African or American - Which is best?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
O

octofasciatus

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 15, 2007
354
0
0
The blue corner
Just inherited a 150 gallon (6x2x2) tank that I plan to keep cichlids in, I love the colours of the Aficans but enjoy the personalaties of the Americans. This will be a first for me as I am new to cichlids and have previously and currently kept catfish.
So... from your experiences which will give me the most pleasure, I would especially appreciate advice from those who have kept both.
Many thanks.

I will post this in the American forums also.
 
It really hard to say, both sides have huge personalities._ my Africans have alot and are very interactive, but so are my Americans....

But between the two I do like the Africans, the body shapes and fin structor with there colors and personality as well as the rarity at times.
 
Personally I like Africans...this is due to the colors as previously mentioned. The majority of my fish are a solid color (yellow labs, red zebra, etc.). They aren't shy either and will always be looking out of the aquarium waiting for you to feed them.

I've also had oscars, jack dempsey's, and other American cichlids. Also extremely active and aggressive maybe more so then my Africans are. I don't think you can go wrong either way all these fish are exciting and interesting to watch.

Good Luck with your decision and don't forget to post some pictures so we can see what you've got...
 
I like both, but Africans are prettier in my opinion. You just have to be careful of personalities, because they can be aggressive/territorial, I'm I'm guessing since it's sucha large tank that won't be a problem lol.
 
I enjoy both. As of right now I've only kept the Americans. I love the colors and personalities that these fish show. You would obviously have less room in your tank with the Americans. When americans are young it is really easy to get "empty tank syndrome." To answer your question though, I would say New world cichlids, but only because I have no experience with Africans.
 
I prefer americans, but their only downfall is that in many cases large tanks like a 150 have to be 1-3 fish tanks, where as with africans you could have 30 of some species.
 
I love the americans,but the advantage with africans is you can pack in 30-60 fish in that size tank. The activity level in a crowded african tank cant be matched. They are also more colorful than the americans.
 
Thanks for the advice - Can anybody point me to a reputable site to research African Cichlids through their common names - not keen on remembering scientific names.
I find there is plenty of info about for the characterisitcs of American Cichlids but not African.
 
I personally prefer Africans, but maybe I'm in the wrong section of this forum. Oh wait, this is the Rift Section.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom