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Electric Cichlids

If you are looking for a type of cichlid that is very easy to look after then you cannot go past electric cichlids.  Electric cichlids are easy to breed and take care of. Not to mention that their beautiful, vibrant colours are a delight for anyone’s eyes. You will find that these fishes are really not picky in choosing their food. Of course, you will need to provide them with good, clean water and suitable decorations for their aquarium.

It is really not that hard to set up an environment for the electric cichlid, although you might need to research the matter a bit. The most important thing to consider is replicating their natural environment as best you can. Electric cichlids can be found mostly in the lakes of Africa. While in their natural habitats, they hide behind rocks and blend in with the environment. They search the waters for smaller fish that they can eat.

Whilst in an artificial environment, your aquarium, the electric cichlid will totally depend upon you, his owner, to survive. If you supply your cichlid with an environment that closely resembles the one in his natural habitat, you will manage to greatly increase your cichlid’s lifespan. This is also a good way for you to contain the cichlid’s aggressive behaviour. Cichlids can easily be trained to eat other foods, such as prepared food, and not smaller fish. These larger ones will surely be out of your cichlid’s harmful bite. Otherwise, you will be forced to keep the cichlids only with other fishes that are bigger than it. Assuming you want to keep your smaller fish alive of course.

Some electric cichlids can grow in size up to six inches in length, so you had better get him a bigger than usual aquarium. For a normal electric cichlid, you would probably need a tank of about 55 gallons, for starters. That is the absolute minimum that he is going to need. These fishes can definitely survive in murky waters, but if you like most aquarists you are going to want to have clear waters in your tank. The cichlids will not care about the water being murky or clear so do not worry.

The water in the tank should be something around 75 degrees Fahrenheit. You should remember this fact, as the cichlids tend to become more and more aggressive when the temperature of the water is not right. Cichlids are sturdy fish, but be careful of any sudden changes in water temperature. You should be alright though, just remember to keep the tank away from direct sunlight and keep them far from any heat sources.

So, you should provide your electric cichlid with plenty of places to hide, but leave him enough room to swim as well. Rocks or pieces of wood will suffice. They like to run around in the substrate of the tank so make sure you provide one similar to that in from the African lakes. Having an incorrect substrate might harm them.

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