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Why?

Localzoo

Board of Directors
So just wanted to get a feel for why you keep what you keep?

I really like Malawi bc of diversity In colors, sizes, personalities, and the capability of overcrowding as long as adequate filtration is provided.
I can keep going but I'm really interested in everyone else's response.


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jonclark96

Past CCA President
I keep mostly New World cichlids, and I love them for their personality and parenting behavior. I've recently set up a few Malawi tanks to see what the fuss is all about.
 

mchambers

Former CCA member
I keep South American cichlids and cats, and West African cichlids. I also keep a few random tetras, one Central American cichlids, and some Mexican livebearers. Oh, and some shrimp.

In general, I like smaller fish, and fish that aren't aggressive. Don't like mean fish. But that's the only "why" I've got for you. I've thought about keeping Old World lake cichlids, but they generally require bigger tanks and are more aggressive, so I've never done that.

I also like fish that may reproduce in my tanks, so that may be part of the attraction to the fish I keep.
 

chriscoli

Administrator
I keep a variety of fish for various reasons. There's no one thing that "does it" for me.

First, let me say that the reason I DON'T keep saltwater tanks is that for years we lived with frequent Pepco outages. I can keep a freshwater tank going through a short or moderate outage.....but I didn't want to sink a lot of money into a salt setup only to lose it annually.

I keep mbuna because they are like colorful puppies. They are always active and get excited when I walk near the tank. They are also easy to breed, so there's a certain satisfaction at seeing continual productivity in the Mbuna tank.

I keep Tangs because many of them are REALLY fascinating hunters. They just seem sleeker and more stealthy than the Mbuna to me. I'm sure that there are many "sleek and stealthy" Tangs in Lake Malawi, they just haven't struck my fancy yet.

I keep a lot of dwarf cichlids because of their small size.....I can keep a variety in a relatively small space. If a few tanks are taking their time and getting settled in, odds are, I have other tanks that have things going on in them.

I keep Westies because I find their parenting/social behavior fascinating.

I keep an assortment of other fish around because I like them, or they provide a "service" for the tanks or have some feature that I like to watch.

I also have a soft spot for CARES fish. Keeping them and providing their offspring to other hobbyists give me warm-fuzzies.

there are probably more reasons, but those are the ones that come to mind first.
 

Localzoo

Board of Directors
I appreciate each and every one if those ideas. Some days I wish I had the space to keep some true monsters. I've thought about line breeding but that too requires space.


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Becca

Members
I can't even... I don't... I mean... The best I can come up with is that I keep things that catch my eye, for one reason or another, but aren't "eye-catching" in the traditional sense, provided that they seem to be something I can house and properly care for given my space and time limitations.
 
The joy of keeping fish, as different from keeping pet dog and cat, is that there are thousands of species out there that you can never keep a small fraction in your whole life. When you get enough of one group of species, you can always try something new.

Most cichlid keepers start out with Malawians, because they are colorful, readily available and relatively inexpensive. Having kept them for a long time, I got bored with their lack of variation in body shape and behavior because they are all mouth brooders and descendants of a single haplochromine bloodline. I am still keeping a few species of peacocks, which capture essentially the entire spectrum of Malawian cichlid color with no need to keep any more blue fish. I am branching out into SA/CA which provide greater variation in body shape, color , markings and breeding behavior. I love the strong pairing bonding of many SA/CA that Malayian mouthbrooders are lacking.
 
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dogofwar

CCA Members
I keep mostly medium-sized New World cichlids, some West African cichlids (mainly from Lake Barombi-Mbo in Cameroon) and some wild-type livebearers.

Over the years I've kept and bred all sorts of cichlids... and I always come back to Cryptoheros (convicts and associates) and acaras (Cichlasoma, Aequidens, Krobia, etc.). They just speak to me. So I've got a couple of dozen tanks of them. Same with goodeids and other wild-type livebearers. They've appealed to me since I was kid!

Keeping Uruguayan fish appeals to me...because they're already fish I like...but also they take me back to traveling down there.

I was intrigued by cichlids from Lake Barombi-Mbo since the first time I saw them and have been keeping them since. Not colorful but unique and strange. And only found in a single, small lake (that I've been inspired to learn about as a result of keeping them).

Matt
 

TovMahal

Members
At first it was the colors of Mbuna, but now it is all about watching how they interact. Watching them "show off" seeing the little guy "own the tank" just fascinates me.

However, ever since I got my fist tank a year ago, I keep wanting more. But instead of more tanks and fish I jut keep rescaping the tank I have. Keeps me thinking I have something new and keeps the Wife happy because no more animals enter the house.

Win win


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blkmjk

Members
Cichlids for me was by chance. But one I started keeping them I wanted the biggest and baddest ones I could find! Now come the hard part getting tanks these guys can stay in for life! First world problems huh?

Drew
 

festaedan

potamotrygon fan
I like lots of different kinds of fish for all different reasons
I keep large aggressive fish because I love their personalities and and predatory behavior
I keep aggressive central/south american cichlids I find it really cool to watch them patrol fry around the tank and aggressively guard them
I keep lots of bristlenose pleco variants just because they are really cool
And I keep goodeids and other wild type live bearers because its basically a step up from guppies and IMO a little bit more fun to keep
 

xny89

Administrator
Staff member
Been keeping fresh water tropicals for 40 years now. Got interested when seeing my brother-in-laws 10 gallon algea colored tank 45 years ago! Over the years have kept mostly swords (love the shape/colors), platy's (color), mollies, particularly the lyre tails, various tetra's, various gourami's, angles (my first cichlids), cory's, pleco's (to harvest the algae). These were all community tanks in the 10 gallon to 30 gallon range. My aquariast son, working for a company called Wet Pets locally decided to redo my 30 gallon tank to brackish so now I had scats and mono's too. Did try a festivum once - got returned to LFS quickly as it was not a good community fish (LOL). A few years ago I got interested in moving to more cichlids and decided on trying krebensis and rams. I happened to be at Congressional Aquarium and was introduced to CCA. I had also increased tank size to a 45 and 55. The 45 is my lower pH tank with krebensis and rams - gotta love their personalities and parental skills. The 55 that had housed the brackish fish had been converted to my higher pH mbuna tank. Love their colors and personalities. Both are display tanks in my family room, so I get to hang with them alot. I love it when they breed and raise their fry. In fact, got a family of krebensis pulcher going now, and in my 55, have had my yellow labs and rusties holding. There is a single juvi lab living in the rock pile, and a single rustie juvie living in the holey rock.
While saltwater fauna are beautiful, the upkeep required is beyond my desire.
 
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