Information about
Neotropical
Cichlids
Click
here
now
to
buy
Neotropical
Cichlids
like
those
below.
This page lists the Neotropical Cichlids for sale at our online retail tropical fish store except
Oscars and
Angels,
because those fish are discussed on other pages. Click
here for more about buying Neotropical Cichlids from us.
This video shows a Blood Parrot. This fish is a hybrid of two Cichlid species, a Red Devil and a Golden Severum. This Blood Parrot
was about 5" long.
This video shows a group of young Parrot Cichlids with various colorations. We rarely have this fish for sale, and it is
shown here for your information and entertainment.
Here is a Big Ol' Male Texas Cichlid about 10" long with a huge bump on his head. Large old male Cichlids often have big bumps on their heads, but
this bump is bigger than most.
Here is a nicely colored Green
Terror Cichlid. This fish is about 5-inches long and is
probably a male.
This video shows a young 2.5" Electric Blue Jack Dempsey. We
have
been
told
that
this is
a color
variety
of the
normal
Jack
Dempsey
and not
a hybrid
with
another
Cichlid
species.
Click on the images above.
Here is a comment from Prosanta Chakrabarty, PhD, a scientist
at the American Museum of Natural History.
"Inferring from the molecular evidence I obtained (both
mitochondrial and nuclear), the
Electric Blue is a Jack Dempsey.
I don't know where the rumor started about it being a hybrid
with tetracanthus but I can assure you that it is not. The
(Electric) Blue
Dempsey does not appear to occur in the wild, I would speculate
that the color morph appears because of inbreeding within the
aquarium trade. Hope that helps, Prosanta"
So, according to
Dr. Chakrabarty,
the Electric
Blue Jack
Dempsey is a
color variety of
the Jack
Dempsey, and not
a hybrid with
another species.
Common Name
Scientific Names
Maximum Size
Green Terror Gold Saum
Andinoacara rivulatus - new
Aequidens rivulatus
- old
10"
Black Convict Wild Convict
Archocentrus nigrofasciatus
Cichlasoma nigrofaciatum
- old
6"
Pink Convicts
Green Severum
Gold Severum
Red Spotted Severums
Heros efasciatus
Heros severus - incorrect
Cichlasoma severum - old
12"
Firemouth Cichlid
Thoricthys meeki
Cichlasoma meeki
- old
10"
Jack Dempsey
Rocio octofasciata
Nandopsis octofasciatum - old
Cichlasoma
octofasciatum - older
12"
Electric Blue Jack
Dempsey
Texas Cichlid
Herichthys cyanoguttatus
Cichlasoma cyanoguttatum
- old
15"
Salvini Cichlid
Nandopsis salvini
Cichlasoma salvini - old
12"
Red Devil
Amphilophus labiatus
Cichlasoma labiatum - old
12"
Blood Parrot
Said to be a hybrid of
Severum and and Red Devil
12"?
Common Name
Scientific Names
Maximum Size
Sometimes
these
fish
appear
in
books
and
other
websites
under
more
than
one
name,
and
that
is
why
we
show
more
than
one
name
in
the
table.
A
living
organism
can
really
only
have
one
scientific
name
at
one
time,
but
the
correct
names
can
change
as
scientists
learn
more
about
the
fish
and the history of its scientific name.
In
the
table
above
the
upper
scientific
name
is
the
newer name, and the lower scientific name is the
older
name. You can see that the genus Cichlasoma is
apparently being split into Archocentrus, Heros, Thoricthys,
Nandopsis,
and
more names that are not listed in this table.
The maximum sizes are not really the maximum. I have occasionally seen specimens of each of these fish that are bigger than the sizes listed as the maximum in the
above table. But fish of the sizes listed would be considered very big for that species.
Fish like these Neotropical Cichlids continue to grow their entire lives. Mammals like dogs and cats grow to their maximum size within a few years, stay at that
size for several years, then often decrease in size the last few years of their lives. But Neotropical Cichlids continue to grow for their entire lives. So the term maximum size is a bit more
vague when applied to these fish.
The sizes listed above should be an important guide when buying fish. Be sure you are committed to providing the fish you buy with an appropriate home. Each of
these fish will eventually need a big aquarium.
Click
here to go to another web site which has lots of very interesting details about Cichlids.
This picture shows a young male Green Terror about 2.5" inches long. His fins are longer than the fins of a female his size, and he
has brighter colors than a female the same size.
This is a picture of a beautiful large male Red Devil.
Here is another picture of the same Red Devil, and in this picture you can see the bump on his head and his long pointed fins.
Soon the young male Green Terror shown above will start to grow a bump on his head like the bump on the head of the Red Devil shown just above. A male
Neotropical Cichlid often grows long fins and a bump on his head. The picture of the Green Terror was taken in our
facility by TBK. The pictures of the Red Devil were taken by William W. of
Michigan.
Click
here
to hear
a Special Interview titled "Breeding Convict Cichlids", an
MP3 PodCast, hosted by the Bailey Brothers at
PetFishTalk.com.
Comments
Neotropical Cichlids are generally very aggressive. Most other tropical fish cannot live with these fish. As they mature these fish change colors.
Often the males become more colorful, but sometimes the females become more colorful than the males.
After they mature, the males begin to create a territory and chase other fish out of their territory. They want to attract a female to their territory, then go
through a ritualized test battle with her. Presumably each fish testing the strength of the other.
Once a pair bond is established, the two fish work together to defend their territory, spawn, and raise their baby fish. Click
here
for more about breeding the Pink Convict shown below.
This is a female Pink Convict about 2.5" long. The males are solid pink and sometimes almost white. Pink Convicts are one of the easiest fish
to breed. Click
here for more details about breeding them.
Appropriate Home A large aquarium with at least 50 gallons of water, an
exterior
power filter with a BIO-Wheel, a maximum of 1/4 inch of
gravel, and an
aquarium
heater adjusted so the water temperature is between 72 and 82 degrees F. Click
here for more about warm water aquariums.
The advertisement, shown below, links to
this advertiser's web site.
Recommended Diet
When Neotropical Cichlids are small, feed them floating flake food. Also
feed them some freeze dried
blood worms and give them an occasional treat of live or frozen brine shrimp.
When Neotropical Cichlids have grown to be about 2.5 inches, they will usually need to start eating pellet food such as
Hikari Cichlid Pellets.
This food is available in most stores
that sell pet fish.
Also feed them an
occasional treat of live
Black Worms and some
live or frozen brine
shrimp. Click here for more about feeding fish.
Some of these Neotropical Cichlids, for example Convicts, seem to do better when fed a few Black Worms. But other Neotropical Cichlids, such
as Firemouths, often seem to get bloat when fed worms. Click
here for more about Black Worms.
The advertisement, shown below, links to
this advertiser's web site.
Compatibility Either one of these fish to an aquarium or more than 3. If you keep just 2 or 3 of these fish in the same aquarium, the strongest one
will make the others miserable, but they will usually do very well in a group of 6 or more in a large aquarium with 50 gallons or more of water.
Jack Dempseys and Red Devils may be too aggressive for some of the other fish in this group such as the Green Severums.
These Neotropical Cichlids are often kept with a
Plecostomus or a
Bushy
Nose Pleco,
White Tip Shark Cats and
Pacus.
Click
here to read more about several other groups of compatible fish.
Hole
in
the
Head
Disease
Neotropical Cichlids are susceptible to a disease called Hole in the Head. Click
here for
information about this disease.
Picture
Gallery
Just
above,
two
pictures
of a
Texas
Cichlid
that's
about
5"
long.
Just
above,
a
Jack
Dempsey
that's
about
6"
long.
Just
above,
an
Electric
Blue
Jack
Dempsey
that's
about
2"
long.
Above,
a
Regular
Severum
that's
about
7"
long,
and
a
Red
Spotted
Severum
that's
about
3"
long.
Just
above,
a
Venezuelan
Eartheater
that's
about
6"
long.
Just
above,
a
Green
Terror
that's
about
3.5"
long.
Lifespan
These Neotropical Cichlids can live to be 10 years old and sometimes older. The maximum sizes are given in the table that is near the
top of this page.
Click
here to go to another page in this website with Customer Comments and our Replies about Neotropical
Cichlids.
Books about Neotropical Cichlids
The books shown below are listed on Amazon.com. You can click on the title or the image of a book to go to the page at Amazon.com, where that book is listed and
discussed. In some cases you can preview several of the pages in that book.
Discus Fish By Thomas A. Giovanetti
Paperback
80 pages
Links
Click
here for more information about Blood Parrot Cichlids.
Click
here to go to another page in this website with Customer Comments and our Replies about Neotropical
Cichlids.
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About our Fish Photographs ...
Almost all the photographs and videos, shown on this web site, were taken
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fish in our competitors pictures. Their fish often look thin
with clamped fins and poor color.
We buy the highest quality fish, produced by the best fish
farms or caught by the best collectors of wild fish, then we take incredibly good care of our fish in our beautiful aquariums. If you compare the pictures on this site to our competitors pictures, you can instantly see, our fish and aquariums are better!
;^ }
Will the fish you get from us look like the fish in our pictures? No! This is similar to buying kittens and puppies, that will change as they grow to become cats and dogs. We stock and ship fish that are the ideal size to sell. Not so small that they will not do well when shipped. Yet not so big that they have become much more expensive. The fish in almost all of our pictures were young fish like the ones we have for sale that we raised up, and you can too!
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