The South American eartheaters are amongst the most adaptable species of the South American continent and are, by and large, easy to maintain. They are attractively colored, long-lived, relatively easy to feed, and with luck can be induced to breed in almost any type of water. They are devoted parents with a fascinating behavioural repertoire that will never cease to amaze their owner. The author has more than 10 years experience in keeping South American eartheaters and undertook several expeditions to South America in order to observe and catch these cichlids in their natural habitat. The information in this book stems from first hand experience and the author's knowledge regarding keeping and breeding these eartheaters forms the basis of this monograph, the first book completely devoted to South American eartheaters. In this book you will find general information on the history, systematics, geographical origin, and maintenance requirements of these cichlids. In the species section the different taxa are described in detail. The book covers the members of the genera Geophagus, Satanoperca, Biotodoma, and Gymnogeophagus, and also Acarichthys, Guianacara, and Retroculus.

South American Eartheaters

Thomas Weidner

Cichlid Press

This book, which contains more than 600 color photos, providing all necessary advises (size aquarium, decoration, plants, technology, water chemistry, food, breeding, diseases, how to buy the fish etc.) for anyone that is going to start an aquarium. More than 550 fishes and plants are also described with a short informative text and a photo. It is a great book with a lot of information and beautiful photography!

Back to Nature: Aquariumguide

Konings, Ad

Fohrman, Kjell

This third, revised, edition of the definitive study of Lake Malawi cichlids discusses and illustrates more species than any previous publication. Basing his study on more than 900 hours of underwater observations all over the lake, the author characterizes the species by their habitat preference, distribution, and coloration. More than 1400 excellent photographs ? many never published before ?illustrate the cichlid fauna of the entire lake. Almost all of these photographs were taken in the lake and show the fishes in their natural habitat. The book is a large edition (8" x 11") composing 352 pages. Hardcover.

Malawi Cichlids in Their Natural Habitat

Ad Konings

Cichlids have been favorite aquarium fishes for almost a century. 'Discus', 'Angels', 'Kribs', and 'Rams' are well-known cichlids, which are often kept with non-cichlids in a community aquarium, although they are best maintained in a special tank. Cichlid keeping experienced a huge increase in popularity soon after the first species were exported from Africa's rift lakes; these fishes, with their gorgeous colors, were so different from those kept previously that they stole the hearts of aquarists all over the world. Following the advent of rift lake cichlids their Neotropical cousins also received increased attention from hobbyists. Aquarium clubs specializing in cichlids have been formed in many countries and information about these wonderful creatures is spread via numerous magazines. Every year cichlids fascinate more and more aquarists with their splendid coloration and interesting behavior. During the past decades, aquarists as well as scientists have studied cichlids in their native waters, discovering a wealth of information about their natural behavior. This knowledge, together with that derived from many years of keeping and breeding these fishes, has proved to be of vital importance to successful cichlid keeping, and is here brought together in a single volume. This book has been written by 12 authors, each of them a specialist for many years in his or her field, and is the distillation of a total of more than 300 years experience in keeping cichlids. The result is an invaluable guide to the essentials of enjoying cichlids.

Enjoying Cichlids

Mary Bailey

Kjell Fohrman

Lake Malawi is a large, beautiful African Rift Valley lake, bordered by Malawi, Tanzania and Mozambique. Its biodiversity is simply extraordinary by any standard - it has the greatest wealth of fish species of all the lakes in the world. The vast majority of this ichthyofauna belongs to just one family, the Cichlidae, and most of the cichlid species are endemic to the lake. These fishes are of major economic importance as an important source of protein for the riparian people. They are also of great value as research subjects in a wide array of biological disciplines and are currently at the forefront of evolutionary research. Many of these cichlids, especially the Mbuna, enjoy considerable popularity in the specialized aquarium hobby. Less than half of the 800 or more estimated cichlid species from Lake Malawi are described, and many of those only in superficial terms. All kinds of taxonomic problems abound at both species and genus level. This makes studying these fishes quite a challenge. Several genera or parts of genera have been revised in this book; about forty new species have been described and many species reported for the first time, with each given a provisional working name. About 270 black and white or color illustrations of these fishes have been included to facilitate their identification. The research reported in this book was carried out as part of the GEF/SADC Lake Malawi/Nyasa Biodiversity Conservation Project in Malawi, Tanzania and Mozambique, financed by grants from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and with the support of the UK Department For International Development (DFID). Its results are based on the data collected during the two years of the first ever lake-wide survey program. All of the chapters except one were written by members of the systematics team stationed at Senga Bay, Malawi: Jackie Chisambo, Thomas Nyasulu and Rhoda Walapa from Malawi, Ben Ngatunga from Tanzania, Joao Manuel from Mozambique, Mark Hanssens and Jos Snoeks from Belgium. The team of the Ncheni project coordinated by George Turner (UK) made a valuable additional contribution. Dave Voorvelt, the GEF/SADC project's artist, has added a lot of extra scientific value to the book through his beautiful and accurate color illustrations of Malawi fishes. 360 pages; size 20 x 27 cm (8" x 11"); 75 color drawings; hundreds of black & white photos, maps, graphs; hardcover.

The Cichlid Diversity of Lake Malawi/Nyasa/Niassa: Identification, Distribution and Taxonomy

Jos Snoeks

Just the words East African Rift Lake convey sufficient magic to attract the attention of those that have never even heard of cichlids. Imagine a body of water as large as the state of Maryland, filled with crystal clear water fresh water and teeming with millions of gaudily colored fishes.
 Just like a coral reef without the salt water, the currents, and the tides. And Africa has two such lakes, both about the same size and both with a unique set of fishes, almost all of them found only in that particular lake. A part of Lake Malawi has been declared a World Heritage Site, the world?s first freshwater park. The fauna of Lake Tanganyika, with a depth of 1470 meter/4,822 feet, the second deepest in the world, is thought to be older than six million years, and perhaps as old as 20 million. The lake may have been the cradle of most cichlids found today in East Africa.
 One of the most exciting groups of fishes, the cichlids, is dominant in both lakes Malawi and Tanganyika, with each lake harboring a staggering number of endemic species whose ranges are restricted not only to the lake in question but often also to a particular section of each lake. Some of the species occur only around tiny rocky reefs, with population densities as low as a few hundred individuals, while others are found lake-wide with millions caught every year by local fishermen. Since the 19th century, when Lake Malawi was discovered by Livingstone and Lake Tanganyika by Burton and Speke, scientists have been intrigued by the fact that so many species could originate in a single body of water. Leaving aside the intense scientific interest in African cichlids, these colorful creatures are also extremely popular with aquarists who are able to keep and breed many of them with ease.
 Each cichlid has an interesting story to tell; this book shows a collection of cichlid fishes that were caught in the act, the act of their behavior, the act of displaying their splendor, all demonstrating that they are celebrated segments of the rich tapestry of life in the magical lakes of Africa.
 176 pages finest quality paper, 11.75 x 11", 400+ color photographs, linen bound, dust jacket, hardcover.

Celebrating Cichlids from Lakes Malawi and Tanganyika

This book celebrates the beauty of discus. For enthusiasts, it provides pinpoint advice on what to look for in selecting show quality discus and how they are judged in competitions. For breeders, it offers suggestions on how to improve existing strains and pursue new ones. With over 270 color pictures, it is also a photo journal of Trophy Discus. 128 pages, hardcover.

Trophy Discus: The art of selecting, grooming, and showing discus.

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Dick Au

Sun See Seng

Francesco Denitto

Pets & Animal Care

No lake in the world contains such a diversified and distinct community of cichlid fishes as Lake Malawi. The total number of cichlid species in the lake is now estimated at about 1000, which are about 200 more than all the freshwater fish species of the North American Continent combined! And there is every indication that still more remains to be discovered.
 This fourth, completely revised edition of the definitive study of Lake Malawi cichlids discusses and illustrates more species (843 species of which 822 are shown in photos) than any previous publication. Basing his study on more than 1500 hours of underwater observations all over the lake (36 expeditions), the author characterizes the species by their habitat preference, distribution, and coloration. More than 1750 excellent photographs many never published before illustrate the cichlid fauna of the entire lake. Almost all of these photographs were taken in the lake and show the fishes in their natural habitat.
 Over the years Malawi cichlids, which are among the most colorful freshwater fishes known, have become very popular among aquarists, as they are easy to maintain and breed in captivity. And in recent years an ever-increasing number of aquarists, interested in the natural environment of their fishes, have been inspired to visit Malawi and observe the cichlids in the lake itself. Only those who have done so can truly understand the exhilaration and feeling of fulfillment this entails, but this book offers everyone a unique opportunity to share a little of that enjoyment.

Malawi Cichlids in their Natural Habitat, New 4th Edition

Cacti have fascinated Gertrud and Ad Konings since they moved to El Paso, Texas, in 1996. A few years later it became more than a fascination and they have traveled extensively throughout the state in order to locate and photograph each and every cactus species in its natural settings. With over nine years of cactus hunting (shooting with a camera exclusively!) under their belt, they are some of the very few people who have seen and photographed each of the 136 species in the wild. Almost all of these species were photographed while in bloom; not a minor achievement when one considers that many species flower for just a single afternoon per year, if at all. The allure of desert will absorb just about anyone, even those with a marginal interest in nature, and one can only be astounded by the myriad of life forms that survive in such a seemingly hostile environment. Cacti have always been associated with desert, and in Texas - the US state with the highest diversity of cacti - most of them occur in the so-called Trans-Pecos, which is the western part of the state that is covered by the Chihuahuan Desert. Unassuming and often armed with spines a small cactus often goes unnoticed in its natural habitat. This, however, radically changes after rains provide the juice of life; flowers, sometimes larger than the plant itself, materialize in a matter of days and seize the moment to propagate in their normally hot and dry environment. Rarely a cactus flower is open for longer than seven hours, usually during the hottest time of the day, after which it wilts before the night falls. Because most cacti in any given area are synchronized by the irregular rain showers, most bloom on exactly the same day - an arresting spectacle. For most visitors to the desert such a mass blooming is a once-in-a-lifetime event, not easily forgotten, which adds to the excitement of being in a desert. For someone not familiar with the desert and its life, a cactus usually is a plant with spines, but the first few pages of this book explains what belongs to the cactus family and what does not belong. One of the adaptations to living under very dry conditions is that cacti store water in their stems, they are succulents. Stored water can be used, little by little, to bridge the sometimes large dry spells between rains. Succulent plants occur all over the world, but all cacti are restricted to the Americas; originally, there were no cacti in Asia, Australia, Europe, or Africa until man brought them there. This book represents the distillation of an extensive collection of photographs taken during innumerable hikes and tens of thousands of miles of driving on Texas roads. The most important aspect of this book is the fact that each cactus is shown in its natural setting. Unite this fact with the stunning photographs, displaying the cacti at their best - in their natural habitat - and the result is the finest possible showcase for Texas cacti. 216 pages finest quality paper, 11.75 x 11" (30x28 cm), 550+ color photographs, linen bound, dust jacket, hardcover.

Cacti of Texas in their Natural Habitat

Gertrud Konings

The Cichlids Yearbook Volume 2

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