African or American Cichlid

[Bitis_Gabonica]

Hi just looking for opinions,

We have a 4ft bow front juwel fish tank which is being used as a big community tank at the mo.

But now want to change over to one of the above just wondering which is the more enjoyable to set up, Am i right in thinking an African set up is all rocks and the American set up is all wood?

The African fish do tend to look more colourful? but i read more aggressive?

Any opionions welcome
Thanks in advance
Martin.

[Chrisal1973]

When you say African and rock work, I take it you mean the Malawi or Lake Tanganyika (spelling?) cichlids? Cichlids from here, which have adapted to the ecological niches of the respective lakes, come in many interesting and colourful varieites and these are also quite territorial (well, the males are). However, you can have a group of various ones.

When you say American, do you mean South American (such as Oscars)or Central American (such as Wolf cichlids or Texas Cichlids and generally more belligerent though I had a tank failure once and had to reluctantly put my Texas in with an Oscar for half an hour whilst I drove to the fish shop for repairs only to get back and find the Oscar had kicked 10 bells of out of the Texas!)?

I've kept all of the above in the past and both have their attractions - the African ones allow you to still have a bigger number of attractive fish in a community (as long as you stock correctly and pay heed to the number of males, etc.); the American ones really need housing on their own or as a breeding pair (and then you have to raise a group from young and if a pair forms, remove the others). I'd also add that a 4ft long tank is the minimum for one, tbh.

Also, if you go for the bigger American ones then you really need suitable external filtration - I had a Wolf Cichlid that decided one day he didn't like the intake pipe of an Eheim external and attacked it = water shooting out all over the living room (I laughed , my GF didn;t! ).

Hope this helps.

[Berber King]

You would be best going for an african (malawi/tang) as alreay mentioned.4ft wont give you much space for american cichlids unless dwarfs.

[Bitis_Gabonica]

ok guys thx for your help on that, given the tank is not that big then what species? of african would be best suited for the tank Malawi or tanganyika?

Thanks
Martin.

[soupdragon10]

Martin, have you checked what your local water is like, i.e. pH and hardness? This might also affect your choice of fish, unless you are prepared to adjust these parameters when doing water changes etc.

I have always kept S. American cichlids as my water is soft and acidic which is what they prefer. Just a thought.

[mike515]

Originally Posted by Berber King

You would be best going for an african (malawi/tang) as alreay mentioned.4ft wont give you much space for american cichlids unless dwarfs.

There's loads of Americans that could be kept in there.



The American route would mean far less fish, but they make up for it with buckets of character. Oscars are well known for being 'pet' fish, but loads of other americans have loads more.

Water chemistry isn't a major issue with africans or americans. Obviously most africans (ie Rift lake cichlids) like it hard and slightly alkaline, but lots of central american do as well. You're south american fish are mostly found in softer, slightly acidic water but as long as you're not looking at wild discus/angels etc then won't be a problem. I keep a few different pike species all found in rivers off the Amazon so fairly soft acidic water, but have bred them in tap water (round here it's very hard and around about 7.8 pH)

The choice is yours at the end. But Malawis would mean lots of colour and quite a few fish. Tanganyikans would mean a good mixture of colour and not too many fish, same as lake victorians. Central or South americans would mean much less fish, depending on species but could mean a group of 4 or 5 (for smaller sp) but could mean 1 adult (well worth it though if you have the right species)

I'd go American, preferably central as they are more fun but southern species would be good too. You could get a pair of medium sized cichlids in there, something like parachromis friedrichstahlli are nice in breeding colour, but there's loads of options, nandopsis salvini, severums, nicaraguenese. You could get something bigger but then only have one, and maybe a couple of catfish. An oscar would work, as would texas cichlids, midas, a jaguar. Have a look on the net.

Thing with americans is that they don't need a whole lot of space when kept on their own. Generally the length of the tank should be 2-3 times the fish length and the width 1.5 times the fish's length. Height isn't a huge concern but about 1.5 times the fish length is good.

[TUBBS]

go tanganyikan, malawi's are too common personally and bit tanks seem a bit wasted to me on one or 3 larger fish

[Bitis_Gabonica]

Ok guys thanks for your info on this matter we will do a water test to see what we are getting, lots of new things to consider now aswell.

thanks.