Ohio Cichlids

Welcome To Ohio Cichlids

Ohio Cichlids is a new place to discuss and learn about your favorite cichlids. It doesn't matter whether you have Frontosa, Convicts, Angelfish, Mbuna, Oscars, etc. Everybody is welcome to join Ohio Cichlids. Although it is small at the moment, Ohio Cichlids is getting bigger everyday.

We have some very intelligent members at the forum, some of which with 20+ years of experience cichlid keeping! So come on in and give us a shout, hope to see you there. If you have a question reqarding your fish please stop by the forum and post it.

Thanks,

Admin-Jack B.

Cichlid Facts

Freshwater fish produce roughly 30% of their body weight in watery ammonia filled urine per day.

Cichlids are an extremely diverse family of fish, most of which are found in rift lakes in Africa. There are more than 500 species in just three lakes: Victoria, Malawi, and Tanganyika. Most are specialized feeders, which allows many different types to live together without much competition.

The family Cichlidae offers the widest variety of body shapes and behaviors of all freshwater fish. With approximatiely 2000 species and more than 900 being described species, Cichlids are one of the largest families as well!

New Species

Did you know that there are new species of cichlids discovered every year? Because scientists don't know how many types there are, creating conservation plans is a difficult task. As with all animals that are intensely specialized in adaptations or behavior, cichlids are extremely vulnerable to habitat changes, such as pollution, and the introduction of exotic species. All in which can increase predation, competition, and hybridization. Cichlids are also threatened by the high amount of fishermen, and pet trades.

Cichlids

There are over 900 species of cichlids. Coming from lakes with very hard water in Africa, to very soft water in South and Central America. Cichlids are often seen as the most intelligent fish of all. They learn to recognize their owners and practice highly ritualistic and protective brood care. Most cichlids are highly aggressive, while others are calm enough to be kept with fish other than other cichlids.

Pairing

There are several different types of bonds are formed between male and female cichlids:

1. Monogamy-The female, and the male stay together after spawning.

2. Polygyny- The male stays with several females

3. Polyandry- The female bonds with several males, and forming a pair is rare.

4. Agamy- No lasting bond is formed between the pair.

Diversity

The Cichlidae family stands out as an extraordinary example of vertebrate evolution. From the sheer size of the family to the complexity of their ecological interactions and rapid evolution, cichlids provide a unique glimpse of the many factors that promote speciation. The behavioral and physical changes resulting from intense speciation in cichlids is equally impressive. Cichlids demonstrate some of the most unique and intensive parenting in fishes and utilize several different mating systems, from monogamy to polygynandry. Many feeding behaviors found in cichlids are unique among freshwater fishes. Although the general body plan of a cichlid is constant, they come in a dazzling array of shapes, sizes, colors, making them popular with aquarists and aquaculturists.

What's wrong with a painted angel?- by Dr Jim Greenwood

Since the mid 1980's Glassfish of the family Chandidae that have been injected with fluorescent dye have been imported into Australia from South East Asia. These fish have been painted by injection along the dorsal and ventral body surfaces and are sold as "Painted Angels". In 1998 I became concerned when I noticed several fish species appear on the Australian market that had been injected with dye or paint.

It was common knowledge that these fish have progressive problems. The painted areas fade and break up and the fish become less clear or glass like. The fish become thin and debilitated, and tend to become lethargic and easy to catch. They frequently develop multiple proliferative skin lesions and have a reputation in the industry for 'not living very long', in contrast to the unpainted Chandas which usually remain healthy.

I set myself the challenge of documenting what was wrong with the "Painted Angels".

Visit the "death by dyeing" website to read the full story by clicking HERE