Hello Philip. Thanks for your reply. Going by your brief description, I
suspect that what you may have had were commonly known as Zebra Convicts or Zebra Cichlids. Below are two URL's which show images of the fish. In the
first image/first URL, the fish looks more blue, but that may be due to the aquarium lighting. In the second image, the Zebra Convict looks more gray with dark black stripes. The second image is the way that you will usually seem
them in aquariums:
http://www.saltwater-aquarium.org/images/convict-zebra-cichlid.jpg
http://www.aqua-fish.net/imgs/fish2/convict-cichlid-6.jpg
Zebra Convicts are very popular aquarium fish. They are very hardy, easy to keep, and as you undoubtedly realized, interesting to watch, particularly when they go about their mating habits...and digging mating pits in the gravel or sand, or under rocks, is a big part of their mating ritual. As with other cichlids, it is best to keep a healthy ratio of one male for every several females. When I was breeding my Malawi cichlids, I tried to maintain a ratio
of four to six females per male.
Cichlids is a very large family of fish, which also happens to include Discus and Angels. Their water requirements vary, depending on the species. Some,
such as Discus and Angels, prefer acidic water, which stimulates breeding, while others, such as African cichlids, prefer hard, alkaline water. Where I live, African cichlids do quite well, because our water is very hard and alkaline, due to the high levels of carbonates in our island's rock strata.
But regardless of which species of fish you keep, consistent water maintenance is a must. We need to remember that in the wild, nature maintains water
quality itself; but in an aquarium, it is a controlled environment, and it is up to us, the fishkeeper, to maintain water purity.
Excessive algae growth is a sure sign of poor water quality. It results primarily from the long-term buildup of nitrates and phosphates in the water. Nitrates are the end product of the nitrification process...at least before released nitrogen, that is. Ammonia builds up in your tank due to fish breathing, uneaten food, feces, and other organic waste. Different types of bacteria, such as nitrobacters and nitrosomonas, break down the ammonia to nitrite, and then to nitrates...which is algae food. The cheapest way to rid
an aquarium of nitrates is through weekly partial water changes, although
there are more expensive alternatives.
Goldfish are plain messy fish. They eat and poop all the time, which means a lot of nitrates in the water, and a lot of algae growth to clean up if you don't maintain a high water level.
Well, sorry to go on and on, but as a hobbyist, and a former owner of an aquarium design and maintenance business, this is one subject I love to talk about. I love to educate people about their fish, so that they can take care
of one of God's beautiful creations.
Take care.
Jeff Snyder, SysOp - Armageddon BBS Visit us at endtimeprophecy.org port 23 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Your Download Center 4 Mac BBS Software & Christian Files. We Use Hermes II
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