Cichlid Devotees and Other Fish Enthusiasts

Thousands of people keep fishes in their aquaria, whether in the home or the doctors office, and for a variety of reasons. The most common motivation? They are a delight to watch. Just the presence of a goldfish in a small glass bowl by the bed buoys the spirits of a patient in the hospital. Equally impressive, watching fish behave in an aquarium lowers the blood pressure of some people as effectively as taking drugs. Beyond that, learning about the habits of fishes, by watching what the do, is a painless education about the natural world. The lessons learned apply beyond the transparent walls of the fish tank. An added dividend: a lushly planted aquarium inhabited by colorful healthy fish beautifies any room.

Eretmodus cyanostictus
Eretmodus cyanostictus

I hope my book on cichlid fishes stimulates some of you to try your hand at keeping an aquarium full of fish where ever you spend your time. Maintaining a fish tank takes surprisingly little time and effort, once established, but it does call for some knowledge. The basic principles are easy to acquire by reading one of the many books on the subject, most of which are short and to the point, or by going to the Internet to mine the multitude of web sites that cover fishes from different angles.

I provide here just enough information to get you started. Given that you probably arrived here by looking at my cichlid book, I'll presume you are mainly interested in those fishes. But I also point to some sources of knowledge on keeping fishes in general.

Reading Matter

HELPFUL BOOKS: The number of books offering help to tropical-fish enthusiasts seems endless. I have picked just a few, but as an Internet user you should look at the multiple choices found at the many web bookstores that proffer ample selections of books.

  • For the general aquarist, take a look at the well written and up to date
    Tropical Fishlopaedia : A Complete Guide to Fish Care, by Peter Burgess and Mary Bailey (2000, Hungry Minds)
  • The aspiring cichlid hobbyist is lucky to have available an authoritative book on their care and natural history,
    The Cichlid Aquarium, by Paul V. Loiselle (1985 - but a more recent edition is available, Tetra Press, 287 pp.)
  • The cichlidophile will find a trove of fascinating information about cichlids in nature, together with outstanding underwater and aquarium photographs, in the several books by Ad Konings. Here are two examples:
    Ad Koning's Book of Cichlids and all the Other Fishes of Lake Malawi, by Ad Konings (1990, T.F.H. Publications, Neptune City, N.J., 495 pp.)

    Tanganyika Cichlids in their Natural Habitat, by Ad Konings (1998, Cichlid Press, El Paso, Texas, 272 pp.)

MAGAZINES: Numerous hobby clubs have in-house publications that are helpful and are distributed to their members (see list of clubs, below). Many cichlid groups put their club magazine in the Internet. In addition, professional magazines are available, some of which can be subscribed to on-line. For aquarists of all stripes, two such magazines are widely available in the U.S.A., either at pet stores or through subscription:

SOME USEFUL WEB SITES: The Internet is loaded with URLs for the tropical-fish hobbyist. Many web sites are a mix of products for sale and general information. Some cater to a much narrower audience of serious hobbyists. I list here just a few that I find useful, in part because they link to many other valuable sites. You should, nonetheless, explore the profusion of alternative web sites. Let me know if you find ones that are particularly informative.

Cichlid Clubs, Associations, Societies, Study Groups

A warning: People sometimes get a bit obsessive about things like their pet fishes. Incurable cichlid addicts — cichlidophiles, cichlidiots — form clubs where they share their expertise in, say, how to breed this species or that. Meetings, typically monthly, commonly feature brief lectures, much camaraderie and an auction where unusual species can by obtained, often at less than market prices. The American Cichlid Association has an annual convention attended by members of clubs from all over the U.S.A. and from abroad. Other nations also have annual cichlid conventions.

I started the list of the following cichlid organizations from the 1966 volume of Cichlid News. Hobbyist clubs sometimes have short lives, and the tasks within hobbyist clubs tend to rotate, so some of these addresses will be out of date. Nonetheless, they should guide you to the club by name and city. I have added several other entries to the list and updated others.

If you see an address that needs changing, or other errors, please notify me and I will make the corrections.
For URLs of many clubs, go to http://cichlids.stormloader.com/clubs.html

AUSTRALIA
New South Wales Cichlid Society
http://cichlidsociety.cjb.net

New South Wales Cichlid Society ­ Illawarra Branch
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~parkersm/index.html

Queensland Cichlid Group
P.O. Box 8360
Wooloongabba, Queensland 4102
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~gregure/

Victorian Cichlid Society
23 Mangana Drive
Mulgrave, Victoria 3170
http://www.blaze.net.au/~darylh/

AUSTRIA
Deutsche Cichliden Gesellschaft
Victor Kaplan Strasse 1-9/1/3/12
A-1220 Wien
http://www.dcg-online.de/dHTML/files/

BELGIUM
Belgische Cichliden Vereninging
Kievitlaan 23
B-2228 Ranst
http://home2.pi.be/walter67/

CANADA
Canadian Rift Lake Cichlid Association
http://www.cichlids.on.ca/index.html

DENMARK
Dansk Cichlide Selskab
Třllřsevel 76
DK-2700 Brřnshřj
http://w1.1364.telia.com/~u136401003/dcs.html

FINNLAND
http://www.dlc.fi/~jarvij/cichlids/

FRANCE
Association France Cichlid
M. Roland Staub
5 rue Clemenceau
7800 Hoenheim
http://www.francecichlid.com

GERMANY
For several clubs: http://www.netpets.com/fish/fishclub/international/germanysoc.html

Deutsche Cichliden Gesellschaft
Winfried Poesdor
Parkstrasse 21a
D-33719 Bielefeld

VDA-Arbeitskreis Zwergcichliden
Richard-Holz-Strasse 4
D-08060 Zwickau

HUNGARY
Sügérbarátok Klubja Budapest
Mészöly u. 6. 11/3
H-1117 Budapest

ITALY
Associazone Italiana Ciclidofili
Via Zucchini, 6
1-48018 Faenza
http://www.aiconline.it

JAPAN
Daizawa 4-46-3, Setagaya
Tokyo 155

MEXICO
Grupo Mexicano de Ciclidófilos
Juan Miguel Artigas Azas
Cordillera Karakorum 223B
Lomas 3a sección
San Luis Potosi, S.L.P., 78216

NETHERLANDS
Nederlandse Vereniging van Cichlidenliefhebbers
http://home.wxs.nl/~cichlidenvereniging_nvc/

POLAND
Polskie Malawi (Polish Malawi)
Marzenna Kielan
http://www.malawi.pl

SLOVAKIA
Slovakiaszch Klub Chovatelov Cichlid
Prikopova 2
831 03 Bratislava

SWEDEN
Nordiska Ciklid Sällskapet
Plommonvägen 26
S-161 52 Bromma
http://www.ciklid.se

SWITZERLAND
Deutsche Cichliden Gesellschaft
Am Balsberg 1
CH-8302 Kloten

TAIWAN (R.O.C.)
Taiwanese Cichlid Association
No17, Lane 239, An-Ho Road
Taipei

UNITED KINGDOM
British Cichlid Association
Ken Hilton
248 Longridge, Knutsford
Cheshire, WA18 8PH
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/bca/

U.S.A.
American Cichlid Association
Howard Schmidt, ACA Membership Chairman
P.O. Box 5351
Naperville, IL 60567-5351
http://www.aca2001.com

Adv. Cichlid Aquarists Southern California
P.O. Box 8173
San Marino, CA 91108

African Cichlid Club
3744 Forest Valley Court SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49508

Apistogramma Study Group
Daryl Syska
P.O. Box 504
Elkhorn, WI 53121 http://user.MC.Net/~warewolf/apisto.html

Atlantic Cichlid & Catfish Association
29 Pearsall Avenue
Jersey City, NJ 07305

Beach Cities Cichlid Association
2106 Manhattan Beach Boulevard/5
Redondo Beach, CA 90278

Cichlasoma Study Group
Pat Tosie Sr.
813 Locks Mills Dr.
Fenton, MO 63026

Cichlid Hobbyists of Eastern Wisconsin
3259 So. Swain Court
Milwaukee, WI 53207

Cichlid Seekers
2014 45th Street Court N.W.
Gig Harbor, WA 98335

Discus Study Group
Jeni and Curt Kafer
28180 Verdin Street N.W.
Isanti, MN 55040
http://www.kkreate.com/dsg/

Fort Wayne Cichlid Association
502 Park Ave, Box 260
Antwerp, OH 45813

Greater Chicago Cichlid Association
241 Oxford Ct.
Bloomingdale, IL 60108
http://www.gcca.net

Greater Cincinnati Cichlid Association
15 W. Southern Avenue
Covington, KY 41015

Great Lakes Cichlid Association
Joseph E. Valencic
79261 Champaign Dr.
Mentor, Ohio 44060
http://www.ncweb.com/users/joev/glcs/index.html

Illinois Cichlids & Scavengers
7807 Sunset Drive
Elmwood Park, IL 60635

Lake Erie Cichlid Association
1113 Sunset Road
Mayfield Heights, OH 44124

Michigan Cichlid Association
P.O. Box 59
New Baltimore, MI 48047
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/Canopy/2636/index.html

Mid-Atlantic Cichlid Keepers
P.O. Box 303
Drexel Hill, PA 19026
http://www.paveza.net/mack/

Milwaukee Cichlid Club
1926 Grange Avenue
Racine, WI 53403

Ohio Cichlid Association
Dan Woodland
7330 Ames Road
Parma, OH 44129
http://www.ohiocichlid.com

Oregon Cichlid Study Group
388 N. State Street
Lake Oswego, OR 97034

Pacific Coast Cichlid Association
P.O. Box 282145
San Jose, CA 95128
http://cichlidresearch.com/pcca.html

Pikes Peak Cichlid Association
P.O. Box 17176
Colorado Springs, CO 80935

Rift Valley Cichlids
15800 Laguna Avenue
Lake Elsinore, CA 92530

Rocky Mountain Cichlid Association
Ed Duggan
9242 E. Eastman Place
Denver, CO 80231
http://www.liss.olm.net/rmca/

South American Cichlid Study Group
P.O. Box 14123
Dinkytown Station
Minneapolis, MN 55414_1540
http://petsforum.com/SACSG/

Southern California Cichlid Association
Tom Bartley
P.O. Box 876
Banning, CA 92220

St. Petersburg Cichlid Association
jdcfish@tampabay.rr.com

Texas Cichlid Association
Kathy Stearns
1515 Creekview Dr.
Keller, TX 76248
tcichlid@flash.net

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