I am in the process of building and opening my own bar in Houston, Texas, and I am having to give up my cichla and other large fish. When I started keeping cichla, I had no idea what I was doing (and still don't know too much). But, I have had such a good time keeping them, and I have learned so much from everyone on this forum, though I must admit I am mostly a lurker. I successfully bred my cichla at around 8 inches, and raised them all from 1 inch.
I most say however that I never knew how difficult it was going to be to raise these fish. You hear everyone say, "Oh, they get big, and you need a big tank." But, you never think about how much food and waste these fish produce and how many water changes they require - mostly because you can't really imagine it unless you have kept other large fish first. I am having to let them go because I can't keep up with the once every three day schedule, even though I have a Fluval FX5, two Eheim 2216's running, and two AC110's. The whole tank (3 bass, 1 niger cat, and 1 endli) eat 16 shrimp a day among other things, and it is just too much unless you have the time. I would definitely not recommend bass to the first time fish keeper or anyone that has not kept fish for a while. You really need to be a diehard to keep them, and if you can't give them a lot of attention, financial investment, and appropriate housing, you need to consider other types of fish.
I started with a way too small 40 gallon tank and now have a 210 gallon with all the above mentioned filtration, and you still have to do so much maintenance. I am not complaining. I love my fish, and I hate to get rid of them. But I hope that people casually considering peacock bass will read this first. I think people usually start off with no real understanding of the road they are about to go down, and some get sucked in, like I did, but other simply neglect the fish and things turn out poorly.
They are popular and getting more so every minute, but make sure you are ready, they are like having aquatic children, and might even rival them in size if you do things right...
Here are some picks of my bass; should you be able to get to Houston, Texas and pick them up (no shipping), I would love for someone from this forum to take them. I have also created a FS thread (very cheap) here if you want to peak, but this post is really about my experience.
I also want to thank everyone who has answered my questions, and been an inspiration. This is one of the best forums on the net (not just fish), and I will be back, more prepared than ever when I have the time...
Current Pics:
Older Pics:
Keep educating everyone on cichla guys; you've really got something special going here.
I most say however that I never knew how difficult it was going to be to raise these fish. You hear everyone say, "Oh, they get big, and you need a big tank." But, you never think about how much food and waste these fish produce and how many water changes they require - mostly because you can't really imagine it unless you have kept other large fish first. I am having to let them go because I can't keep up with the once every three day schedule, even though I have a Fluval FX5, two Eheim 2216's running, and two AC110's. The whole tank (3 bass, 1 niger cat, and 1 endli) eat 16 shrimp a day among other things, and it is just too much unless you have the time. I would definitely not recommend bass to the first time fish keeper or anyone that has not kept fish for a while. You really need to be a diehard to keep them, and if you can't give them a lot of attention, financial investment, and appropriate housing, you need to consider other types of fish.
I started with a way too small 40 gallon tank and now have a 210 gallon with all the above mentioned filtration, and you still have to do so much maintenance. I am not complaining. I love my fish, and I hate to get rid of them. But I hope that people casually considering peacock bass will read this first. I think people usually start off with no real understanding of the road they are about to go down, and some get sucked in, like I did, but other simply neglect the fish and things turn out poorly.
They are popular and getting more so every minute, but make sure you are ready, they are like having aquatic children, and might even rival them in size if you do things right...
Here are some picks of my bass; should you be able to get to Houston, Texas and pick them up (no shipping), I would love for someone from this forum to take them. I have also created a FS thread (very cheap) here if you want to peak, but this post is really about my experience.
I also want to thank everyone who has answered my questions, and been an inspiration. This is one of the best forums on the net (not just fish), and I will be back, more prepared than ever when I have the time...
Current Pics:
Older Pics:
Keep educating everyone on cichla guys; you've really got something special going here.
