African Cichlid vs South American Cichlid Fish

Have you ever considered keeping cichlids in your garden pond? You can if you live in the deep south - or any area that does not experience hard freezes or even extended periods of cold weather. I happen to live south of Miami, and even though we do have days during the winter that don't even get into the 70's (sometimes although rarely, we won't even make it to 60 degrees during the day). The nights can get down into the 40's, but these are usually few and far between. On those days/nights, I simply turn off the waterfall to prevent heat loss, turn on the air pump and everybody is fine. I also have a thermal cover in case it's cold for more than a couple of days or so. It's the type for a swimming pool or spa - just a big sheet of blue plastic with little "bubbles" like the bubble packing wrap.

African Cichlid vs South American Cichlid?

Who handles the weather better?

I have both types of cichlids. Oscars, compressaceps, blue dolphin (shown below), and several others along with my pacu, koi, tetras and plecos. Everyone gets along "swimmingly". As for who handles the weather better? It's a tie. Honestly, they all do just fine and I've (knock on wood) never had a problem.

2/1/09 - update...about a week ago we had several days in a row of low 40's over night, barely 70 during the day. I did have 2 zebras that were swimming sort of funny. One I was able to catch, the other kept going under the cover. I put the one that I did catch in a seperate tank with a heater and air supply. He recovered and went back in the pond a day or two later. Even the one that I was not able to catch seems fine now.

I was concerned about my dolphin, but he's just fine too....

African Cichlid vs South American Cichlid