The title of this post is a bit misleading. What I mean by “building” isn’t exactly synonymous with turning raw material like clay, for example, into something that resembles a cave. This post is more about using various aquarium-safe objects for caves and breeding structures.
If you’ve read through this blog, specifically the FAQ, you know I don’t make any money off of it. Not one penny.
So why do it? That’s a great question. Maybe I should add that to the FAQ.
There is no single answer. In fact, I do it for several reasons. I’ll give you four below:
If I asked you to compile a list of cichlidophiles you know 1) who make regular trips to cichlid locales to collect fish, 2) who regularly speak at cichlid conventions, and 3) and whose name you hear regularly in the hobby, how many people would be on that list? I bet your list wouldn’t be very long but I also bet that Oliver Lucanus would be on it.
At the OCA 25th Extravaganza back in November, I attended Oliver’s presentations. They were chockfull of great photos and were very informative. After his second talk, I introduced myself and the blog. I asked him if he would be interested in doing an interview. He smiled and said, “sure”.
You may know Oliver as a long time aquarist and wildlife photographer. What you may not know is that he’s also been importing fish for more than 30 years. Furthermore, he’s an author, who’s book “Below Water – the Amazon” has become a favorite of cichlid hobbyists, especially those keeping SA fish. In fact, he has a new book coming out soon titled, “Xingu – Below Water”. For those unfamiliar, the Xingu is a tributary river of the Amazon in Brazil. At over 1,000 miles long, the Xingu runs north to south and is home to some of the most beautiful and fascinating fishes in the world. Oliver’s experience diving and collecting in this river is expansive, and his photos of cichlids in their natural habitat are amazing.
Let’s go!
Over the years I have posted a few times about the CARES Preservation Program. Yesterday I came across a Facebook post (shout out to Pete Liptrot) linking to a short article about CARES in New Scientist magazine. For more information about the program, check out the interview I did with Greg Steeves. If you want the complete lowdown on CARES, you can go straight to the their website.
As the title of this post states, this is about taking the effort out of maintaining certain water parameters. Why? For many hobbyist, chasing such parameters as hardness and pH makes fish keeping a lot of hassle. The easiest solution? Keep the species that work best in the water you have. Whether you’re on municipal water or well water, there are cichlid species that will live and thrive in what you have. In fact, find out before you purchase your fish what water they were bred/kept in.
Continue reading this post…Hassle free water parameter maintenance for cichlids
For the first post of 2020, I wanted to wish all of you a Happy New Year and thank you for reading the blog! I hope your cichlid keeping efforts this year are successful, fun, and rewarding. My wish for 2020 is that I’m able to continue sharing with you my excitement and love for cichlids. As such, I hope to bring you some great content again this year!
I’ve posted on the blog here several times about how much I hate to lose a fish. I don’t consider them pets like I do my dog, but I take my responsibility of keeping them seriously. When they get ill, I try my best to treat them if I know what’s wrong. All cichlid keepers will eventually experience sick fish. So how do you recognize the behavior of a cichlid that is ill?
Continue reading this post…Behavioral signs of an ill cichlid
If you read the blog and you like it, please share it on your preferred social media sites. If you’re a member of any cichlid Facebook groups, please don’t hesitate give the blog a shout out. I always welcome more readers and love to meet new cichlidophiles.
As I’ve stated before, this blog is nothing more than a virtual personal journal if there aren’t any readers. And I don’t need a blog platform to write for myself. So please feel free to share the site with others. Also, feel free to comment or contact me. I welcome that too.
Thanks for reading!
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Just over two years ago, I interviewed Lisa Hoeber of Super Cichlids. At that time, Super Cichlids was an online-only retail store. Fast forward to this summer and that changed in a big way. Lisa and her co-owner husband, Martin, opened a physical store with the same name in their hometown of Dover, Delaware. Shortly before their opening, I e-mailed Lisa and Martin asking if they would be interested in doing another interview. Thankfully, they happily agreed. If you’re in the Dover area or within a reasonable driving distance, I would encourage you to visit their store. I haven’t been myself, but I have seen numerous photos. The place looks amazing! I know Lisa and Martin, and they’re first class. If you visit, I would expect that you will experience the same unbridled friendliness that you’ve experienced interacting with them at their vendor booth during fish shows and conventions. Even if you can’t visit their physical store, certainly go to their website. They have great deals all of the time. |
With the holidays upon us, I thought about how many cichlidophiles will be traveling. Many of those will be gone long enough to need their fish fed while they’re gone. This sometimes creates problems. I was recently reminded of how often cichlid keepers return home only to find a tank with dead fish.