Jared Helm asked:


Keeping the freshwater fish cichlids have been one of my favorite things. They are such interesting little creatures and I love watching them. I have a 50 gallon fish tank and 7 cichlids in there. I have had them for almost a year now. They are African cichlids and they breed like crazy. I have had a number of batches of fry. It is very fun to watch.

I never thought that keeping fish could be so cool. They just swim around in a small tank and come up and eat food when you feed them. But there is something about them that just makes you want to stop and stare at them for long periods of time. I have watched less TV in the last year because of my cichlid fish.

I do not know what my individual cichlids are called, but I have 2 yellow cichlids, 2 blue cichlid, 1 orange cichlid and two with multiple colors. I keep the fish tank really clean so they have a nice place to live.

My favorite thing is to watch the cichlid babies in the tank. I know that you can get a separate tank or a net to keep the little fish alive, but I do not do that. I let nature take its course inside the tank. I have had a few cichlids survive all the way up to where they can swim in the normal tank. I have given those away to friends that also have fish tanks.

Cichlids come from all over the world. I have cichlids from Africa, but they also come from South America. There are tons of different kinds of cichlids, but African Cichlids are really popular and not that expensive. That is why I chose to go with them. You have to be careful because they can be aggressive, but I read that if you change up your tank and move things around then that can help keep them calm. I do that every time I do a water change in my tank. It seems to keep them pretty calm. They can still get aggressive and chase each other around the tank, but I have never lost a fish to aggression.

If you have never kept fish before then it is something that you need to try. A lot of my friends called me a nerd, but that is okay because it is worth it. Fish are so peaceful and help you relax. At least that is what they do for me. I plan on keeping cichlids for a long time, maybe I will eventually try something else, but for now I have found what I am really interested in. In the past I thought I always wanted to keep saltwater. I think everyone thinks saltwater is the coolest, but after keeping these cichlids I think these fish are just as cool. I heard salt water is a lot more difficult then fresh water, I do not know for sure, but maybe one day I will try it. Until then, it is all cichlids.



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