Rainbow cichlazoma - freshwater aquarium fish from American cichlids.

In nature, they reach 30 cm in length, in the aquarium their size is smaller. The body is high and elongated, flattened laterally. Eyes large, lips thick, long dorsal. The color is varied. In most cases, the head is crimson or red, the rest of the body may be blue-green, reddish or yellow. The scales have black edges. The edges of the fins are blue transparent, often with brown spots.

Aquarium- from 250 liters and above. The bigger, the better. Shelters made of driftwood, rocks, caves, floating plants are needed, and you can also place hard-leaved plants in pots. The rest can dig or eat.

Water: dH 8-20, pH 6.5-8.5, temperature 24-28°C, powerful filtration and aeration.

Rainbow cichlazoma is kept either with other species of the family, or in a species aquarium.

cichlid nutrition

You need to feed cichlazoma in a balanced way: sea ​​fish, bloodworm, cortera, shrimp, vegetable and granular food. Live food is a large part of the diet.

Reproduction by cichlase sinspilum

Sexual maturity occurs after 1.5-2 years of life. You need to choose a pair in young age from the fish group. The male differs from the female in a large fat growth on the forehead.

Cichlazoma argentei or cichlazoma silver / vieja argentea description, content, nutrition, photo - 5.0 out of 5 based on 3 votes

Tsichlazoma argentei or cichlazoma silvery

(cichlasoma argentea, vieja argentea)

Cichlazoma argentea - magnificent aquarium fish from American cichlids. Habitat: Southern Mexico and Central America.

The maximum can grow up to 30cm. Color: silvery body with dark small spots, there are also dark blurry spots (striping) - they are clearly visible on the back, caudal peduncle and forehead.

Aquarium- from 150 liters and above. Wooden sticks and stones are needed. But they should be installed so that the cichlazoma does not suffer when it rebuilds the interior for itself. Plants are optional as they can be uprooted.

Water: temperature 26-30°C, pH 7.5-8.5, dH 10-15, powerful and constant filtration.

Food

Feed: the main part of the diet - plant food(e.g. algae) and granular food, shrimp and mussels as supplements.

A photo

Vieja red-headed (Vieja synspila). The specific name is derived from the Greek "syn" (together) and "spilos" (spot).

Indicates a band of "fused" dark spots running from the caudal peduncle to the middle of the body.

Habitat:

Rainbow cichlazoma lives in low-lying areas of rivers, as well as in numerous lakes. Sometimes found in brackish water but mostly does not live there.

Food:

In nature, plant food predominates, in the aquarium it can eat specialized dry food for cichlids, live, frozen bloodworms, shrimp, mussels, small fish, it is also desirable to give a plant component and spirulina.

Appearance:

Length - males up to 40 cm, females up to 25 cm. The body is high, rather full. The body and fins are red-yellow-green-blue with mother-of-pearl tints, the head is crimson. From the caudal peduncle to the middle of the body there is a wide strip consisting of dark spots. The iris of the eye is turquoise.

The male is larger and brighter in color than the female. Also, as they grow older, males develop a kind of hump on their foreheads.

In an aquarium, fine-grained soil is preferable, a good filter, aeration, weekly water changes up to 30-35% are needed. Also in the aquarium you need to provide stones, caves, snags so that you can hide.
Rainbow cichlazoma is incompatible with plants, they will be uprooted or eaten. It is better to keep juveniles in a group of 6-8 individuals, adults - in an established pair. It is quite possible to keep with commensurate Central American cichlids, but only in a large aquarium of more than 500 liters.

Gender differences:

Males are larger than females, with a steep forehead. In young fish, sex is difficult to determine.

Breeding:

Breeding is only possible with a well compatible pair. To do this, you need to take a group of young fish of 6-8 individuals and let them choose their own pair as they mature.
The dominant pair should be selected for breeding and other pairs should be removed from the tank. A flat stone is usually used as a spawning ground. The clutch consists of 500 eggs. During spawning, the male becomes very aggressive towards the female, he can even kill, in which case it is better to transplant the female.

After 3-4 days, larvae hatch from the eggs, and after another 3 days, the fry can swim and feed on their own. The fry should be fed with brine shrimp nauplii or crushed dry food. Both parents are intensive caregivers, but when the time comes for the next spawning, they become aggressive and the fry must be removed.

Life expectancy for Rainbow Cichlazoma is 10 years.

Water parameters:

In nature: hardness 10-20 dGH, pH 7.0-8.0, temperature 24 - 30°C.

Breeding: hardness 10–20 dGH, pH 7.0–8.0, temperature 25–28°C.

Note:

Vieja synspila has been found in our country since 1980, but only last years when large aquariums came into wide use, and large cichlomas became in demand.
This circumstance also explains the inaccuracy of descriptions of this species in the literature of past years. For example, A.S. Polonsky (1996) writes about V. synspila as a fish up to 10 cm long, requiring aquariums with a volume of 100 liters or more.

(Cichlasoma synspilum) is a large South American cichlid that can reach a length of 25 centimeters in captivity. The interesting behavior of the cichlid and the bright coloring make it extremely interesting to keep it in the aquarium. The body color of the fish can vary from pink to yellow and blue. As the fish grows, the fatty period growth on the forehead of the male increases in size, and its color acquires a bright saturated color.

Rainbow cichlazoma lives in stagnant and slowly flowing waters of Guatemala. In rare cases, this species of fish can be found in the river delta, where large specimens swim. The maximum size of rainbow cichlazoma in the wild is 30 centimeters. In the aquarium, males reach 20-25 cm, females are slightly smaller in size. Keeping this type of fish in an aquarium is not particularly difficult. It is only necessary to take care of the presence of a large volume of the aquarium. Steam requires at least 200 liters of capacity. When keeping several pairs together, the minimum volume of the aquarium is 500 liters. Life expectancy in captivity reaches 10 years. Males differ from females in their larger size, the presence of braids from the dorsal and anal fins. The male has a characteristic fatty growth on the forehead, which appears at the age of one year.

Pairs are formed already in the first year of life. AT early age the first test spawnings are possible, which in most cases do not lead to the hatching of fry. By the age of two, young specimens reach puberty and begin to actively spawn. The established couples last a lifetime. The fish are territorial, but with enough hiding places they can easily be kept with other smaller species of American cichlids.

The key to long-term maintenance of rainbow cichlazoma is the correct selection of the volume of the aquarium and high-quality water filtration. The fish itself is quite large, so you need to use a powerful external filter that will effectively remove nitrates and nitrites from the water. One of the favorite activities of cichlases is digging in the ground; gravel, small pebbles and quartz sand can be used as the latter. Be sure to thoroughly rinse the soil before using it to avoid the appearance of turbidity in the water. The aquarium should have the required number of shelters, and the bottom surface itself should be divided into several zones, which will avoid the appearance of territorial conflicts. During the courtship of a male, skirmishes often occur for a female, so the presence of grottoes and shelters will allow the female to hide from an overly ardent male.

A certain difficulty is the content of rainbow cichlazoma with living plants. The fish not only eats up young shoots, but also quickly digs out even firmly rooted plants with a developed root system. You can partly save the situation by planting plants in flower pots, which are masked with decorative stones. In this case, it is best to use plants with hard foliage (for example, different kinds anubias). As an aquarium design, we can recommend you a biotope with heaps of stones and snags. This design has an original appearance and allows you to create numerous shelters for fish.

Rainbow cichlazoma is an unpretentious fish in keeping. The water hardness index can vary from 8 to 20 ° dH, and pH \u003d 7. The most favorable water temperature is 24 - 27 degrees. It is necessary to monitor the level of nitrates and nitrites in the water. When their content is exceeded, the fish can become lethargic and quickly die. It is possible to remove nitrates and nitrites from water by frequent changes or by using a powerful external filter with an established biology. Cichlazoma is completely indifferent to lighting. It is recommended to avoid excessively bright light and total darkness. Enhanced aeration is recommended, for which you need to purchase a compressor appropriate to the volume of your aquarium.

Like most South American cichlids, the rainbow cichlid is a territorial fish. This behavior is especially evident during mating season. because of large size and the pronounced territoriality of this fish makes it difficult to keep it with other small species in small aquariums. In the event that you plan to keep several species of American cichlids together, we can recommend an aquarium with a minimum volume of 300 liters and the presence a large number shelters.

Neighbors are recommended to choose similar in size. The presence of a large number of shelters and the distribution of the bottom into zones makes it possible to reduce territoriality and aggression to a minimum. In some cases, it is possible to reduce and even completely remove aggression when growing them from fry with other small-sized fish species. However, nothing can be guaranteed in this case. It is quite possible that during the mating season the cichlazoma will show increased aggressiveness and deal with small fish in the aquarium. The larger the aquarium, the easier it is to keep cichlases with other types of fish.

Mandatory presence of grottoes and all kinds of shelters. The number of hiding places should exceed the number of fish in the aquarium. Remember that small pieces of polystyrene must be placed under grottoes made of stones, which are covered with soil from above. This will allow you to avoid the danger of damage to the glass by large stones.

Rainbow cichlazoma is omnivorous. In doing so, it should be taken into account that most diet should be animal food. The diet should include earthworms, bloodworm, live small fish, fish fillets, shrimps, shellfish, dry and frozen foods. All necessary needs plant species food can be satisfied with dandelion, nettle and lettuce. If you wish, you can use special branded feeds that contain the required amount of protein components and carbohydrates.

Breeding rainbow cichlazoma is not difficult. Spawning possible in community aquarium. However, a greater percentage of fry output is observed during spawning in a jig. The minimum volume of such an aquarium is 150 liters. It is necessary to install several grottoes at the bottom of the jig and lay a flat wide stone. In a spawning aquarium, aeration and filtration must be present. Do not overfeed the fish in the spawning area, as this leads to a sharp increase in nitrates, which can lead to the death of fry. Remember to siphon the bottom from time to time and change a small amount of water.

Spawning can be stimulated by raising the temperature by a few degrees and by frequent water changes. It is recommended to change about two volumes per week, daily replacement should not exceed 30 percent of the total volume. Maximum amount eggs for one spawning can reach 500 pieces. Their cichlomas are laid on a previously cleaned stone. This type of fish is caring parents, so you should not track them after caviar is spawned. Incubation period depending on the water temperature, it can be from 2 to 6 days. A week after hatching, the fry takes a horizontal position and can feed on its own.
Artemia, daphnia and cyclops are perfect as starter food for fry.

You can use special dry food for fry. However, we would recommend that you feed them live or frozen foods. Subsequently, such fry differ bright color and grow much faster, really when feeding them with dry food. As the fry grow, it is imperative to sort by size, and choose the right food for a particular size of fry. Breeding cichlases is not difficult. Having received the existing pair, soon you will think about who to give all the fry to.

When stressed, an adult rainbow cichlazoma can mimic death cramps. The fish swim in circles, roll over on their side, and may lie motionless on the ground for long periods of time. Subsequently, the fish fully recovers and does not show any signs of stress. During mating games and skirmishes with neighbors, pronounced transverse stripes may appear on the fatty outgrowth, which disappear after the conflict is resolved.
Rainbow cichlazoma have extremely interesting behavior. They can recognize their owners and take food from their hands. caring parents protect their offspring, swim actively and bring a lot of joy to both adults and children.

Family: cichlids (Cichlidae)

External Description: cichlazoma maculicauda is a powerful fish, with a large massive body. The main color is light: from white to light blue / green color, Bottom part the heads and part of the abdomen are colored red, a dark spot is noticeable in the middle of the body, the size and intensity of the color varies greatly, often there is a large dark spot at the base of the tail. The fins, with the exception of the tail, correspond to the main color, the caudal fin is red. Males have more bright colors, with age, males develop an occipital hump

Natural Habitat: fish has a fairly wide distribution in Central America

Dimensions: maximum fish size 25 cm

Habitat layer: tries to stay in the lower and middle layers

Behavior: the behavior of the fish is very aggressive, so they are kept either with large and similar in temperament cichlids, or formed in pairs in a species aquarium. During spawning and spawning, they become especially aggressive

Arrangement of the aquarium: the minimum volume of the aquarium is 200 liters, suitable for two fish. When arranging an aquarium, it is advisable to use different shelters: caves, grottoes, snags, plants, it is best to place plants in special pots

Water parameters: temperature 22-27ºC, pH 6.0-8.0, the middle between the indicators is "golden", dGH 8-16°

Food: despite the fact that the fish are quite aggressive, their diet in nature is algae, however, it is necessary to introduce protein sources into the diet of the fish

Breeding: fish reach the ability to reproduce only at a size of 15 cm, or when they reach 6-10 months. Water parameters should be near ideal: temperature about 26 °, pH about 7, hardness about the same, but the first two indicators are more important. It is important for spawning to have a formed pair, otherwise most likely nothing will work, for this you need to initially buy a pair or a group of fish from 6 fish. The couple chooses a place for spawning and equips it, the female lays up to 600 eggs, the parents carefully look after the offspring and defend the territory very fiercely. Fry appear in 2-3 days, start swimming in a week, starter food nauplii crustaceans

Note: in general, keeping the fish is not difficult, if the water parameters are strictly maintained, but they are demanding on the volume of the aquarium and are very aggressive towards their neighbors, therefore they are recommended only for experienced aquarists

Video (Cichlasoma maculicauda (Vieja maculicauda, ​​Cichlasoma maculicauda, ​​Blackbelt cichlid):