A Pretty Boy

[PaulineMi]

Ran across some photos of the African cichlids I used to have.  This is a Copadichromis borleyi, probably the favorite in the group of assorted male species I kept.

[Mugwump]

WOW !!...nice fish, great pic too.....

[BallAquatics]

Yeah, who says you need saltwater fish to have great colors!!!!!

Dennis

[Ron Sower]

Beautiful specimen, Pauline! When i had my Africans, I had a 110 gallon tank with a limestone rock reef built up in it and they were beautiful fish!  I miss them!

[PaulineMi]

Sounds like a nice tank Ron.  I had mine in a 90 filled with Texas holey rock.  I just got tired of all the "mild" aggression and constant chasing around in that show tank. I had peaceful Haps and peacocks. An eye injury here, a stressed fish there, etc. One day I decided to put the tank and rock up for sale and off they went. They were beauties but I enjoy their photos more than them. 

Dennis....people ALWAYS asked if the cichlid tank was a saltwater aquarium.

[BallAquatics]

Dennis....people ALWAYS asked if the cichlid tank was a saltwater aquarium.

I'm not surprised as they are beautiful.  Like you, one day I just got tired of tanks full of rocks and fish aggression.  It was my main aquatic passion for 30 years though!  I find my current fish much more entertaining and as a challenge when it comes to spawning and raising fry.

Dennis

[ilroost]

Now your talking, my kinda fish. Very nice!!
I must be the only one on the forum that is keeping africans now days

[Ron Sower]

I had mine in a 90 filled with Texas holey rock. 

Dennis....people ALWAYS asked if the cichlid tank was a saltwater aquarium.

Holey rock from San Antonio, Tx is what I had in my tank too! Brought most of it back on the plane with me from visiting cousins there. At least one of the boxes of rock got opened and checked through the baggage security. Can you imagine what they were thinking?

I also got the same response about them being saltwater fish!

[wsantia1]

Beautiful fish Pauline. I gave up my Africans late last summer.  They just became too much trouble for me and when a couple of them began to hybridize I said enough and sold them all. 

I still have a ton of rock.  It cost me a bundle so I brought it with me. LOL 

[PaulineMi]

I had mine in a 90 filled with Texas holey rock. 

Dennis....people ALWAYS asked if the cichlid tank was a saltwater aquarium.

Holey rock from San Antonio, Tx is what I had in my tank too! Brought most of it back on the plane with me from visiting cousins there. At least one of the boxes of rock got opened and checked through the baggage security. Can you imagine what they were thinking?

I also got the same response about them being saltwater fish!

Willie and Ron...the holey rock is HEAVY.  I can't imagine carrying it on travels.  However it is expensive so if there's the slightest inclination to use I again it makes sense to travel with it. I was obsessed with keeping it white. Twice a year I'd yank it out, scrub and bleach it, Prime soak it then dry it in the sun.

Willie...a woman at my LFS was an African cichlid fanatic. She really helped me learn about them and always picked males for my show tank to prevent breeding. They are notorious for hybridizing. However leluipi, shellies (N. brevis) and julies were ultra prolific and the store bought them back. 

Did either of you keep synodontis with your cichlids? 

[wsantia1]

As a matter of fact I had some synodontis petricolas that I kept with my Africans and Angels. I sold them just before I moved.  They were really nice looking cats, however I only saw them at feeding time. LOL   

[Ron Sower]

Did either of you keep synodontis with your cichlids?

I did have a couple with them; but like Willie said, the stayed in hiding most of the time until the food came out.
I never thought about bleaching the rock. I was always trying to get algae growing on them for the fish to graze. But thy grazed faster than the algae would grow. Some of the fish I had are in a 75 gallon tank that I and a club member set up in a special needs classroom in a nearby middle school.  I get by there occasionally to see how they are doing. They are breeding, so things must be doing okay.

[b125killer]

He's a pretty cichlid.  I'm keeping neolamprologus multifasciatus they haven't spawned yet but I'm always knocking on the glass to watch them jump back into there shells.
I also like my holey rock as white as it can be. I just bleached mine a few weeks ago. But I don't have that much rock 10 pounds or so.