My First African Cichlids

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Nick Sw

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Apr 15, 2006
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Just bought my First African Cichlids today after a long wait for equipment and cycling, I`m over the moon with them despite my worrying they seem really happy and healthy. My fav so far is the Male Afra he was first out of the bag and has seemed to of claimed his own "cave" which he sticks to a lot.

Anyway a few pictures , sorry they are of poor quality (I think I`ve focused on the rocks behind) but I wanted to post some up for now.

Thanks again to this section of the forum

Male Afra Cobue
MaleAfraSmall.jpg


Male Hongi
MHongiSm.jpg


General Tank pic after feeding
GenTankPic1Small.jpg


BTW My new fish are as of my sig in 1m 2f Ratios.
 
Not good, still plugging away, can't get rid of those damn nitrItes, down to 0.50 now but they just won't shift. :(
 
PM me if you want cheffi if you have a problem I take it your still adding ammonia on a daily basis but the Nitrite won`t drop ?
 
Yes still adding ammonia, nitrItes have dropped but are staying stuck at 0.50 don't know why I'm sure they'll come down when they're ready. Have to say very strange things have happened like the high nitrAtes which suddenly disappeared as well.
 
Nitrates disapprearing ? thats very strange I think the Nitrates gradually build up as the Nitrite is processed by the bacteria into Nitrate , I`d maybe post in the beginners section and say exactly what you have done just to make sure you`ve got it right.
 
NICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! they look stunning!!!! that male afra is freaking gorgeous, congrats & welcome to the club!! ;)

cheffi, why on earth dont you fold up the fishless effort and put some damn danios in there????? get it over with already
 
SAVAGE LIKE BACON AND CABBAGE !!!!


Congratulation nick, the whole setup looks quality! All that hard work and patience has paid off! It seems like months ago when you where washing types of sand in buckets and asking our opinion about the colour.

All the fish look great and they sit very well with the substrate and rock work in your tank. The "crazy blue" female mpanga in the third picture looks really striking beside the labs. Just wait till your male mpanga starts showing full colouration. (Just to make sure I'm talking about the right fish, the male is the one in the middle of the third picture between the labs? Is it?) I hope your girlfriend thinks that they are as impressive as we do and she agrees that all the waiting and playing around with a tank full of "WATER" for weeks was worth it?



A Big Massive Huge :good:
 
SAVAGE LIKE BACON AND CABBAGE !!!!


Congratulation nick, the whole setup looks quality! All that hard work and patience has paid off! It seems like months ago when you where washing types of sand in buckets and asking our opinion about the colour.

All the fish look great and they sit very well with the substrate and rock work in your tank. The "crazy blue" female mpanga in the third picture looks really striking beside the labs. Just wait till your male mpanga starts showing full colouration. (Just to make sure I'm talking about the right fish, the male is the one in the middle of the third picture between the labs? Is it?) I hope your girlfriend thinks that they are as impressive as we do and she agrees that all the waiting and playing around with a tank full of "WATER" for weeks was worth it?



A Big Massive Huge :good:

Thanks Tanks, yes it seems like ages ago when I started back in April I think looking for a tank if it wasn`t for you and brewyn I`d have probably got a community tank, so thanks guys.

The "crazy blue" female Mpanga looks a bit strange/blue at the back because I`ve got a blue Acitnic bulb at the back and normal daylight at the front I`m not sure about the blue effect just yet I`ll see.

Yes the male is the one your talking about with the yellow tail he`s not quite as big as the male afra and hongi just yet but I like him .

Those Acei Ngara that you liked were awesome unforunately they were sold out there were also a lot of Haps that looked really good as well (HAP. OBLIQUIDENS SP44) I think it was one that caught my eye and looked cool.

My Girlfriend spotted a small fry (12mm) V.Dark colouring possible a Hongi so that`s made her more interested she likes them though thankfully !.

I update my Tank Diary when I get some decent pics.
 
Thanks Dave I`ve seen your setup as well it`s cool how did you go on with the Anubias (Plants) I`m thinking of getting a couple to attach to the rocks ? Where do you get your fish from theres a place called Pennington near you I think and also Oasis in Salford that someone recommended ?
 
Hi Nick.
The Anubias is doing fine though very slow growing,whether that is by nature or the conditions of the tank i dont know.

I visited Pennington Aquatics a few weeks ago,a nice chap called Graham helped me quite a bit.It isnt a shop per-se but a local fishbreeder who has converted his garage to his tanks.A very knowledgable man with some great looking stock.

I also went to Oasis about 3/4 months ago and found it very good indeed,though i didnt buy anything at that time.

Last week i went to the auction put on by the North West Cichlid Society and bought a few fish,though sadly one of them died by the time i got home but thats the risk i suppose of auctions,at least it was cheap.I bought 3 Ps.Elongatus Mpanga,thats 2 now sadly. :(

I really should get to updating on my tanks with pics so bear with me and i`ll get some done. :)

Best of luck with yours Nick. :)
 
Yes do update your pics Dave definately.

Pics of My Male Mpanga - I never realised how hard it is to photograph fish, He`s definately the most active.

MpangaSm.jpg


MpangaFront.jpg
 

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