# Best book on cichlids



## itzazeem (Apr 22, 2012)

Greetings everyone. I am new to the hobby, and love the African cichlids, yet the only fish store in our city isn't very helpful in guiding a new enthusiast on the right path. I have 12 fish: 1 yellow lab, 2 elec blue johannii, 3 chepotae, 1 albino zebra, 5 red jewels (which I've gotten conflicted information as to whether they are African or south American), and 1 demasoni. I have them in a 55 gallon tank. 
I would like to know what would be the best book I can get on African cichlids, and the best lighting setup I can have for them.
Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Azim


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

They are all African, but jewels are west African and the rest are east African mbuna from Lake Malawi.

IMO the best book is Ad Konings Malawi Cichlids in their natural habitat, 4th edition. However, it pictures and describes the fish in the wild and does not give you much on keeping them in a aquarium.

For that I would read the Cichlid-forum Library and post your questions after reading here.

The jewels, by the way, will kill everyone in the tank when they spawn. So maybe not a good mix for the mbuna. And the mbuna are a harem fish...in pairs and trios the males will kill the females.

You have aggressive mbuna so far. One of the first things you will have to decide is whether you want an all-male tank (lots of work and lots of variety) or whether you want mixed genders.


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