Funny... I just had this conversation with Rattle (keith) he is into New world Cichlids, I am more into African cichlids. Really there was no way I could convince him africans were better, and no way he could convince me his big New world guys are better.
You can see everyone is trying to argue your reasons 1 - 4 for disliking them... Im not.... I will simply tell you why I like them.
1. There color! WOAH! BLUES, YELLOWS, REDS, GREENS, PINKS my tank looks like a rainbow!
2. Mouthbrooders - I love breedin fish... I hate lookin after eggs.... My africans do all the work for me, then when i decide I want to do some work, I strip from a mom and out come lil fry... and they are ready to eat crushed flake, no dealin with bbs, microworms, etc.
3. There size, I absolutly hate having 10 fish in a 200+ gallon tank... what a waste! Now 100+ fish in that same tank with all my fav. colors looks AWESOME! (There not skittish if you take away hiding spots, and overstock the tank)
4. Colony.... the establishing of a peckin order (hiearchy), alpha male gets to pimp the girls, beta male if he is lucky... other males are screwed... its like highschool reality show! LOL
There is why I like them..... Fish look like fish..... all fish look the same to me... They have two eyes, gills, tales, fins, a mouth, so I dont care if you like big ones or little ones, flat ones or fat ones, Long ones or stubby ones.... all fish are the same. Thing that seperates them is the color for me.... and africans have by far better color than any other freshwater fish.... could take a poll on that one! lol