Gold Cichlid, Basics of Taking Care of Your Little Friend

The Gold Cichlid comes from one of the largest freshwater lakes in the world, situated between 4 African countries known as Lake Tanganyika. It is also known widely as the Lemon Cichlid although it does vary in colors from bright yellow or orange to somewhat red. The change in color is put down to the environment and diet, a darker area with less light means darker or muddy colored fish.

Since Lake Tanganyika is very large and deep, the water tends to stay stable so the Gold Cichlid does not react well to large water changes and it is best to only change from 10%-20% a week. The water temperature should be around 74°F to 79°F and pH from between 7.8 to 9.0, wild caught Cichlid preferring the higher pH. Make sure the aquarium is very oxygen rich also even if you have plenty of plants in the tank and bubblers need to be used nearly 24/7.

Gold Cichlid are carnivores and therefore need food with proteins, preferably live or frozen foods although good quality pellet and flakes can be used also. If using the dry foods more often. it is still good to supplement these with brine shrimp, which can be fed to the fish either live or frozen or daphnia. A good other live food is Mysis since this helps the fish keep their vivid colors due to the proteins within the food and even crickets are well liked by the fish.

Lots of hiding places are a good idea for the Cichlid and as mentioned having good light will help the fish keep their color. This includes using a light sandy floor for the aquarium which can also help keep the pH up if the water is salty. Plants can also be used since the Gold Cichlid does not disturb them and some can provide micro-organisms for food and more hiding places.

The Gold Cichlid is a pretty good communal fish and is not very aggressive for the most part. They can get on well with other fish although it is always best to research all fish involved if they are placed in an aquarium with other species. If planning on breeding the Gold Cichlid make sure to have lots of caves around since they prefer to spawn their eggs in such shelter. Baby brine shrimp, frozen or live, are good food for baby Gold Cichlid.