Quote:
Originally Posted by thinkpadx
Isn't cichlids one of the harder fishes to keep alive. My uncle has an extreme interest for aquarium fishes. He used to breed and sell cichlids to the pet-shops. His whole kitchen was full of aquarium tanks.
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Fish are generally easy to keep if their conditions match their natural habitat. Some are more "discerning" than others, but the
cichlid family is really large and diverse. Some would be difficult and others easy. For the cichlids from the great African lakes of Tanganyika and Malawi, they require hard, mineral rich water - which match water condition in Denmark admirably. So they are easy here. But the South American cichlids thrive better in soft water and are considered more difficult. Usually you can keep them alive - it's getting them to breed that can be hard. But AFAIK you have soft and quite clean water in Norway, so that should fit them. One thing that makes cichlids stand out as aquarium fish is their family life and behaviour. There's lots of life's small dramas - breeding, fighting, nursing the kids, etc. - to observe all the time. Schooling fish is a lot more boring.
Edit: added photos. My cichild aquarium as it looks currently. All the landscaping of the sand was done by the alpha male. I just provided him with the flat canvas of 3-4 cm of sand evenly spread over the bottom
