To specialize or not?

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

ktluvsfish

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Mar 21, 2008
422
0
0
Southern CA
I thought this might be a fun topic of discussion (if it hasn't already been done). I am wondering how many people on here enjoy specializing in cichlids/fish from a certain region of origin/genus/etc, and how many people keep a variety.

I used to try to keep everything under the sun from south american cichlids, mbuna, lake tanganyika cichlids, live bearers, goldfish, you name it. Recently I've started focusing on just cichlids from Central and South America, and I am finding that I am learning a lot more and getting much more satisfaction from my tanks. My 50 gallon pond is the only thing I have without CA/SA cichlids, but if there was a way for me to keep some in there I sure would, lol.

I am finding that I am especially enjoying keeping cryptos/archos (I'm now at 5 different species) and apistogramma (2 species before I lost one harem this morning).

I'm just wondering what you enjoy keeping and why it gives you satisfaction. I know its a broad topic, but I figured it would be inspiring :)
 
Well I'm obviously very much into South American species. While I do enjoy the Apistogramma genus, I would have no issues trading them out for any other species of Cichlid that would properly fit the setup. I can't say the same for my S. leucosticta - while they are not my dream fish, I've had them for a couple of years now and I can't sell them.

My real passion in the hobby now is keeping safe, suitable, realistic setups in an attempt to provide ideal conditions, thus (hopefully) promoting natural behaviour as much as possible. My specialisation and passion for the hobby only really rests with South American setups because of the diversity that is available there in the wild, combined with what is available in the ornamental fish industry. I enjoy the natural beauty of fish many would classify as ugly, as they've naturally developed that way for a reason.

I enjoy looking at my dwarf setups and not seeing a single fish, because they're busy living their lives in the shadows of driftwood and leaves. I enjoy that just as much as I enjoy watching big healthy Eartheaters sifting through sand, or the Apistogramma and Corydoras picking and sifting through mulm and littler for organisms. Probably sounds a little weird, but I like having a little chunk of a river drainage where fish can live a life as natural as possible, 15000km from where they should be.

If I have to pick a genus/group/complex, over the years it would be Eartheaters, but swaying heavily towards South American dwarves due to availability.
 
central americans are my favorite and to narrow down even further to a specific genus would easily be Amphilophus. The red devil complex is my favorite group of cichlids. I would some day like to have a tank devoted to each species.

My second favorite group would be the Paratheraps/Vieja group. Awesome fish with lots of color, good size and great finnage.

There are others I like too, don't get me wrong. Archocentrus/Cryptoheros are great fish for smaller tanks as are Thorichthys. Herichthys are nice too and I would some day like to have some escondido carpintis, media luna yellow labridens and steindachneri (does anyone in the hobby have these?).
 
I have both CA & SA.

I love Discus and Angel Fish swimming in a planted tank with a nice tangle of drift wood slightly and stained water, much like Japes I like to make it as natural looking as a box of water can be.

I love Amphilopus anything, I find them loaded with personality and tude. My Trimacs, RD and Midas are great fish that can tell the differance between me the guy with the food and everyone else, they act like water dogs. If I could only get them to figure out their terratory ends at the glass instead of the couch.

I also find GTs (gold saums) one of the most beautyful fish in the world and a big male is stunning sight IMO.
 
I really am an all around hobbist but i have to say right now my motivation is not enough space to house what i really want. Which is everything. I love cichlids in general. They all tickle my fancy in some way, although some less then others.

So right now im really into african peacocks. I like the fact that i can have a community and watch the dramma in every way. With the centrals i really want, they just get too big to see this behavior. My trimac sits alone in his 75 a day just waiting for food. He's to mean for a female. Imean he could have one for a while with a divider but thats no fun as he wouldn't have anyone to chaase off execpt his female and that would just be a temp thing because hes already 5" long. So you can see my dilema. I love centals but out of nessessity i'm stuck with a limited choice.

But above all i want happy healthy fish. So I do what needs to be done.
 
I like keeping fish from the same areas together-CA and SA tanks.

SAs:

72g w/ an oscar and 4 silver dollars
15g w/ 6 blood fin tetras and 3 otos

CAs:

55g w/ swordtails, a. roberstoni. con, HRP and t. ellioti
25g firemouth and swordtails.
 
I absolutely love CA & SA fish. That is pretty much all I keep. Other than the 10 gallon (cause you can't keep any really cool fish in a 10) and my wife's 90 gallon GSP tank.

I have a JD, a Green severum, a GT, a FM, and a pair of breeding black convicts.

My future tanks will include a severum breeding pair and a discus tank. Eventually I would like to have a larger tank with maybe a Jag , or a Dovii, or maybe a Trimac.
 
My preferences were dictated by the smaller tanks I've always owned (50 gallon breeders and smaller, except for a 75 gallon for a brief while). Thus I found myself specializing in a few dwarf cichlids ... mainly dwarf pikes, Laetacara species, and Pelvicachromis species.

Like japes, I prefer to be biotope themed, though I do not tend to be quite as strict as he is when it comes to it (I often add anubias for a splash of green even in a SA tank for instance).
 
yeah i pretty much stick with CA/SA cichlids with having more CA than SA, though once i have more room and tanks i want to branch more into SA as well and have a nice geo biotope tank and a discus tank. i kept africans before when i was a newbie because i liked having all the different colors, but once i researched more into new world cichlids and saw the variety available outside of the local petsmart i decided i liked having a couple large cichlids claiming the tank rather than a ton of smaller ones all over the place
 
other non-cichlid fish that I also love as much as the CA's are puffers and datnoids. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom