My oldest fish is the big Oscar. He has a huge appetite and produces the most amount of waist. He or she is also not as aggressive as it looks and has many acrobatic moves as it slowly swims in the tank. The Oscar is the boss in the tank, however the stripped fish gives him a run for his money at times. The stripped fish AKA Convict is the bully in the tank. He starts fights with everyone and picks on the most colorful fish in the tank, Panic. Panic, a Jack Dempsey cichlid as his nickname suggests, used to swim around the tank like a maniac. He now has started growing and is beginning to believe in himself more and more as days go by.  These three are my South American cichlids. I also have a streamline Rainbow shark, Martini, who dashes throughout the tank eating algee and a Raphael Catfish. The catfish AKA Michael Jackson hids throughout the day and comes out at night only. His coloration is white with black strips.  He tends to clean the Oscars fins, so they have a bond I suppose. They all seem to get along great and I cannot wait for them to continue growing and interacting.

Even though I have too many fish in my 35 gallon aquarium, the water has been clear for two months now.  My number one mistake was that I turned off the filter everytime I fed my fish.  The trick to a clear aquarium is having biological bacteria build up in your filter. Since I turned off the filter as I fed the fish, the bacteria living in my filter would not be fed and would eventually die.  Commercial bacteria can be purchased at a pets store and should be added after every water change or as necessary.  I was able to get right back on track after I realized my mistake. My fish are fed bloodworms, cichlid sticks, bottom feeder pellets, and color boosting tablets. Other than changing 10 percent of the water every two weeks and change the filter every several months, the glass needs cleaning. I used a squeegee that I’ve purchased from the dollor store. Other than that, the biological bacteria in the fish tank takes care of everything else.

My buddy Rob cleans the fish tanks at UIC in the CCC building.  After taking the escalators from the ground floor, no one can miss the two 200 gallon fish tanks filled with colorful African Malawi cichlids.  I asked him a few questions to see what he does differently then I do to maintain these particular type of fish.

What would you consider a regular day of changing the water in these tanks?

Every two weeks I change 10 percent of the water by inserting the water suction vacuum into the gravel to remove the waste.  Besides that the filters are changed at the beginning of every semester.

Is there anything special these fish need? I had two African cichlids myself but they died within two weeks.

Yes, it is very important that you purchase Malawi lake salts for these fish as they tend to prefer water that is hard. Use these salts with every water change to increase alkalinity.

I noticed that there are about a dozen little baby fish swimming around in there. I know that these fish lay at least 300 eggs. Wouldn’t it be better to transfer them to another tank after they hatch?

After the fry hatch the parents protect them by keeping them in their mouths. Those that are left are the ones that survived the jaws of the other fish from the tank. This is a natural environment so I just let nature take it’s course.

Do you yourself own an aquarium?

Yes, I own a 20 gallon tank with a betta fish, 5 x-ray fish, one small catfish and three clams. It’s a small tank but I just don’t have room for anything bigger. Eventually I am hoping to purchase a 100 gallon tank and go saltwater with it.

A 10 gallon fish tank along with a cleaning vacuum was given to me by a friend.  I immediately  went out and purchased a wild tiger oscar, two little catfish, and two African cichlids, a filter, some ornaments and gravel.  Being an aquarium armature, I did not take the time to research exactly what I had bought.  Three of my fish were semi aggressive and two of them were community tank mates.  These two tank mates were eventually eaten as the others grew and the african cichlids ended up dying.  The aquarium itself would turn cloudy every a couple of days, which aggravated me to the fullest extent.  I searched the web for cheap tanks and stumbled upon a 35 gallon tank with a black stand for 90 bucks, which was a steal! The same tank at petsmart went for almost 300 dollars.  Every happy with myself I bought four new fish to hang with  my big oscar fish.   The new tank mates all grow past 6 inches at full age.  I knew I wanted these particular type of fish, even though my aquarium was still too small.  I soon realized this tank was no different then the 10 gallon, and the cloudy water continued…

I have kept my fish for 6 months now.  At this point, I am having a great time admiring the fish tank that I  have worked so hard to develope.  For starters I may as well say that jumping into this sort of hobby may not be for everyone.  The beginning stages of maintaining an aquarium can be strenous.  If you are wary of dirty water and growing alge, this activity may not be for you.  However, if you are interested in watching unpredictable behavioral patterns of fish and are not shy with inserting your hands into a tank, aquariums can be a whole lot of fun.