# Cichlid Expertise: how to obtain it...any ideas?



## TKC747 (Dec 5, 2008)

HI,

Does anybody wish to give a novice on how to obtain knowledge about Africans? What good books do you guys recommend? Any good web sites?

Thanks in advance


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## klumsyninja (Aug 14, 2008)

This is a great website : http://cichlid-forum.com/ They have tons of information, a library full of articles and fish profiles. Their photography section goes on for days. Not to mention their 'SEARCH' feature where you can find the answers to your questions 9 times out of 10! You should definitely check it out.


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## eL Chupy (Aug 6, 2007)

:lol: 
I totally agree.. this is the best source of info I've come across... it's not so much book knowledge, well it is too, we got a lot of smart people who know there stuff, but it's real world experience with just about anything you can get your hands on!...

but as for books... I have 'malawi cichlids in their natural habitat' by ad konings on my christmas list. .. and I want that book because it is so highly recomended by people here


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## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

LMAO. I've read this site forwards and backwards and sideways. I've kept fish for 20+ years, but you can't beat the internet. There are many references you can research! Most of the books that I have purchased are Wrong!! They can't even list the fish names correctly. I wiukd hope and think that 'Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat' by Ad Konings would be the exception.


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## TKC747 (Dec 5, 2008)

Florida girl, thanks for the input, what does LMAO mean?


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## Guest (Dec 11, 2008)

TKC747 said:


> Florida girl, thanks for the input, what does LMAO mean?


Laughing my ass off.


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## Guest (Dec 11, 2008)

Anyway for cichlids, I recommend the following books:

Books on information on feeding, behaviors, species history, great in the wild photos, etc:
Tanganyika Cichlids in their Natural Habitat
Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat 4th Edition

Great books on general information, stocking, feeding, breeding, treating illness, tankmates, etc:
Enjoying Cichlids edited and partially authored by Ad Konings
The Cichlid Aquarium by Paul Loiselle (only available used on amazon.com)

The only other way to gain expertise is to keep them, breed them successfully, etc. Eventually through trial and error and plenty of reading and asking questions you'll figure out how to best take care of them.

~Ed


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## TKC747 (Dec 5, 2008)

Thanks again Marduk, if I win the lottery  , I'll buy a house and a room full of tanks to get that experience. I'm so wary of buying cichlids, raising them, and trading or giving away old ones for new ones. That is what all of us will have to do is it not?


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

http://www.cichlidpress.com/


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## Dave (Feb 9, 2003)

Marduk said:


> Enjoying Cichlids edited and partially authored by Ad Konings


 An excellent beginner's book.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

Dave said:


> Marduk said:
> 
> 
> > Enjoying Cichlids edited and partially authored by Ad Konings
> ...


I agree, and a good overview of cichlids from different regions!

For basic info on Malawians or Tanganyikans, the "Back to Nature Guides" by Ad are great.


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## Guest (Dec 12, 2008)

Just to give a bit more info on Paul Loiselle's book, I found it to contain a lot of information that Enjoying Cichlids does not contain, ESPECIALLY about West African and New World.

On the other hand, Enjoying Cichlids is a lot shorter, still in print and available as new, and contains much much better information on Rift Lake Cichlids.

Personally I recommend them both.

You can find all those cichlid-press books on Amazon.com and on Cichlidpress.com

And Paul Loiselle's book currently you can only buy used on Amazon.com here: http://www.amazon.com/Cichlid-Aquarium- ... 215&sr=8-1

Paul Loiselle's book also contains a nice troubleshooting section.

Anyway like I said, if your aim is to keep mostly rift lake cichlids pick Enjoying Cichlids first. Both books are fantastic though... And I just wanted to bump up Paul's book since I hardly see anyone ever even mention it...

~Ed


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## lotsofish (Feb 28, 2008)

Check out the American Cichlid Assoc.
http://www.cichlid.org/index.html

They have a yearly convention with outstanding speakers, fish show, auction
Nothing better than meeting the experts in person and seeing show fish.

The 2009 Convention is in Cincinnati.


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