Dwarfcichlid.com 

Practical Information About Keeping, Breeding and Buying Dwarf Cichlids

Equipment and Supplies

     Welcome to my "store" - well, not really. What you will find here are an assortment of items for keeping dwarf cichlids that I personally use and recommend. I get asked a lot about what specific products I use so here are a few.

     If you want to help support this site please order any of these products through this page. I have entered into a working relationship with Pet Mountain, an Internet based pet supply company. Over the years I have ordered from many different companies and Pet Mountain has impressed me with their low prices and excellent service.

     This is not a comprehensive list of every product I use. Rather these are specific products that I feel good about recommending. There are many other excellent products that might work better for you so, please don't think that I am implying that these are the only appropriate products for keeping dwarf cichlids.

     Finally, I believe that Pet Mountain is a good company and that is why I associate with them. If you ever have a less than satisfactory experience with them please let me know. I can't do anything if you have a problem but I want to know if a company that I recommend is not doing an excellent job.

     If you order any of these products or any other merchandise after getting to Pet Mountain from one of these links I will get a commission on the sale and you will be helping to support this site. Thanks!

Dwarf Cichlid Foods Note: There are many excellent fish foods that provide proper nutrition to your fish. These are some of my favorites. I usually feed pelleted foods to my fish once a day and live food once a day. For more about feeding dwarf cichlids see our Good Food page.
	Shrimp Pellets are one of the staple foods in my fish room. These hard pellets are very nutritious and my dwarf cichlids pick at them for a long time before they completely eat them. I have found that Bolivian Rams really like these pellets but all of my fish eat the eagerly. I feed them as often as every other day alternating with a general purpose pellet or one of my supplemental foods.
	Ocean Nutrition Tropical Pellets are a great general purpose food. They are formulated using both ocean Krill and spirulina algae to provide a balanced diet. Essential vitamins and minerals are added to this sinking food. The balanced nutrition it provides makes it an excellent staple food that could be fed daily.
	Tetra MicroCrabs has become one of my favorite supplemental foods. My fish love these small sinking crumbles. They are made with cyclops-eeze a tiny crustacean found in northern waters. These tiny creatures are naturally very high in color enhancing carotenes and I believe that they really bring out the red colors in my fish. I have noticed improvements in as little as a couple of weeks with some fish. I give a feeding every other day or so to my fish on a regular basis. I have fed this food on a daily basis to fish at times and they have always thrived. I like this food!
	Ocean Nutrition Algae Wafers  I like to offer a variety of foods to supplement the primary foods I give my fish. I make sure to include a high quality vegetable based food and this is a good one. The sinking wafers are easily eaten and the nutritious formula provides great results. Nanochromis transvestitus is a species that does best with a highly vegetarian diet and this is a great food for them and all other dwarf cichlids.
	Hikari Algae Wafers are a great vegetable based food that I have found to be a good supplement to my regular feedings. These sinking wafers are about the size of a US penny and are quite dry and brittle. I will break them into smaller pieces before I feed them to my dwarf cichlids. Of course, if you keep any suckermouth catfish they will love these as well. I feed Hikari Wafers as a supplement once or twice a week.

Aquarium Filters
	AquaClear Power Filters have been the only brand I have used for the past 15 years. I like that they use a washable sponge, they easily take bagged media, almost any replacement part is available and they operate dependably. They are available in a variety of sizes and can be used on most tanks larger than about 15 gallons. I only use power filters in tanks larger than about 30 gallons as I find them to be too much in smaller tanks where I use sponge filters. However, I run power filters on smaller tanks to give them the occasional clean up.
	Lee Sponge Filters are the primary filters that I use in my tanks. They are easy to use and clean and they keep your tank water in good condition. Sponge filters are air powered and by adjusting the bubble rate you can control the water flow. Sponge filters are great in breeding tanks where they keep the water clean but also provide a great feeding surface for newly hatched fry who will graze on tar surface.

Water Conditioners
	Novaqua I do not use many water conditioners in my tanks. However, the exception is the duo of novaqua and amquel. These products are developed by Kordon and are specifically formulated to work together in a complimentary fashion.Novaqua is a great additive that promotes the healthy slime coat that protects the fish. It neutralizes heavy metals and chlorine. Add it after water changes or any time that your fish might be stressed.
	Amquel  Amquel neutralizes ammonia and chlorine. Ammonia is naturally excreted by fish and can reach harmful concentrations, but a  few drops of amquel will eliminate any ammonia in your tanks. (Note: in an established aquarium natural biological processes will eliminate the ammonia from the water so amquel is not required on an ongoing basis.) I always add some amquel to fish that are being shipped to be sure there is no ammonia build up in the bag. I add a few drops to my newly hatched brine shrimp and achieve much better success.
	Tetra Blackwater Extract is about the only other water conditioner that I ever use. I find it to be an excellent tonic for all of my fish and put a little in their water on occasion. For species that come from blackwater habitats I add it with every water change. It helps to soften the water and provides valuable trace minerals. Be aware that this will discolor your water. At higher concentrations it will give the water a distinct dark brown color.