The Daily Cichlid

Subtitle

Peaceful Cichlids

Discus

Discus 
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Discus come from South American rivers such as the Amazon and various other waterways in Brazil.

Discus are considerably more work than African Rift Lake species and other South American species because they are extremely sensitive to water conditions.

Water conditions:

Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrites 0 ppm
Nitrates 0ppm - 5ppm maximum (0ppm preferred)  
Ph: 6.5-7.5.



Discus also prefer high temperatures of 84-87 degrees F 82F being the lowest tolerated so it is advisable to combine discus with tropical fish that desire similar temperatures. 

Discus are beautiful and are considered a peaceful slow swimming Cichlid that look majestic in any home aquarium. Because they are peaceful you can keep them with Angel fish and other large or small slow moving fish. Make sure you are not mixing them with cardinal tetras or similarly sized fish because if they can fit in the Discus' mouth they will be food. Discus perfer to be in groups of 5 or more but I have seen them alone in large aquariums with other peaceful fish such as angel fish, rams, bosemani rainbows and other similar species. 

Tank size: 55 gallon minimum for 5 Discus  

Environment: Tan sand or heavily planted tank with many hiding spots and some drift wood thrown into the mix. If you want less water changes heavily planted is the way to go because it will help you keep harmful nitrates, nitrites and ammonia down in between water changes. 

Do not use Gravel, Gravel traps too much waste and promotes disease, when ever possible it is best to use sand. Sand is cheap and widely available and can come in an assortment of colours and grain size. 

Care:
Discus get sick very easily and are very sensitive to water conditions so most successful owners will use twice the amount of filtration and usually up their water changes to 2 times per week. With the addition of nitrate removing products and Live plants it is possible to stretch the water change schedule to the 1 full week mark. Activated carbon should be removed and replaced every two weeks or every week if it is affordable. Carbon is said to cause hole in head disease which discus are very susceptible to but hole in head disease is actually hexamita which is a parasite. If you replace your carbon before it becomes stale and full of micro waste particles you will be able to keep hexamita from forming in the water column. 

Discus should be provided a variety of food that consist of: Black worms, high quality Flakes such as new life spectrum Discus formula, Omega One super Color enhancing Flakes (I believe they have a discus formula), Omega One freeze dried bloodworms, Hikari frozen brine shrimp,Hikari frozen krill and Hikari (sterilized) bloodworms.

Juvenile Discus need to be fed often. At least 5 times a day. "Small amounts.. more often and only what they can eat in 30 seconds" is the general rule of thumb, this will prevent uneaten food from polluting the water. The adults should be fed at least 3 times a day. Take the time to slowly feed these fish and you can monitor what gets collected at the bottom of the tank. You can then remove it and feed less next time. It may take a little longer to do this, but it helps in the long run with keeping the tank and water clean. When feeding them the beefheart or bloodworms, its a good idea to plan that menu for the day you do a water change.That way you get to clean up what they don't eat soon afterwards.   

Always have a good quality liquid water test kit on hand so that you can keep on top of potential problems before they get out of control. 
Discus can be very exspensive some rare species going for $80 in local pet stores and common or reg species going for $20-$40 so make sure you keep your investment healthy. 

Angel Fish

Angel fish: 


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File:Angel fish white.jpg - Wikimedia Commonscommons.wikimedia.org


Water Conditions:

Ammonia 0 ppm

Nitrites 0 ppm

Nitrates 0-10 ppm

PH 6.5-7.5 (stability is most important)

75-80F or 25-26C


Environment:

Angel fish prefer a heavily planted tank that is tall enough for them to swim freely up and down so a tank of 18 inches or taller with sand and drift wood. 

If real plants are not your thing try using tall, medium, and small realistic fake plants along with NitrateR or similar products to help reduce Nitrate build up in between water changes. 

Care:

29 gallon minimum for 1 angel fish, and a 55 gallon tank for a pair of Angel fish along with other compatible tank mates. A fully grown angelfish can be the size your palm (about 4-6 inches nose to tail) and they can be at least 8 inches in height. They usually have a life expectancy of 10 years and take over a year to be full size.


Since angelfish belong to the cichlidae family they can be aggressive. Compatible tank mates are Cory catfish, German Blue Rams, Mid-size tetra's, rainbow fish and Discus etc.


Fish that wont be compatible are neon tetras(considered a main source of food in the wild), Tiger barbs, aggressive gouramis, betta fish, other fish that are considered fin nippers or fish that will harass the angelfish.


Since the Angelfish is a tall slender fish it is best to provide hiding spots for it to hide like tall realistic/fake plants. An aquarium with tall plants like Java Fern, Ambulia, and Amazon sword plants are perfect for angel fish because these plants provide plenty of hiding spots. 


It is always good to give your angelfish a mixed diet, tropical flakes, cichlid pellets, blood worms, and brine shrimp are good examples of a good diet for an angelfish. Use only high quality food for any fish you keep if you want them to last a long time. 


It is best to feed small amounts 3 times a day rather than 1 or 2 big meals because it will help keep water conditions at optimum levels in between water changes. 

Rams

Ram or Butterfly Cichlid


Found in slow moving rivers of  llanos savannahs of Venezuela and Colombia.


Water Conditions:

Pristine water required

25-29 degrees C or 78-90 degrees F

PH 5.0-6.5

Ammonia 0 ppm

Nitrites 0 ppm

Nitrates 10 ppm (maximum)





Substrate and decor?


Light coloured sand or small grain, light or natural coloured gravel with lots of live plants or silk fake plants to provide cover and a feeling of security. These plants provide a refuge for your Ram if you have intimidating fish. If it is Just a male Ram and a couple of females the plants provide a perfect place for Rams to lay their eggs. 


Personal Experience with Substrate colours:

Honestly, it doesn't mater. fish blend in to the colours of their environment so if you like dark rich colours, use darker substrates, if you like bright lighter colours use lighter substrate. Natural tan gravel or sand will bring out your fish's natural colour. 


Behavior and personality:


Staying relatively small, these cute and interactive fish max out in size from 2.0-3.0 inches males generally are larger than females some reaching a size of 3.5 inches. Wild caught species would need water conditions that match their original environments exactly but most aquarium store Ram's have been bred in captivity for years that span over hundreds of generations and therefore they have adapted to various levels of water hardness. Soft water is considered best with few dissolved minerals. With most fish keeping practices (especially with Ph) stability is more important than perfect natural conditions. If your are constantly having trouble keeping your PH at 6.5-6.6 because your dealing with very hard water conditions ranging from 7.9-8.4 directly from your tap I would consider just leaving the water "as is" and using drift wood to naturally bring the ph down to a more neutral level instead of fighting it using chemicals, causing spikes in PH and instability. High PH may shorten the life of your Ram slightly over time but it wont kill him outright like a large or medium spike in PH and because of aquarium bred Rams adapting to various levels of Ph over time it may have no effect on their overall health.


There are many colour morphs and interesting variants such as the German or Electric Blue Ram which is highly sought after but the Ram pictured above is a german blue ram. EBR'S or electric blue rams are mostly blue with very little yellow. Bolivian Rams are patchy looking and dull in colour but very hard to find as they are wild caught. Highly intelligent like many cichlids, rams tend to become very interactive and will readily respond to you when you walk by the aquarium which is why it is important to provide an environment that helps them feel secure, otherwise you may never see your ram because he or she is always hiding.  


Ram Cichlids are relatively small and peaceful, well suited for a community tank of similar sized to slightly larger tank mates. For example if you have a tank full of guppies you wont have to worry about your Ram eating or killing them because they are far too big to be eaten or considered food. Rams are very interactive with their owners and can be housed in aquariums 10 gallons or larger with heavily planted areas and drift wood. I would not house two male Rams together in the same aquarium unless you have a 30 gallon tank or larger with lots of line of sight cut off points because like most cichlids they will not tolerate other males competing for food and territory. If you want a species only tank I would suggest a heavily planted 20 gallon with 1 male and 2-3 females. once a mated pair is formed all other females should be removed and placed in another community tank or sold. 


Rams are more bark than bite and can be timid when housed in tanks with very few hiding spots or when introduced to a new environment for the first time. Rams should not be housed with other Cichlids that display territorial aggression or larger fast moving community species that can intimidate them during feeding time. For example: I have one female Ram housed with a Flame Gourami, 6 black skirt tetra's, 3 Emerald Cories) and although it isn't recommended by fish forum people to house a ram and gourami together my two get along fine because I have enough line of sight cut-off points, space and hiding spots if they decide to chase or intimidate each other. A happy Ram is one that is interactive with you (begs for food, or follows you from side to side like a happy puppy wagging its whole body) and a Ram that swims freely (without skittish behavior) in all regions of the tank. Rams are very inquisitive and they love to explore. This inquisitive and interactive behavior can be brought out of any shy or skittish Ram by providing the proper environment and tank mates. (My Ram often enjoys following the Emerald Corries up and down, side to side and tries to mimic their snoopy dance from time to time) Corries are the clowns of the freshwater tropical fish hobby and are compatible with most species because of their non-threatening personalities. Full size Corries can range between 3-3.5 inches and prefer to be in schooling groups of 3-6. Therefore a minimum tank size of 20 gallons is preferred. If you have a 10 gallon with one Ram and you are wondering what else you can put in there with him but you don't want to breed him I would suggest a group of 6-8 Pigmy Cories which get to be around the same size as full grown Guppies and they will school and swim in all sections of the tank (bottom, mid and top portions).


Male or female?


Sexing has become difficult over the years because of hybrids and inbreeding etc. The best way to tell whether you have a male or female is by colouration and physical aspects. The Ram pictured above is a female. Females have a stockier body compared to the males who have longer or more streamlined bodies. Females also have 2-3 short but slightly longer spikes on the front of their mow-hawks and most males have 2 or 3 long spikes. Males tend to be larger in size, usually maxing out at 3.0 inches and females are smaller ranging from 2.0-2.5 inches.  For colouration differences, males tend to be brighter and have more of a sheen to their colour. You might be saying if the Ram above is female why is she so colourful? She is very healthy and Females are only slightly paler than males which makes it hard to sex them this way. Here is a good way of sexing by colour based on some solid info I got from a great Ram Breeder who runs a "fish talk" page on facebook: If you look at the picture above you will see a darker more pronounced stripe or spot near the mid portion of the fish. Under certain light you will see these electric blue spots that run from the tail all the way up to that dark spot and usually the spots will cover most or all of this dark spot, this is usually only a female trait. Males have the electric blue spots as well but they stop under the dark stripe or surround the dark black spot but do not cover or overlap it. Female Rams also have a pinkish or purple-ish hue on their bellies.


I hope this information is helpful and if you would like to figure out more tank combinations or compatible tank mates explore wikipedia to find more information. I have a chart below that can help you determine if you have a female or male ram.