well especially Freddies and Dovii.

But basically any of the Central/South American Cichlids are pretty awesome


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## daxy1 (Aug 21, 2007)

my favourite it a afra white top i have a few afra's but this is my best
i will take a pic of sid and post him on here soon as i can :flrt:


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## wildy (Jul 7, 2007)

Got to be uaru cichlids, so placid can keep them with anything and get bigg too..


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## zirliz (Nov 15, 2006)

I think my angel fish Amazon or one Bolivian ram sold as a (Butterfly ram) I have only recently got into having some community ones,


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

i've always wanted altum angels..


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## sulcata2big (Nov 7, 2007)

cyphotilapia frontos


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## BigBadger (Nov 26, 2007)

*My favs*

Ive got 2 manugua (Jaguar) cichlids. They rock. The biggest jumps up out the water when I go to feed them. Realy makes me jump too. Ha. At minute they are sharing space with a yellow coloured african and an albino convict that were causing problems in my friends tank. Funny, they dont seem to be bullies anymore. Ha. Any other fish are just bait, or so I tell the kids as I eye up their community tank. lol


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## serpentkid100 (Mar 7, 2006)

oscars, i love em, soo cool: victory:: victory:


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## snickers (Aug 15, 2007)

> Got to be uaru cichlids, so placid can keep them with
> anything and get bigg too..

I forgot about Uaru. I never kept them but they are beautiful.


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## JPReptiles (Dec 2, 2007)

*Discus*

I used to keep fish in a big way, my main love was discus which i did breed for several years before i moved on to marines:censor: expensive to say the least! But these are truley amaizing fish to work with. 

Regards,
John (Reptile world)


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## mike515 (Sep 12, 2006)

cant stand discus anymore. Only go for the proper stuff now. Got a pair of black nasties (haitiensis) on the way. And picked up some herichthys bocourti  well chuffed with this weekends work lol


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## gex23 (Aug 14, 2007)

Im a big discus fan (keep and breed them) as well as many from the pelvicachromis genus, however my favourite family of cichlids has to be the apistogramma, especially apistogramma nijsenni / a. panduro complex:2thumb:


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## Mark75 (Jan 21, 2007)

I love Iodotropheus sperengae (Rusty Cichlids) I had a 4ft tank with them in.

I think I'd like to have an Oscar next.


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## XBexs123 (Jun 13, 2010)

my favourite is my big venutus! its huge and its head has just started turning blue!!


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## brittone05 (Sep 29, 2006)

http://www.malawi-dream.info/Images...us fuelleborni Makanjila Tankganyika male.jpg

One of my faves - just added one of these to my tank 

Also oving demasoni at the moment but am new to this cichlid keeping so no doubt will find more I love


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## samurai (Sep 9, 2009)

ALL Cichlids are great :2thumb:


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## XBexs123 (Jun 13, 2010)

Yes, yes they are!


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## Graylord (Jul 17, 2007)

i`ve got a soft spot for all the cichla types ,also like fusco`s ,macrostoma ,lep elongatus and L lemairae and had a couple of young nice boulengerochromis a few years ago.


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## Mynki (Mar 24, 2010)

Cichla temensis. They're just awesome killing machines. One of my males bangs the tank if I fly a toy radio controlled helicopter passed the tank as he tries to attach it. A fly got in the house last summer and he even launched himself at that!

He won't bite me. But when I put my hand in the tank he swims up and down my arm telling me who's boss in his tank!


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

mbuna... hands down.


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## brittone05 (Sep 29, 2006)

Any pics of your old setups Habu from when you used to keep?


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

brittone05 said:


> Any pics of your old setups Habu from when you used to keep?


 
no but they were pretty basic... gravel... lace rock and limestone... way too many mbuna but i did water changes every other day... a semi-open system... they loved it...

mostly 29gallon tanks... funny how all those fish could disappear when they got spooked by something... then come out and beg for food every time you walked by the tank... i kept about 30-40 in a 29 gallon tank depending on their size...

crowd those malawis in... they like it crazy and crowded... they bred like maniacs too... i was always having females with mouths full of eggs and little ones suddenly appearing... hybrids and pures of every sort...

caves and food and clean, hard as rock water was the key... powerheads for lots of current...

oh yeah... i'll get back into mbunas one day... they are great... watching them work out their politics...

:no1:


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## adamntitch (Jun 17, 2007)

oscars i love me oscars they come up to be tickled and hand feed there such friendly and interesting fish


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## darkmoon (Dec 18, 2008)

mbuna :no1:

i used to keep a 5ft tank with 80+ wc fish, x2 fx5 filters.they used to breed like rabbits, heres a few old pics.


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## brittone05 (Sep 29, 2006)

Awww Habu - your set ups sound like they were manic  I have a right mish mash of fish in mine, so many people say it won't work but it is so far. Mbuna, haps, peacocks - male and female but only have about 15 fish in a 180l tank so not too crowded they can't move but crowded enough to prevent major aggression 

Love your pics Darkmoon - am still learning what fish is what but love that 2nd pic


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## HABU (Mar 21, 2007)

brittone05 said:


> Awww Habu - your set ups sound like they were manic  I have a right mish mash of fish in mine, so many people say it won't work but it is so far. Mbuna, haps, peacocks - male and female but only have about 15 fish in a 180l tank so not too crowded they can't move but crowded enough to prevent major aggression
> 
> Love your pics Darkmoon - am still learning what fish is what but love that 2nd pic


 
that's the thing with Mbunas... crowding them some lowers problems... it's like a bar fight... they are too busy watching their backs to focus on someone to beat up... keeping just a very few allows them to focus on a particular fish they have an issue with... in a crowd such things won't happen... i kept venustus in the tanks too... till they got big.


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## darkmoon (Dec 18, 2008)

Habu is spot on, you need to really "pack them in" so to speak.having a lightly stocked tank, gives individual fish room to establish a territory, and thats where the agression normally starts.
when they havent got the space to take over certain spots it more a less stops the fighting.you need to get a good balance with filtration and water changes going to keep them all happy.
it kinda goes against the rules with mbuna, more is better.

the amazing thing with mbuna, you can have a tank full of them, and soon as the lights go out they retreat into the rocks and your tank looks completely empty.they are an amazing little fish to keep, there is allways something intresting going on in the tank!


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## darkmoon (Dec 18, 2008)

forgot to mention.....

i had my tank loaded with river cobbles (stones), just make sure you place them on the base of the tank, or on egg crate.dont just lay them on your substrate.when these little guys start making nests they can move serious amounts of sand in a very short space of time.

once a week i used to give them a chunk of cucumber, they almost had a pirhana like feeding frenzy, attacking the floating cucumber.


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## Ian.g (Nov 23, 2006)

HABU said:


> that's the thing with Mbunas... crowding them some lowers problems... it's like a bar fight... they are too busy watching their backs to focus on someone to beat up... keeping just a very few allows them to focus on a particular fish they have an issue with... in a crowd such things won't happen... i kept venustus in the tanks too... till they got big.
> 
> image


yeah when i used to breed malawis and tanganyikans overcrowding was essential! especialy when your talking about tropheus (tanganyikan) years ago i spent £300 on two groups of WC tropheus that were not currently available in the trade very often, sadly all they had was 5 of each sub species...it just wasn`t enough numbers and they dessimated each other and all died of secondary infections...in hinsight i should have lobbed a load of young p.zebras in with them just to overcrowd them...a hard lesson learned


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