Iranocichla persa. Photo from research article . A new species of cichlid from Iran has been described. Iranocichla persa joins I. hormuzensis in what was once a single species genus. Like I. hormuzensis, I. persa has only been found in drainage rivers along the Persian Gulf coastal region. The...

OB Peacock. Photo by Dave Hansen OB Peacocks have been in the hobby for some time. Their orange-blotched pattern and peacock-like displays make them an attractive fish. However, despite their body shape and common association with Aulonocara species from Lake Malawi, these fish are not native...

Thoracochromis sp. "Lake Albert" dark morph. Photo by Greg Steeves Lake Albert, like most lakes in Africa other than the "big three", doesn't get much recognition. In reality, Lakes Victoria, Tanganyika and Malawi are the largest of 10 lakes that make up the African Great Lakes. In Lake...

Alcolapia alcalicus. Photo by Greg Steeves. Courtesy of AfricanCichlids.net A true wonder of adaptation, Alcolapia alcalicus makes its home in hot, alkaline springs around Lake Natron. Water conditions routinely exceed 100 degrees and pH levels hover around 10! Rare in the hobby, A. alcalicus...

Representatives of Anglerfish. Photo from Evolutionary history of anglerfishes . CC BY 2.0 Most people have seen pictures of the Anglerfish. These fish get their name from a modified ray with luminous flesh that they dangle to attract prey. These fish also look very scary with their strange...

Various aquarium safe products on the market. An informative article written by Frank Mueller (fmueller) addresses many of the questions hobbyists have about which silicone products can be safely used in an aquarium. At one time the GE brand was the go-to product for sealing an aquarium. That...

Bathynomus giganteus The term Giant isopod is used for as many as 20 species of large crustaceans in the Genus Bathynomus. Giant isopods are important scavengers in the deep-sea and are most commonly found 500 to 7000 feet underwater. At these depths, food is scarce and they have adapted to...

Aulonocara sp. "tangerine". Photo by Dave Hansen Fish have a system of sense organs used to detect motion and vibrations in the water. This sensory system is known as lateral lines and can be seen as a faint lines running lengthwise along the side of fish. These receptors can also be found...

Today it was brought to our attention that the instructions on how to post pictures to the forum were outdated and not working (thanks Chuck). Turns out most of the image hosting websites like Photobucket and Flickr have changed the way pictures are shared. So, we've done some updating of our...

Paratilapia polleni. Photo by MidgleyDJ Paratilapia polleni is one of the cichlid species from Madagascar. Like other cichlids, P. polleni will excavate a pit in order to spawn. Here is where P. polleni differentiates itself from other egg layers. Its eggs aren't sticky so they wont adhere to a...

Egg-spots on Astatotilapia burtoni. We've all seen egg-spots on mouth-brooding cichlids, particularly on male haplochromines. The assumption has always been that the egg-spots spur the female cichlid to "pick up" the eggs and as a result, fertilize the eggs in her mouth. However a new study has...

Lamprologus lethops Of all the many different cichlids, there is only one known species that is naturally blind and non-pigmented. The elusive Lamprologus lethops is endemic to the Congo River and can be found in river canyons with depths of over 500 ft. Not much is know about this species but...

Jane Goodall In 1960, Valerie Jane Morris-Goodall traveled to Tanzania to study the Kasakela chimpanzee community in Gombe Stream National Park. It is at this park, located on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, that Goodall conducted her 45 year study to become the world's foremost expert on...

We often generalize many cichlids as being from Lake Victoria. However, many of them are actually from different lakes in the Lake Victoria Basin. The Lake Victoria Basin is a collection of lakes, rivers and swamps. Some of the other lakes in the basin are Lake Kyoga & Nawampasa, Lake Albert...

Tropheus Tank with plenty of microbubbles. If you have been long enough in this hobby, at some stage you will have heard warnings that small bubbles, often referred to as 'microbubbles' can be harmful for fish. Since I like my tanks to be heavily oxygenated, they typically contain lots of...