20" inches of power - Parachromis dovii

Probably the most powerful cichlid is the majestic dovii or wolf cichlid - Parachromis dovii. These beasts are found in Nicaragua and are an aquarium favourite due to their size, level of interaction and intelligence. They are also surprisingly gentle with each other when a pair forms. Males can be huge compared to females and seeing an adult male nuzzle a female and young fry is particularly satisfying.

In the wild these fish often have a symbiotic relationship with Hyphsophrys nicaraguensis where the male nic helps guard the dovii fry and in turn gets protection. Willem Heijns has shot some amazing footage of this phenomena.

One has to bear in mibd these are huge and exremely powerful cichlids. Males can easily top 20 inches and females can grow to more than a foot. They therefore require large living quaters - 200 gallons being a good starting point. A breeding pair will liquidise tankmates but single males or females can be mixed with caution.

Labidochromis caeruleus(Fryer 1956) the (yellow) blue cichlid

Labidochromis caeruleus - the black back cichlid - is probably one of the widest kept cichlids. Stunning in colouration it is found along a large part of the west coast of Lake Malawi. Although an mbuna, this fish is extremely passive and often kept in mixed communities.

But what is so remarkable is this cichlids has a variety of colour morphs, most of which are not yellow!  The clue is in the name as they are named caeruleus for their colour. Most morphs of this cichlid are in fact blue. Other combinations include white, blue white and yellow white. Indeed the famous yellow morph is only found in a small stretch of the lake near Lion's Cove and it is here from where our hobby fish originate. And most are descended from only one pair. This interbreeding has caused a huge deteriation in colour which is why many available are now washed out with excessive peppering. A far cry ftom their wild compatriates.

Sadly, due to overcollection and their small wild population, this fish should now be considered as vulnerable. Natural or human disaster could easily wipe out the beautiful yellow caeruleus. A few further collections have been made but the population density is becoming low so it may be time to introduce protective measures to save this fish. The pictures show my f1 specimens.

Paretroplus damii - the holy grail

Pretroplus damii (Bleeker 1867) is the type species of the Madagascan genus Paretroplus, a family of around 15  described and maybe 4 or 5 undescribed species which have been caught or described and may or may not exist.

This cichlid is considered the holy grail of many Malagasy fans due to it's rarity and stunning orange and dark red breeding colouration. Very few exist in captivity and most are owned by a handful of breeders which makes this fish unavailable commercially.

This can be a very large cichlid - up to 16 inches which is found in the Northwest of mainland Madagascar and also reported from the Island of Nosey Be. Northern populations - the Dridrimena with it,s large lips and red tinged fins may represent a distinct closely related species. The fish is found both in freshwater rivers and lakes but also in brackish esturies - indeed it can survive well in saline water if slowly acclimatised.

The closest relative to this species appears to be the Paretroplus kieneri clade and it also has simikar traits with the various Lamena species. It's similarity to the high bodied Damba is less close and it is a possibility that these could be placed in their own family as could the Polyactis clade.

Luckily Malagasy cichlids are becoming increasingly available and most are large, beautiful and hardy species. On the downside they must be the hardest cichlids to succesfulky breed.

The damii aquarium should be large - 4*2*2 being a good size and should also be warm at around 89 f. Water composition is not crucial but they like bogwood and rocks - plants will be detroyed. Threse fish are hugely susceptible to whitespot and should be treated immediately as they have little immunity to this ailment. Paretroplus can also be affected by a disease diubbed 'whitening' where the body pales and sloughs white mucus. This can be treated with high temperstures and salt but is often fatal.

Petrochromis polyodon - the most aggressive cichlid?

Petrochromis polyodon is a behemoth aufwuch feeder from Lake Tanganyika. Similar to a giant tropheus and evelotionary comparable to Lake Malawi Petrotilapia, this fish can beet any in terms of aggression. A 12" male can liquidate all his rivals in a few hours. So why? Probably because of their need to protect their feeding territory from other species. Their diet is extremely specialised and consists purely of algae and small crustacea. The aggresdion is not limited to males. Females can be just as murderous!
How do we keep them? A large tank - ideally 6feet long or more and in large groups - 30 fish would not be overkill. Say 6 males and 24 females. Food has to be low protein and free from mamillian meat. I use aquarian goldfish food alongside hikari koi pellets. And they eat a lot! So good filtration is needed. Breeding is difficult - they are mouthbrooders for up to six weeks. Broods are small fry are huge but very delicate. These fish are well worth the effort!

Lake Apoyo the enigmatic Nicaraguan crater lake.

Lake Apoyo is a tiny crater lake in Nicaragua. Lying just a few kilometers south east of lake Apoyeque it has surface dimensions of two by three kilometers. The lake has no inflow or outflow and is entirely self filling. The lake is also fairly young.

Amazingly the lake holds 7 species of cichlid including Hyphsophrys nicaraguensis, Hyphosphrys neetroplus, Parachromis dovii and a beautiful strain of Amatilania nigrofasciatus as below and others including the pictured Amphilophus sp - the lake's endemic midas cichlid as pictured below.

The lake is young - an estimate is less than 20,000 years and has showed rapid speciation in the fish such that some have become unique species like A. xiloaensis which is genetically separate from the midas cichlids of lake Apoyeque and other lakes and rivers of Nicaragua.

So how did the fish get there? This is a really mystery. As we know with no out fall or in flow the lake is unconnected so could they have arrived when lake Apoyewue flooded? Another theory is young were dropped by birds and colonised or they were transplanted by humans - a possibility but unlikely as the lake is somewhat inaccesible and very craggy. So will this mystery be solved?

A Central American Eartheater

Astatoheros altifrons is a stunning cichlid from Central America.
Fairly uncommon it is a good representative of the Central American family of eartheaters - the Astatoheroines. A good example of covergent evolution - these fish greatly resemble the Satanoperca of Amazonia. Although these families are not closely related. They are ideally huilt for their lifestyle having a long snout with eyes set far back. To feed they seem to hover above the substrate and then divebomb so their snout is buried to the eye - hence having them set far back on the head.
For Central American cichlids these are very peaceful and often fair poorly alongside boisterous tankmates. They are tricky to breed but follow the general process for breeding Central American cichlids.

Etroplus suratensis - The Marine Cichlid

India and Sri Lanka are home to three cichlid fish from the Etropline family. This grouping apso contains eleven or more species from Madagascar.
These cichlids are unique in the fact they don't look very cichlid like bearing more of a resemblance to the marine damselfish.
These cichlids have evolved in isolation from other cichlids since the break up of Gondwanaland.
The green chromide is a stunning fish. Growing to more than a foot long it is a bssic green/grey colouration overlaid with blue, red and silver spots.
Unique to the family Cichlidae this fish can live in fresh, brackish and marine conditions. Indeed and transplanted population live in the seas around Indonesia.
For the longest life they do best gradually being moved to marine conditions as they grow.
These fish are rarely spawned though as you can see from the picture, I have managed this! They lay approximately 300 eggs which are green and in the wild these are laid on underwater plants where they are well camoflaged as they closely resemble the nodules of plants.
The eggs have a long filament and sway in the current.
Once hatched the young are hard to raise and grow very slowly.
All in all these are fascinating beautiful species which is well worth keeping!