Aquarist - the Regulator
Becoming A Fish Hobbyist
Written by Thursday, 06 December 2001 01:00
My first contact with fish kept in captivity was in Berlin in the mid 70's. It was a large department store in which, next to underwear and home electric appliances, there were some small tanks with fish. I was really impressed but due to my economic constrains all I could get was a fish bowl with 4-5 of the cheapest fish. I just placed the fish bowl by the window for the fish to get some light - I didn't even notice that there was direct sunlight for some hours. I performed water changes regularly and everything went on fine till my trip to Greece. I asked my sister who was staying in another house to pass by every day and feed them. When I came back in Berlin, I found a bowl with very little water and algae. So much algae that it was impossible to see what was inside the bowl. I assumed there were no survivors and I filled the bowl with water to clean it. You can imagine my surprise when I saw that there were 20 or more fish in that bowl at various sizes. The large fish had given birth to these small beauties and they all survived (possibly because of the dense algae). I am not even sure what kind of fish they were. I presume it was guppies but I can't recall seeing those fancy tails...
My next contact with this hobby was in 1982 - again a strange coincidence. I just came across some "DIY" magazines and saw that among other things there were detailed plans on how to make a 75 liter tank. That was it! I bought the glasses and silicon and very soon we had our own tanks. Next step was to find some fish to put in the tank. At that time there were no shops specializing in fish (animals in general). There was a general store which, among screws, tools and lockers had a shelf with some tanks and the very basic equipment (some heaters, 2-3 filters, some foods and a few Tetra medicines). The fish displayed were the most common ones (guppies, mollies, tiger barbs and some plecos) - variety was simply out of the question. We used to visit this shop regularly, eager to see what was new in its livestock. My first filter was an external Sacem, a small but efficient filter (at least for my tank). I can still remember that after a few days I observed some white spots on my fish and I visited this store again where I heard the word "Ick" for the first time. I was given a medicine (Contra Ick) and a small booklet in Greek, issued by Tetra. Finding any literature in Greek was impossible, nothing but this small booklet existed.
Some months ago I made a bigger tank 100x40x50 with 8 mm glass. I also bought two Oscars which soon outgrew their tank since I fed them with beef heart. When they were really big for my tank I trade them in for 7-8 Tilapias. I had no idea what they were or where they came from. I only fed them watching their aggression and their continuous moves. The largest fish would form a large pit and then keep the rest of the fish away from it. After some time I was really shocked to see my tank filled with 70-80 fry !! There were no plants in that tank, just 2 stones. I couldn't understand where all these fry came from. Only when I watched the female taking all of them in its mouth I figured that "she" should be their mother. This was my first "meeting" with African cichlids. I kept this tank going until 1987 when I had to go to Berlin again.
When I came back in Greece (permanently), my first priority was to set up my tank again. In the meantime I had read some things about fish keeping and I knew that African cichlids were generally aggressive fish and a community tank full of them would be a problem for a newbie. Therefore I decided to start with some peaceful fish and I chose gouramis, plecos and platies which were supposed to inhabit my tank without any further problems (see photo above). At that time I was also receiving the "Aquarium" journal regularly from Germany so my knowledge on this hobby was slowly but steadily increasing. My tank didn't have any problems but it looked a bit boring to me. Nothing was ever happening in it. After reading an article I decided to try Kribensis (Pelvicachromis pulcher; see photo above). I also added a ceramic pot and it was soon evident that spawning was about to take place. After a short while, the female was proudly swimming in the tank with a school of fry while the male was keeping the other fish at a distance. What impressed me a lot was the fighting of the male Kribensis with a pleco which was much larger that it. While the eggs were still in the ceramic pot where the female laid them, the fights were really ferocious. After some days I decided to remove the pleco because I was afraid that leaving it in the tank could cause severe wounds. I also managed to take the spawning on tape with a small video camera and low lighting (not to scare / stress the pair).
After a while I was again watching a tank full of fry. The fry grew up while the pair kept on spawning. You could see kribs of any size swimming in there, while catching them was easier said than done. I thought it was about time to make the final change. African Rift Lake cichlids were always in the back of my head. In 1997 I read an article written by a hobbyist keeping cichlids from Lake Malawi. I saw some very beautiful fishes in the photos accompanying that article. Some yellow, some blue some with more than one colour. The scientific names meant nothing to me but I noted them to order them from Athens. The author's comment stating that these species were not particularly aggressive helped me to take this decision. A week later, I removed all my fish from the tank, added some more stones and finally my new fish. When I brought my new Africans home my wife was disappointed. There were three yellow fish (Labodochromis caeruleus) and three blue ones (Pseudotropheus acei) sized approximately 4 cm !! They were supposed to be breeding trios (one male / two females from each species) but it was impossible to tell at that size. We had a tank full of life and movement and - after the change - we were closely watching it to find where the fish were. I was not disappointed at all.. just waiting for them to grow!
It didn't take that long for them to grow. Eventually it became evident (visible) that indeed there were some fish in my tank. It was also evident that one of the Pseudotropheus acei was a male. It was much bigger and had four bright egg spots on its anal fin while the other two were smaller with one faint egg spot. In contrast, all three Labidochromis caeruleus were identical. It didn't take long to find out that the ordered "trio" was not a trio after all. After some time I returned them and got a real pair. These species were indeed peaceful - by African cichlid standards. I never observed any serious fights between them. In the meantime I kept on reading about African Rift Lake cichlids so I was quite prepared to recognize any spawning behaviour if it ever happened. I kept watching them for many hours until I noticed some strange behaviour by the Pseudotropheus which could be interpreted as pre-spawning.. I had my video camera ready and I was able to shoot the whole procedure. I was impressed because they didn't choose a flat stone to spawn but an almost vertical one ! The female released 4-5 eggs each time which were immediately fertilized by the male. The female would then take the fertilized eggs in its mouth before they reached the gravel. This was done several times while the male occasionally interrupted the procedure to chase the other fish which were closing in. After that I knew when the next spawning would take place. Each time the male would chase the other fish from a specific spot in my tank it was a definite sign that it was preparing for spawning. For the rest of the time the male was particularly peaceful and tolerant towards its tank mates.
As time was passing by I was more attracted by the strong personality of these species. I could almost understand their characters and their behaviour - better still the reasoning of their behaviour. I was never impressed by the shape or the colour of the fish. I never regarded them as part of the decoration. There are many fish with fascinating colours all over the world. Even my two oscars were beautifully coloured. However their slow movement and their apathy soon became boring. What I like most in African Rift Lake cichlids is their energy, they give the impression that every move they make has a reason, they have a task in their minds. Even their aggression is not a "blind" one, it is not directed against all tank mates. I was impressed many times when I watched a fish chasing a specific individual while at the same time completely ignored another fish of the same species. It is like they "know" each other and they have some sort of relationship - good or bad - between them.
I believe that one of the ultimate tasks of every fish hobbyist should be breeding his fish. African Rift Lake cichlids will soon reward the care you give them - you don't need to ask for it. A few days ago I had to re-decorate my tank just to remove 15 Labidochromis caeruleus which were released in it and grew enough to threaten the overall biological balance of my tank. The female was neither stripped not removed - she just released in the tank. One more reason to fall in love with these fish is the fact they are hardy. I haven't lost a single fish since I started keeping them. All you have to do is to keep an eye on them and make regular water changes (30% weekly) - not much to ask for.
My current tank measures 120x40x45 (216 liters / 55 gallons) and it always seemed small to me. However, after seeing some of the tanks presented in MCH (Frank's, George's and Francesco's) it now seems like a fish bowl. This fact along with the feeling that my fish "need" more space have given me a hint... A larger tank! I hope that soon, after solving some problems, this dream will become true. Dreams cost nothing of course - in contrast to big tanks, but I think I will soon overcome the obstacles (already thinking of it). There are two things which are absolutely clear to me : I will not stay with the tank I have (at least not this tank only) and I will not keep anything but African cichlids. It is a kind of love (addiction?) which does not faint as time passes by. The fish doesn't allow it to.
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