Trying to reply to everyone's comments. Bare with me. Thanks for watching. And thank you for supporting my videos. It means a lot and keeps me motivated to make more!
I have small outdoor pond with a long stream in central Florida. I keep my in-line heater set at 74 to take chill away during cool days. Ground temperature usually stays around 70-75 so heater doesn’t run too often. Heated pond and stream also helps keep my tropical plants happy.
Nice one marc, I tried this myself a while ago and noticed more docile behaviour at 24° and I still get breeding at this temperature, much calmer than at 26° like
Right on. Lowered temp a few years ago...no more than 74 degrees Fahrenheit. Much more docile tank with much reduced breeding behavior. This is great advice!! Worked great for me. Other thing that made my system much better is the litermeter water change system. Expensive but absolutely 100% worth every penny.
Thanks. I am a longtime aquariast. I had over 40 tanks on the north shore hawaii. I buy all my basic equipment used and have a trick to stock my tanks. In Hawaii Kai there are docks everywhere. The coral builds up on them and weights them down. Everyone has to break it off every once in a while or the weight of it will cause problems. I would never ever harvest coral in the wild as its against my beliefs. But the only exception I made was for the coral growing on the floating docks that will get broken off by dockowner eventually. I cut out a perfect rectangle for the back of tank and use it for a backdrop. After a few weeks all the baby creatures living in the coral start to mature and coming out of hiding. You won't believe the crazy species that would just appear in my tanks. Amazing invertebrates shrimp and crabs. I just told everyone my best secret for free and exciting tank inhabitants ! Haha. Anyways I live in Tahoe and setup tank in summer. I never put in either of heaters and rely on my house temp to regulate water temp. I think my temp gage broken because it still says 72-75 ish degrees. But I did notice the violence has toned down alot as winter came. I noticed my cichs have ultraviolet type markings on their tails ? Can they see ultraviolet ? Like many is crab ? Why would they have these hyper colors if not. Their either 2 or 3 dots ? Is this the sex of fish ? Is that how u tell male n female ? Thanks dude. I pass on. Some of my knowledge in saltwater for some questions I have about fresh I haven't had a fresh water tank ( other than feeder tanks of guppies ) Since the 80s
This is fantastic. I have been looking into setting up a cichlid aquarium for a while now and finding it difficult to find out information as I have never kept them before. These videos are great, thanks for taking the time to make and upload them.
Hi there, thanks a lot for advising I was so confused about their behavior and never imagined that it was because of the temperature. I really hope you are still uploading videos!
Great video. I have just started African Cichlids and you are my oracle. Discus are my thing really but I'm finding African Cichlids a lot of fun to watch.
Thank you pal. I'm doing a series at the moment called Welcome to the family check it out and let me know it you fancy taking part. I understand you have a busy schedule so don't worry if you can't.
Brilliant mate I am in Oz and the weather can change to pretty hot around here but I do keep my tank at around 23C degree which seems to have the fish pretty happy in our warmer months I have to add cold water to maintain the temperature Great video
Very interesting bit of information there Marc, not ever heard that mentioned before at keeping them at a less aggressive level. Good bit of info !!! :)
Why are all of my cichlids dying? We moved the 75 gal tank from the garage and brought it inside. The temp stays around 80 (is that too high?), we do weekly water changes and everything.. they were doing great in the garage but it’s starting to get really cold and the heater wasn’t able to keep up and the tank was getting cold. We’ve lost 6 fish total since we brought it inside... the only Cichlid left is my OB Peacock that we moved back to the garage and put him into the isolation tank and he’s doing great again. We moved him there because he got ich, we treated the Cichlid tank and lost 3 more fish since.. none of the fish who died showed signs of a disease, they were just dead... the only thing left in the big tank inside is a 6” pleco and a 2” rainbow shark, they’re doing great.
Nice video. I keep my tank running at 78 and haven't had any aggression issues as of yet hoping I wont. Just got my first UV stabilizer , I own smaller cichlids but plan to get a nice 100 gallon and 75 gallon within the next 6 months
I noticed my water was super warm the other day, almost like bath water so i immediately turned both heaters way down and all my fish huddled together in a cave and were acting sick so i raised it back up and now they're swimming around happy as can be... i definitely needed to adjust it slower.
Why would you adjust temp for seasonal changes? 24c is 24c regardless what the season is, even if your ambient temp is higher than 24c, adjusting temp would not reduce the temp of your tank.
my cichlids are a lot calmer now that i lowered the temperature a bit . the higher temperatures were driving my chichlids crazy . People don't realize that cichlids dwell at the lower depths and lounge in shady areas , they aren't constantly exposed to the heat . lower temperature is much lower than surface temperature of water
i have one afra (white top) + one caeruleus yellow +one melanochromis + two estherae + one venustus + one elongatus + 2 parrots .."" in 40 US gallons "" I'm new with African Cichlid and someone told me the best temperature for this kind of fish between 29 to 34 C and now I'm SHOCKED :| i always keep it between 28 to 31 C, should i decrease it ??? they are in good health and they are growing up but these days they always fighting with each other
dear friend, q1: when chosing a chiller, do i Calculate the total amount of the sump and tank or only tank? my tank volume: 550 gallon my sump 250 gallon so when i consider a chiller ill chose one suitable for 800 gallon or more? or should i calculate the amount of return water like: 800 x 6 = 4800 gallon? so ill chose one for 4800 gallon and above? which number should i go with? I'm confused a bit here 800 gallon or 4800 gallon? thanks
I have orange mbuna started with 2. We now have 20 give or take a few. She’s had 5 batches of babies. I’ve never separated them. I just leave em alone. Seeing her release them from her mouth was a wild sight when we had no idea that this was happening. Water temp stays 78 f .
Hey a quick dumb question: How come your blue fishes are "so blue colored". I have 3 Hongi mbuna and 3 mbuna that look like demasoni (they aren't, but both male and female are blue with black stripes) and none of the 6 fishes are so blue colored as yours. They aren't fully grown yet, but they are still more dark than actual blue? (The other 4 yellow labs and the 3 red mbunas (also forgot the names) are in perfect color tho.
What about ick? I understand that turning the temperature up can speed the ick life cycle. What do you recommend with ick and cichlids. And if you have a video on it already il look. Just curious. Thank you.
Hello. Any ideas for a 200 litre tank setup. I've kept tropicals in the past but setting this tank up from scratch. I'm in Italy by the way but English so you know for temperature considerations. Cichlids? or tropicals again? Thanks for the advice
I added Snowhite Cichlids in my tank and found most of them gathering at the top just above Water Filter. Also they don't seem to eat staple food. Any advice?
Thx for this great tip, I will try it , my temp now is 27C, so what do you think about lowering it with 1 degree /month untill I get a temp of 25 C? Best regards Anders
hi i have a few hybrids born in my tank.. I dont want to keep them nor do I want to sell them im wondering if there is a way I can humanely cull them.. as its not their fault they have been born.. yellow lab red zebra hybrid...
Hello, just find your channel. I have 2 boold parrots cichlids, and i have got a lot of mix info...are they classed in the african cichlids? This is probably a stupid question, but i just got in to fishes...i don't know what temperature should i keep them in or how much should i feed them,...any help will be highly appreciated😊 thank you
Currently holding my tank at 80F. When i move in to the summer should i lower the heat when it begins to get hot? Where i live in the summer it gets about 100-115F.
Great Video, I've just setup my Mbuna tank, one of my light blue cichlids, (cannot remember the scientific names but its on my latest post if you have time to check) have gone from light powder/baby blue to a really dark blue, is this just because it is a male/dominant or is there something wrong with him? Also do you recommend using seachem CIchlid salts? Thanks!
I keep mine @79 F. I will try lowering the temp and see how they react. I think you are spot on about the way higher temps effect the fish. My Guys get fed once a day and in the morning when it's feeding time they are like little Piranhas!
Marc, I love your work! How universally true is this temperature trick? Do you know if new world cichlids or even fish from Southeast Asia respond the same way?
Hi - I have just found your channel - AWESOME. I have had Chiclids for many years (I live in Australia). Its interesting the temperatures you advise - and frequenting the UK I understand the climate differences. I have found if I have my temp up just between 27 & 28c - that it alleviates 'white spot', but lately (despite the temps) I have had some troubles. I have treated my tank with Pimafix.... Sadly I lost one fish & another is bouncing between recovery & getting fungus again..... Tonight I have done yet another tank clean, and have put in a new heater - as I believe the last one was a bit 'dodgey'. What are your solutions for 'white spot fungus'?? Im not worried about calm or aggression, I just want my water babies to be well... Thanks again - your videos are great! :-)
thank you this was informative, i was wondering why my cichlids weren't eating all the food i put in there, also the placo (the tank is getting dirty) i want to warm it up but all i have is a ten gallon starter, are there any tips that you can give me on diy heating? maybe do warmer water changes every couple days of about a half gallon each? the tank was getting to 75 degrees ferenheit because that was the room temp with central air on.
African Cichlid Hub if you have the heat a lot warmer you said it speeds up the metabolism does that mean they grow quick. There fore is the water is colder they will grow a lot slower ?
This is such a relief because my ac is set to 73 any warmer and I’d be unable to sleep from being hot and that makes their tank 75-76 which is perfect. Can you tell me why they are so timid and always hiding tho? I got them a week ago and I planted their tank gave plenty of spots to play and hide I only have two half in ones in a 5.5
African Cichlid Hub ive brought it down from 82 to 78 over the course of two days and i have noticed a huge difference. thanks marc. I had no idea that temperature could play such a huge roll
A very informative and interesting video. However, I am a beginner, starting relatively at the beginning. Have a 130litre tank and at the moment only some Gold Harlequin Rasboras happily swimming around. The temperature I have set at 25 o C. However, after constantly looking at all sorts of species of fish, would really like a Cichlid as my feature fish. So, my questions are, which of the Cichlids could you recommend that are the most peaceful, hardy and low temperature tolerant, that could suit well in an establishing community fish tank. And lastly, I realise it depends on the numbers of other fish, how many ciclids would suit a tank of 130 litres? Thank you, Michael
Also what happens in wild when water jump 5-7 degrees overnight ? Nothing. Fish can adapt instantly as long as it's nothing like 20 degrees. Many many Mbuna breeders in California change temps from 76 to around 80-82 overnight to start the breeding behaviors. Many swear by this.
I have clown loach and black gohst knife fishes was wondering if you could answer some questions I had I just got my aquarium last Sunday I'm new to all of this
Alright mate I'm from Ireland and I'm new to the hobby. I'm wondering when you do a water change from tap water I presume, how do you get the temp of water the same to you're tank before you put tap water in
New subscriber....I'm in Glasgow and the water is very soft, I want to set up a cichlid aquarium to go along with my other community tank..any water tips..or new tank set up....cheers...
Great video Marc, it's been getting warmer over here in the states, so maybe it's a reason why the tank is getting warmer as well and there's a tad more aggression. Thanks for the tips :)
Hi. I have an African Cichlid Tank myself. I currently have 7 Cichlids. one is a Jack Dempsey. They are all Juveniles at the moment and yes, I am monitoring the Dempsey' behavior. He gets along very well with all the Africans. If his behavior remains as calm as it is now ill keep him in. If he gets mean I'll take him out. My question is, if I leave him in(because I know they get big) how many cichlids are too many? And if I take him out how many? I don't want to crowd the Tank and cause stress. It is a 75gal.
Get the Jack Dempsey out of the tank and put him in his own 75 because you’ll need it, Jacks can be quite aggressive on their own but Mbuna’s are even more aggressive not to mention they both require different water parameters , Mbuna’s need a higher PH. After that you can get more Africans , I have 17 Mbuna’s in a 75 right now but am upgrading that to a 125 so I’m going to have some more room for more Mbuna family members. The Dempsey, find a better tank mate for him. There’s quite a few South America cichlids that he could coexist with like Severum cichlids or Angelfish, Firemouth cichlids or Acara’s are another good choice. Either way keep the Africans with Africans and the Central & South American’s with their kind. Just what my research has taught me. Cheer’s
