Midas Cichlids

[RedForeman ©®]

A friend, who's going thru a rough time, had to find someone to take her
fish, so I said I could do it, seeing as how I'm probably the only friend
she has that knows anything about fish.... So we get there to load her
75gE tank, 36X18X24 maybe, and there's this huge 12" lumpheaded orangy-white
fish...
Meet Gorby... WOW that's alot of fish..... now to get on the net and find
out some info about him.... anyone care to help?

pics coming tomorrow....

[Jeff Dantzler]

"RedForeman" > wrote:
> A friend, who's going thru a rough time, had to find someone to take her
> fish, so I said I could do it, seeing as how I'm probably the only friend
> she has that knows anything about fish.... So we get there to load her
> 75gE tank, 36X18X24 maybe, and there's this huge 12" lumpheaded orangy-white
> fish...
> Meet Gorby... WOW that's alot of fish..... now to get on the net and find
> out some info about him.... anyone care to help?

The cichlid in question is Amphilophus citrinellus.
aka variety of red devil.

http://www.cichlidae.com/articles/a106.html

I wouldn't try to introduce any tankmates. What you have us a
"personality" fish. Let's see some pics.

Good luck,

Jeff Dantzler

[RedForeman ©®]

> > A friend, who's going thru a rough time, had to find someone to take her
> > fish, so I said I could do it, seeing as how I'm probably the only
friend
> > she has that knows anything about fish.... So we get there to load her
> > 75gE tank, 36X18X24 maybe, and there's this huge 12" lumpheaded
orangy-white
> > fish...
> > Meet Gorby... WOW that's alot of fish..... now to get on the net and
find
> > out some info about him.... anyone care to help?
>
> The cichlid in question is Amphilophus citrinellus.
> aka variety of red devil.
>
> http://www.cichlidae.com/articles/a106.html
>
> I wouldn't try to introduce any tankmates. What you have us a
> "personality" fish. Let's see some pics.
>
> Good luck,
>
> Jeff Dantzler

The little I've read about him is that they are FULL of personality... and
he is... His hump is much MUCH bigger... and he's been rearranging his tank
since 15min after we put him in.... he's acclimating pretty well... She said
that he might take a day or so, but in 15min he was acting all sorts of
happy, follows you around the room, kisses the tank, and really does have a
sense of who you are.... weird huh?

BTW, how long do they live? I can't or couldn't find any info on that... I
ask because this is surely a full grown MC, and not sure what his lifespan
will be, how much time left, etc???

Thanks Jeff...

[Jeff Dantzler]

"RedForeman" > wrote:

> The little I've read about him is that they are FULL of personality... and
> he is... His hump is much MUCH bigger... and he's been rearranging his tank
> since 15min after we put him in.... he's acclimating pretty well... She said
> that he might take a day or so, but in 15min he was acting all sorts of
> happy, follows you around the room, kisses the tank, and really does have a
> sense of who you are.... weird huh?

One thing to watch out for with these bigger, spunky fish is that sometimes
they have a tendancy to "rearrange" the tank hardware. It is not unheard of
for them to attack heaters or eject filter siphon tubes. Try to give the fish
stuff to occupy his (I'm guessing male because they usually have a more
pronounced hump) attention. My A. labiatus like to rearrange the gravel and
move little (1") round stones around. I've heard that a pingpong ball with a
few holes can be fun, too. Plastic plants with a sinking base also can allow
the fish to customize his decor.

Feeding time can get exciting as I have had mine bite my fingers and draw
blood on several occasions. Ususally because I'm trying to make sure other
fish get some food.

> BTW, how long do they live? I can't or couldn't find any info on that... I
> ask because this is surely a full grown MC, and not sure what his lifespan
> will be, how much time left, etc???

I would think upwards of 10 years easily with good care. They are voracious
and messy eaters. The key to keeping them happy is regular, large water changes.

A few tricks I've used in my tank are keeping hardware in the sump. Keeping
floating plants in the sump (helps extend water change interval). And keeping
Neetroplus nematopus in the tank with my red devil. Both these species are
found in Lake Nicaragua and surrounding areas and they can coexisit reasonably
well in a big enough tank.

Loiselle has some useful tips on bigger cichlids in his book _The Cichlid
Aquarium_ and in this article:

http://www.cichlidae.com/articles/a092.html

JLD

[RedForeman ©®]

"Jeff Dantzler" > wrote
> "RedForeman" > wrote:
>
> > The little I've read about him is that they are FULL of personality...
and
> > he is... His hump is much MUCH bigger... and he's been rearranging his
tank
> > since 15min after we put him in.... he's acclimating pretty well... She
said
> > that he might take a day or so, but in 15min he was acting all sorts of
> > happy, follows you around the room, kisses the tank, and really does
have a
> > sense of who you are.... weird huh?
>
> One thing to watch out for with these bigger, spunky fish is that
sometimes
> they have a tendancy to "rearrange" the tank hardware. It is not unheard
of
> for them to attack heaters or eject filter siphon tubes. Try to give the
fish
> stuff to occupy his (I'm guessing male because they usually have a more
> pronounced hump) attention. My A. labiatus like to rearrange the gravel
and
> move little (1") round stones around. I've heard that a pingpong ball with
a
> few holes can be fun, too. Plastic plants with a sinking base also can
allow
> the fish to customize his decor.
>
> Feeding time can get exciting as I have had mine bite my fingers and draw
> blood on several occasions. Ususally because I'm trying to make sure other
> fish get some food.
>
> > BTW, how long do they live? I can't or couldn't find any info on that...
I
> > ask because this is surely a full grown MC, and not sure what his
lifespan
> > will be, how much time left, etc???
>
> I would think upwards of 10 years easily with good care. They are
voracious
> and messy eaters. The key to keeping them happy is regular, large water
changes.
>
> A few tricks I've used in my tank are keeping hardware in the sump.
Keeping
> floating plants in the sump (helps extend water change interval). And
keeping
> Neetroplus nematopus in the tank with my red devil. Both these species are
> found in Lake Nicaragua and surrounding areas and they can coexisit
reasonably
> well in a big enough tank.
>
> Loiselle has some useful tips on bigger cichlids in his book _The Cichlid
> Aquarium_ and in this article:
>
> http://www.cichlidae.com/articles/a092.html
>
> JLD

Jeff buddy, I can't thank you enough for that insight.... I'll be posting
pics in the next few minutes over in the binaries group... just first snaps,
later tonite, I'll get some better ones with lights and such...

[Paul Irwin]

"RedForeman ©®" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Jeff Dantzler" > wrote
> > "RedForeman" > wrote:
> >
> > > The little I've read about him is that they are FULL of personality...
> and
> > > he is... His hump is much MUCH bigger... and he's been rearranging his
> tank
> > > since 15min after we put him in.... he's acclimating pretty well...
She
> said
> > > that he might take a day or so, but in 15min he was acting all sorts
of
> > > happy, follows you around the room, kisses the tank, and really does
> have a
> > > sense of who you are.... weird huh?
> >
> > One thing to watch out for with these bigger, spunky fish is that
> sometimes
> > they have a tendancy to "rearrange" the tank hardware. It is not unheard
> of
> > for them to attack heaters or eject filter siphon tubes. Try to give the
> fish
> > stuff to occupy his (I'm guessing male because they usually have a more
> > pronounced hump) attention. My A. labiatus like to rearrange the gravel
> and
> > move little (1") round stones around. I've heard that a pingpong ball
with
> a
> > few holes can be fun, too. Plastic plants with a sinking base also can
> allow
> > the fish to customize his decor.
> >
> > Feeding time can get exciting as I have had mine bite my fingers and
draw
> > blood on several occasions. Ususally because I'm trying to make sure
other
> > fish get some food.
> >
> > > BTW, how long do they live? I can't or couldn't find any info on
that...
> I
> > > ask because this is surely a full grown MC, and not sure what his
> lifespan
> > > will be, how much time left, etc???
> >
> > I would think upwards of 10 years easily with good care. They are
> voracious
> > and messy eaters. The key to keeping them happy is regular, large water
> changes.
> >
> > A few tricks I've used in my tank are keeping hardware in the sump.
> Keeping
> > floating plants in the sump (helps extend water change interval). And
> keeping
> > Neetroplus nematopus in the tank with my red devil. Both these species
are
> > found in Lake Nicaragua and surrounding areas and they can coexisit
> reasonably
> > well in a big enough tank.
> >
> > Loiselle has some useful tips on bigger cichlids in his book _The
Cichlid
> > Aquarium_ and in this article:
> >
> > http://www.cichlidae.com/articles/a092.html
> >
> > JLD
>
> Jeff buddy, I can't thank you enough for that insight.... I'll be posting
> pics in the next few minutes over in the binaries group... just first
snaps,
> later tonite, I'll get some better ones with lights and such...
>
>
Lots of information about cichlid behavior in this book:
The Cichlid Fishes:Nature's Grand Experiment in Evolution by George Barlow.
Barlow studies animal behavior and his lab has done a great deal of work
with the Midas cichlid.