Being a cichlid nerd is great, but it comes with problems. One problem for me is having a species wish list that’s 40x greater than the tank space I have. I imagine many of you can relate.
I am a lightweight in cichlid keeping circles. Other serious hobbyists would probably snicker at me if they knew I only have 10 tanks. Lots of cichlid enthusiasts maintain 80 tanks or more.
Those who have that many tanks have fish options that I don’t have…and that sucks. Because my wish list exceeds my capacity, I have to be very judicious about my new fish decisions.
At present, I have some space available. I could even combine some tanks. I have a couple of species only set-ups (N. similis and J. marksmithi) that I could either move out of their existing tank into a community setting or I could also keep them where they’re at and add more con-specifics to their tank.
My plan back in the late fall (2025) was to order some new fish, but I decided to wait until the weather warmed up for shipping purposes. Mid-winter, I started thinking about this summer’s ACA convention in Lexington KY. Since Lexington is not a very far drive for me, I have delayed ordering anything and see what I might pick up at the convention. Though I will show up at the convention with a short list of species I want, there is no guarantee they’ll be available there.
I think as fish keepers go, I am probably more patient than most. I am also not one who purchases fish, breeds them a couple of times, then trades them off. I keep my fish until they pass. Obviously, that philosophy greatly informs my new fish decision making but it also hinders my space availability.
Probably 90% of the time, I am decisive. Not this time. I keep waffling on what I want to do. Why not do both, order some fish and pick some up at the convention? That is a thought and not a bad one. I will decide what to do in the next week or two. Stay tuned.