Beginners who start fish often make mistakes. The most common is the neglect of the compatibility of species of decorative inhabitants and various vegetation. Maybe out of ignorance of this big world of ichthyology, or because of an inattentive study of the purchased fish in the aquarium. The consequences are often deplorable: the vegetation of the aquatic environment dies, organic matter does not have the best effect on the condition of small residents, the water becomes cloudy, the interior decor degrades.
Cichlid is what beginners need. An excellent solution that will allow you to create optimal living conditions for the fish, as well as beautifully and competently equip the space inside the aquarium.
Before we look at the information about the design of the cichlid, let's figure out what it is and what kind of fish it is intended for.
Description
It is difficult to answer the question in one sentence, because the term "cichlider" means a whole range of techniques for keeping cichlids - a large family of beautiful, ornamental fish. These fish are difficult to get along with others, require a special environment. It is necessary to competentlychoose decorative elements and plants for these restless creatures, as well as carefully design their space.
It should be clarified right away that if you are a fan of interesting plants for the aquarium, like to combine colors and keep several bright species of aquatic flora in one zone, then decorating a cichlid in an aquarium is not for you.
The term "cichlider" itself comes from the name of a widespread extensive family of fish that live in the river waters of Africa and America. Cichlids, as these fish are called, have a bad temper, do not get along with their neighbors in the reservoir and often even with each other. In a large, spacious aquarium, cichlids are aggressive and sensitive to their environment. Keeping such "grouches" is not so easy. That is why aquarists have introduced a new term "cichlider" into use - by which we mean the aquatic environment, where fish, decor and plants are thoughtfully and competently selected. In another way, the aquarium can be called species.
The creation and launch of such a habitat takes into account the habits of future inhabitants, The process is based on the experience of professional aquarists who are aware of the content of these ornamental predatory fish.
To put it jokingly, if there was feng shui in aqua design, then cichlid design is the case.
Decorative fish
Before decorating the cichlid with our own hands and launching the living creatures, we consider it our duty to briefly describe this type of future inhabitants. The fish belong to the perch-like order, to the cichlid family. This is very biga group of tropical aquatic vertebrates that includes over 1,800 species.
From the description above, you probably thought: “Why are there such angry, unfriendly fish?” or “Why are these cichlids so attractive to aquarists?”. First of all, these fish are very bright, of various colors and with an interesting color. And the second reason is that watching their extravagant behavior is very entertaining, this is a whole underwater kingdom that you can follow for hours.
Diversity of the species allows you to get fish of different sizes and different colors.
Cichlids also include angelfish, oscars and discus, which have long been loved by aquarium owners.
A distinctive feature of the representatives of the species is a flat, laterally compressed body.
Cichlid Aquarium
The main requirement in the design of a cichlid with your own hands (an example photo is presented in the article) is a large volume of the aquarium. Each fish should have its own little corner in which it will swim. Therefore, the optimal size is 120 liters. Moreover, it is better to give preference to rectangular containers with a length of at least 90 cm. Such sizes are suitable for calmer subspecies of African cichlids - yulidochromis, striped parrot, beauties chromis, etc.
Setting up a 200 liter cichlid is optimal for more aggressive species, such as cherotilapia, archocetra, discus, angelfish, Sedjik cichlids. They need much more space, the length of the aquarium can reach 2 meters. Not every apartmentcan accommodate such a large capacity.
Design
The next rule that most aquarists strongly recommend to follow is free space for cichlids. These fish need a lot of space to move around. Based on this, if you want to plant vegetation, then it should be in small groups, leaving enough space for swimming. Plants can play the role of zoning the aquarium or be located near the back wall.
Decoration of the aquatic environment - most often grottoes, snags, pipe cuttings, bowls. They must be placed no higher than the average level, and the decorations must be placed as far apart as possible, as far as the bottom area of the container allows.
As for the grotto and caves, flat stones, pebbles can be used as material for construction. The decoration of the cichlid with stones looks great. Large shells are also great.
Cichlid plants
There is an opinion that a species aquarium, and in particular a cichlid, is a body of water without any aquatic vegetation, because cichlids eat plants or dig in. This is true, representatives of this species are actively digging the ground.
But for cichlids you can use, for example, floating plants that do well in an aquarium with aggressive fish. Therefore, a reasonable amount of the same duckweed on the surface of the water will beautify the habitat and enliven the decor.
Also, some of the plants can be grownin an aquarium in pots. These include plants with hard leaves and dense, strong stems, a strong root system, so that it is difficult for fish to harm aquaflora.
Zoning the aquarium
Under the subheading of designing a cichlid, we talked about zoning in an aquarium. What is it for? Everything is simple. The fact is that each species of cichlids should have its own territory - a zone in which they will feel like full owners, look for pairs and have offspring.
Don't be scared when you put the fish in the aquarium. One way or another, they will fight among themselves, winning a comfortable piece, but later, when the territory is divided, they will calm down.
There are many different ways to create zones in an aquarium. Small decorations, plants, artificial greenery, rock slides and a grotto are perfect for this. Even a wooden snag can be an excellent border for territories. See, for example, the design of a 150 liter cichlid.
Bottom
The soil for the design of a comfortable species aquarium is of no small importance. First of all, it is necessary to take into account the fact that cichlids have a habit of digging the bottom soil. Such a trait of behavior should not lead to the degradation of the decor and the destruction of the overall composition. In addition, fish can get hurt while digging, so when designing an aquarium, do not pour too large or sharp pebbles into it.
Taking this into account, professionalaquarists advise using river sand, the grains of which are 2-3 mm in diameter. Decorate the bottom by pouring it no less than 5 cm thick.
Of course, the condition of the soil will depend on the size of the fish you put in the tank. However, it is believed that the most convenient and safest substrate is sand.
Stones
Separately worth mentioning the choice of stones. They should also be smooth, preferably rounded. You can use granite, bas alt, sandstone, feldspar, quartz, slate to decorate the cichlid.
Just look at the beautiful decoration of the sandstone cichlid in the photo below.
Basic requirements for stones - first of all, they must be non-toxic, non-radioactive, do not react with water, that is, do not dissolve. Cichlids do not like increased hardness and acidity of water.
And now about the main thing: about water and lighting.
Water
Briefly about water parameters for keeping cichlids:
- weakly alkaline or slightly acidic - pH 5.8 - 6.8;
- temperature 22-26 °С;
- hardness 6-10°.
Water for cichlids can be taken from the tap, but be sure to filter and defend. If you are just starting to get acquainted with cichlids, then it is better to purchase less sensitive species. These include: pseudotropheus, pelvikachromis, labidochromis yellow, black-striped cichlazoma, cornflower haplochromis, Yohani melanochromis.
Most fish of this speciesare characterized by significant consumption of oxygen and release of nitrogen, so a weekly replacement of 30% of the water is necessary.
Don't forget to filter the liquid.
Lighting
Light directly affects the sleep and wakefulness of small residents. For a cichlid, it should be cold and discreet, since the natural habitat of cichlids is river and lake thickets. Spot lighting of the aquarium is recommended, for example, you can highlight individual elements of decor, plants.
The main spectrum of habitat colors is yellow, blue and green. They have a positive effect on the coloring of residents.
Since the duration of daylight is 14 hours, the backlight should provide natural daylight and darkness at night.
Nuances
The peculiarities of keeping a cichlid mainly lie in the problem of breeding offspring, therefore, when creating a beautiful water world with your own hands, study in more detail the information about the fish that you acquire, in particular, take into account the period of life of the animal and the method of laying caviar.
Let's take an example. Angelfish lay their eggs on the leaves of underwater plants, so if you are starting a South American cichlid, it would be more appropriate to plant Cryptocoryne or Echinodorus, which have rather large and stiff leaves.
Of course, the vast majority of African fish spawn in the ground or on flat rocks. This means that when decorating a cichlid, you need to lay out stone decorations in the areatheir habitats.
Thus, when designing and equipping a species aquarium, it is necessary to study the spawning characteristics of all types of living cichlids and provide a comfortable place for breeding.
We are sure you liked the photos of cichlid decorations from professional aquarists, which we have given as examples. Of course, you will learn more aspects of the content in the process, but we introduced you to the main thing - the preparation of their future house.
When making a cichlid and buying fish, it is important to remember that this is a very capricious species, and to carefully approach the choice of stones, soil, plants.
