Water Conditions - Malta Aquarist Society

Determining the sex of fish seems to be
a very popular question. This is not
always as easy or reliable as one might
hope, notwithstanding, there are several
techniques for determining a fish's
gender.
If your fish are dimorphic (i.e., males and females
have distinct coloring patterns), the task will be
rather easy. All you need to do is find pictures of
both the male and female for your species, and
then simply compare.
Sometimes fish that are dimorphic have very subtle
differences and distinguishing them can be
difficult, and may not always be apparent. In this
case, solving the mystery of gender for these fish
should be addressed as if they were monomorphic
(i.e., males and females look similar).
Determining the gender of monomorphic species
requires a process commonly called "venting“.
This involves removing the fish (with wet hands) and
examining their dorsal side, looking for the genital
pore between their anus and anal fin.
As the following two pictures will demonstrate, the
more anterior pore is the anus, while the second pore
is the genital papilla, or vent. The genital papilla (also
called an ovipositor for females) is the pore through
which the fish will excrete either eggs or milt.
Male Frontosa
Female Frontosa
Generally speaking, females will
have a larger genital papilla
than their male counterparts.
This larger size is needed to
accommodate the passage of
eggs. This difference is more
difficult to distinguish for
substrate egg layers (e.g.,
Neolamprologus spp.) because
their eggs are smaller than those
of female Mouthbrooders.
There are other methods aquarists use to sex their cichlids, albeit
less reliable. Some of these include
noting behavioural differences,
size differences, body and
fin shape differences,
as well as the presence of egg spots.
Most male Mouth brooders have at least one egg spot on their
anal fin, if not many more than this. Unfortunately, there are
only a handful of species where males exclusively have egg spots.
Many females also commonly display at least one egg spot. This
fact makes relying upon the presence or absence of egg spots
unreliable at best, but it can still be helpful, as males tend to
have more egg spots than females of the same species. Note this
is a broad generalization.
Another "shotgun" method is relying upon body size, as
males are often larger than females. And then with some
species, particularly Lake Malawi species, fin shape is a
somewhat reliable method for determining gender. Below
I have posted pictures of wild pair of Auloncara
hansbaenschi. A difference can be seen by looking at the
most posterior portion of their dorsal fins. Males' dorsal
fins end with an exaggerated point, while females' dorsal
fins end with a rounded curve.
The only sure way to determine the gender of your
African cichlid is to examine their vent region.
Unfortunately, many fish shops do not properly label the
fish they sell.
Often they are sold with only a common name (e.g., Red
Top Zebra, Electric Blue) or even worse, in an unlabeled
tank they mysteriously referred to as "Misc African
cichlids".
Common names are very unreliable and can vary from one
supplier to the next. Scientific names (i.e., binomial latin
names), on the other hand, are the only names which do
not vary from one shop to the next or even between
languages.
Choosing the Right Size Tank
Often, the size of the tank is not the optional factor, but rather,
hobbyists are forced to ask, what will work in my already existing tank?
Well, there are too many fish out there to go species by species, but in
general, it is recommended a 55 gallon (200liter) tank as the minimal
size. Smaller tanks will work for some dwarf species, Tanganyikan ShellDwellers, and Victorian Hap’s,
Aquascape
Many species require an aquarium aquascaped with lots of rock. Once
you get the rock in your tank, you have lost much of the available
swimming space and available oxygen. Plus, a smaller tank will heighten
aggression, because there is less territory to claim.
In general, the larger tank the better. The more water you have, the
more stable their aquatic environment will be.
The temperature will not fluctuate as much, nitrates will not build up as
quickly, and there will be more swimming space available.
Also, if you put your hands in the tank, and by accident have some toxic
chemical on them, it will be less likely to harm the fish due to the
dilution factor.
But not all large tanks are created equal. Aquariums that are long and
skiny, allowing a large water-to-air interface are best because they
permit a greater amount of water oxygenation. If this value ever gets too
low, your fishes's health will quickly become compromised.
Aquascape
Water Conditions – PH Levels
pH is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of the
water, or in other words, the availability or
unavailability of Hydrogen ions. What does this mean
for your fish? Well, African Cichlids enjoy alkaline
water conditions (i.e., pH above 7.0). pH levels vary
depending upon the lake. The ranges for the three
East African lakes are as follows:
Lake Malawi..................7.4 - 8.6
Lake Tanganyika............7.8 - 9.0
Lake Victoria.................7.2 - 8.6
Water Conditions – PH Levels
These values are approximate ranges. In nature, the pH levels will
vary somewhat as the levels of the lakes will rise and fall through
the years, making them either less salty or more salty. In the
aquarium.
African cichlids can adapt to wide ranges of pH. What you need to
be mindful of is to not make any rapid adjustments to the pH
level. Such a careless or unknowing act will severely shock your
fish, suppressing their immune system, making them more
susceptible to disease.
It is recommended to keep African Cichlids at a stable pH of 8.2 8.4. Fish from all three appreciate pH levels within this range.
Cichlids from West African or the rivers and streams of East
African require water that is more neutral - pH 7.0.
Water Conditions – Hardness
The water from these lakes is very hard, containing many
dissolved minerals and salts, such as Carbonate and Magnesium.
If you live in an area with hard water, you may count yourself very
lucky. But for those who do not, there are many easy measures
you may take to make your water more alkaline and "hard."
Crushed coral sand, shells, limestone, and other rocks such as
slate are good at pushing the pH of the water up into the alkaline
range by adding Phosphates and Calcium to the water.
These alone will typically only drive the pH to 7.6, which is
suitable, but not ideal.
Remember that Africans can adapt to a wide range of alkaline
levels.
Water Conditions – Temperature
The optimal temperature is 24 - 27°C. Ideally the tank is kept at a
constant 25°C.
High temperatures will increase a fish’s metabolism, boost their
immune response, as well as stimulate aggression. So, by raising
the temperature to 27°C for a fry tank, one would speed up their
metabolism, causing them to eat more and grow faster, but also
require more water changes. Conversely, you could lower the
temperature in your tank as a means of stemming aggression.
This can be helpful if you have some really nasty fish on your
hands (e.g., Melanochromis auratus, Metriaclima lombardoi
"Kenyi"). This is due to the fact that the number one cause of
aggression among Cichlids is food-related. If they are not feeling
a need to eat as often (because their metabolism has slowed),
then they are less likely to be territorial and feisty
Water Conditions – Water Changes
No matter how good your filter is, you will eventually need to do
water changes, although filters certainly help in keeping the
water quality in good shape for a longer period of time.
Because African cichlid setups usually lack plants, and are
"crowded", the water quality can quickly deteriorate.
It is suggested that 10-20% water changes every week are best.
And then, if you go every other week, double that.
With most setups, it is also important to vacuum the gravel.
The reason for vacuuming is because waste can build up in the
gravel, and anaerobic pockets can form, leading to a suboptimal
condition because your aerobic bacteria can't get to it.
Vacuuming these spots will prevent this situation.
Water Conditions – Filtration
There are so many different types of filters, not to
mention all the variations on a filtration system one
could devise with these.
If you have a small tank (i.e., 10-35 gallon), then a
simple hang on the back filter will work just fine. You
want the gallons per hour (gph) flow to be 4 - 6 times
the volume of your tank. So if you have a 20-gallon
tank, you will want a filter that cycles 80 - 120 gph. If
you have a larger tank, you will need a more
sophisticated filtering system, mostly because many
"hang-on-the-back" filters aren’t adequate and can’t
meet the gph requirements.
Substrate
There are several options. Gravel, sand, crushed coral, even
crushed marble or granite. There are also all sorts of color one
could select for their substrate.
A very popular substrate is crushed coral gravel or coral
aragonite sand. The coral slowly dissolves and thereby increases
the hardness of the water. It helps to stabilize the pH and the
hardness of the water.
Hard water, if left alone and tested a week or so later, would
show a decrease in its hardness. This is because minerals, which
make the water hard, don’t stay suspended for very long. Unless
you use buffer, have rocks in your tank, or use crushed coral,
water changes are necessary not only to reduce nitrates, but also
to restore the pH and hardness of your water. Some say that
crushed coral irritates the gills of cichlids, but as yet there is no
conclusive data affirming this.
Feeding
Africans do extremely well if feed Spirulina flake, with an
occasional treat of live or frozen food. Never feed them more
than they can consume in 2 minutes totalled over an entire day,
not 5 minutes! Cichlids have sensitive bowels and so food should
be selected and fed with care so as to prevent "Bloat."
Controlling Aggression
As mentioned earlier the primary reason for Cichlid
aggression is driven by food. You can control
aggression by feeding your fish less, but more often.
They are territorial because they want to stake out
their own backyard garden from which to hunt and
harvest. Conspecifics (i.e., similar looking fish) are
seen as a threat (because if they are similar, they will
compete for the same foods), and are chased off.
Therefore, by having fish from a wide variety of
species you can cut down on intra-species aggression.
Also, by giving your fish lots of room to swim, and lots
of territories to claim and caves to hide in, you can
reduce inter-species aggression.
This resource does not display every cichlid species.
Instead, we display some of the most common African
cichlid genera by showing a few examples of what fishes
within each genus look like.
Altolamprologus
A. calvus (White)
A. calvus (Black)
A. compressiceps
Astatotilapia
A. burtoni
A. latifasciata
A. sp. "Thick Skin"
A. jacobreibergi (Eureka)
A. baenschi
Aulonocara
A. hansbaenschi
Astatotilapia
A. burtoni
A. latifasciata
A. sp. "Thick Skin"
A. hansbaenschi
A. jacobreibergi (Eureka)
A. baenschi
A. stuargranti (Ngara)
A. Stuartgranti (Rubescens)
A. steveni (Mbamba)
Aulonocara
Chalinochromis
C. brichardi
C. sp. "Ndobhoi"
Copadichromis
C. azureus
C. borleyi
C. trewavasae
Copadichromis
C. azureus
C. borleyi
C. trewavasae
C. afra (Jalo Reef)
C. afra (White Top)
Cynotilapia
C. afra (Cobue)
Cyphotilapia
C. sp. "North" (Burundi)
C. frontosa (Kigoma)
C. gibberosa (Mpimbwe)
C. leptosoma (Mpulungu)
C. "Leptosoma Jumbo"
(Kigoma)
C. gibberosa (Zaire)
Cyprichromis
C. leptosoma (Utinta)
Cyrtocara
C. moorii
Iodotropheus
I. sperengerae
Dimidiochromis
D. compressiceps
D. strigatus
Julidochromis
J. dickfeldi
J. marlieri (Burundi)
J. marlieri (Gombe)
Cyrtocara
C. moorii
Iodotropheus
I. sperengerae
Dimidiochromis
D. compressiceps
D. strigatus
Julidochromis
J. dickfeldi
J. marlieri (Burundi)
J. marlieri (Gombe)