Arguably the easiest tropical fish to keep is the African cichlid...
They are very colourful and range in all shapes and sizes. The first thing you need to understand about these fish is that in general they must be kept in a highly populated tank. The bigger the tank and the more fish you have the better the tank will go. In the wild these fish live in a very busy and chaotic world where only the strongest are able to secure territory. Having lots of fish forces the dominate fish to patrol the tank trying to break up fights and maintain his authority and territory with out having time to focus too much attention on any individuals, which may risk him injuring them. The boss is so busy defending his position from all the fish that he has little time to single out and possible kill an individual fish. On the other hand if you don’t have enough fish in the tank then the dominant fish may secure a territory then will attack his neighbors until he has their territory too.
You must also make sure you don’t feed these fish too much high protein foods like bloodworms, or they will become even more aggressive and grow well in excess of their natural size. Most of these fish should be fed a variety of foods concentrating on spirilina based foods.
You must have good filtration and aeration for these fish because you will stock them very heavily.
How well your tank runs is almost totally governed by which fish runs your tank. If you have a good boss then the tank will run well but if you have a bad boss the tank will surely end in disaster, sort of like with the president of a country. A good boss should go around pushing each fish without picking too much on any individuals. A bad boss will pick out individual and attack them until he kills them.
Buying these fish small is the easiest and cheapest way. When these fish are young they are far less aggressive and a lot more accepting of other fish, like humans are with each other. As they grow larger they become more aggressive and less accepting of other tank mates; they can also be a lot more expensive as they get older.
You should also be careful about getting fish in pairs because it is often another one of the same species that is most threatening, so often one pick on the other one. Substrate spawners that have paired up can be OK but most mouth brooder are best kept alone or in a group.
It is important to know the pH requirements of the fish you wish to keep. Most African Cichlids like high pH. This perfect in Sydney because our pH is also high. It can be an idea to buff up Sydney tap water anyhow because it has a low kH level so the pH is able to fall easily. Dead coral skeletons help you maintain high pH.
It is a good idea to add salt to a Cichlid tank because it helps their immune system, add 1 teaspoon per 5lts of tank water. It is best to use the correct aquarium salts of the fish you keep.
Make sure you keep sucking catfish with your Cichlids from young because they along are able to keep your glass and rocks always clean from algae. If you have to clean your glass then a floating algae magnet is the easiest.
These days few people have the time to read about these fish but information is very important to the hobby. You will find the more you learn the more you will enjoy it and the more successful you will be.
These fish really are a living piece of furniture, because they are so easy to look after.
Happy fish keeping!
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