# looking for basic knowledge?



## timmo2009 (Jun 10, 2009)

Hey Everyone,
I recently began working at a fish store, and generally, I feel like i know a lot about fish. The one area of fish my knowledge is lacking, is with Cichlids. Multiple people come in and see these beautiful fish, and immediately want them. And then they start asking questions and i'm not exactly sure what to tell them about Cichlids. So could you guys help me out a little bit here with some accurate information, mostly about possible tankmates for them? I know they are very aggressive, but not much more beyond that.
By the way I looked for a sticky or something but didn't really get the answer i'm looking for, so if there is a previous post with this info, a simple link will do. Thanks everyone!


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

cichlid-forum.com


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## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

Very broad subject. Could you ask specific questions?


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

The cichlids are such a huge group that even "basic knowledge" would be a whole lot of knowledge! Not much could be said about them as a whole that would be accurate for all of them. South america, central america, west africa, east africa, madagascar, asia.. the cichlids from each of these areas are so different from those of the other areas that it's sometimes hard to believe they are in the same group.

Anyway, most of them get fairly largish as aquarium fish go, most of them are highly intelligent as fish go, most of them have fairly evolved social habits which can translate into aggression toward other fishes, and most of them are as tough as nails. For each of these points, many exceptions can be quickly named.
The east african ones are very different from all the others in pretty much every major way.


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## Cacatuoides (Feb 2, 2009)

Specific questions can be helpful. From there people can throw in other tid bits.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

http://cichlid-forum.com/articles/quick_reference_list.php Look at the cookie-cutter setups and the lists of cichlids by origin. If you can find the scientific name and where its from, you can find most of the info available on any cichlid.


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## timmo2009 (Jun 10, 2009)

hey thanks emc, that site is very helpful for me.


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## NatBarry (Feb 19, 2008)

Make it more specific


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## timmo2009 (Jun 10, 2009)

Okay so lets say i just bought a 55 gallon tank, hypothetically. I want it to be a cichlid tank. I'm a complete beginner to cichlids, but love how beautiful they are. And i'm leaning more towards getting african cichlids. What do you guys suggest for me? from my reading, it looks like it is best to get a male with at least 4 or 5 females? all advice is appreciated. Is that specific enough?


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