Saying Goodbye to Cichla; Warning to Cichla Newbies

[titanfish]

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.

absolutely agree with you, cichla require a lot dedication and commitment.

hats off to you for raising and breeding some amazing p.bass, good luck to you bro

 

[silverdragon]

Sorry to see you go man, good luck with your future endeavours..

 

[JONP]

Good Luck and let us know once you're up and running I'm local to Houston...thanks for the post...

 

[vpeng1]

do you still have the cichla i live in houston tx and have a 180 gallon tank with trickle filter i was hoping if i could take 2 or 3 babies off your hands

 

[jschall]

Do a constant automatic water changer and convert to bare-bottom (or tile bottom for aesthetics) with a big canister picking up waste directly off the bottom, and configure water flow to move waste towards the intake. Then you just have to maintain the canister and feed the fish.

Well, I don't have any knowledge of cichla or your water supply, so I don't know if that would be a reasonable environment for them, but it should work.

 

[famous323]

maybe put them on display at your bar.

^ do this you can do water changes at break time

 

[Eric A]

maybe put them on display at your bar.

I agree! Have a huge in wall tank behind the bar with access to the tank froma room behind

 

[gangster]

Having a big display tank would also draw in regulars to come out and check out fish. YOu could do happy hour feeding time. Have cheap drinks when its feeding time.....That would draw a crowd if people could see how these bad boys eat.

Good luck w/ the bar.

 

[Agressive fish ONLY]

you still have these PM me if you do