Why Cichlids???

[recDNA]

When I was a kid I had many types of fish, marine and freshwater. I had a lot of Tetras and Gouramis for example. Now I only think of other types of fish as dithers. What is it about cichlids that make them better pets?

 

[sheenzorz]

Well, Oscars for one are very intelligent. They seem to know you're there. They don't just swim on by as if youre not there, like tetras would do. You can also teach them "tricks" such as the infamous ping pong ball trick. They will eventually, if trained/taught right, eat from your hand. I have never been able to actually do this, as I'm new to Oscars in general. This is just from stuff that I've read. Oscars seem to explore rather than just swim around oblvious to their surroundings. I have this little hollowed out skull I put in the aquarium for fun. None of my fish have ever gone inside it. I was looking around and could not find my new oscar then I saw him swimming out of the eye of the skull, kinda cool

 

[jmann]

I have four Oscars and they all have different personalities. I have only gotten one to eat from my fingers. But whats not to like about cichlids. They are smart, beautiful and in general a hard fish. I'm don't know about everyone but I find them easy to take care of. They do have some drawbacks as far as they get large and you can't house a lot of them togther and some tend to be agressive. But in my book the pluses by far outweigh the minuses.

 

[wherryj]

I had a Jack Dempsey years back that DEFINITELY reacted to me (I have a betta currently that does the same).

Cichlids have the benefit of being one of the smartest families of fish, though not the best community fish, and among the hardest on landscaping.

 

[angelphish]

Because they are all like little puppies