| Index page | Photo album - cichlids breeding | Photo album - cichlids fighting |
| This is my photograph album of cichlids undertaking their favourite hobby - posing. | Click on the photographs below for a larger picture, then click BACK on your browser. |
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Jack Dempsey and Texas males getting along fine - in fact they usually did. An occasional squabble would start, but there was never any damage. The photo gives a false impression of the relative sizes of these two fish. The Dempsey is considerably longer in the body and slightly more massive too. |
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Male Jack Dempsey. At this stage he had a 6 inch body length. Later on he grew only about another inch or possibly two, but developed a very slight hump on his forehead as he approached 10 years of age. This fish was very calm but knew how to look after himself. The colours in this photo are washed out - in reality the blues and reds stood out brightly and never faded whatever the fish's mood. This was my second Dempsey. The first one was exceptionally similar in markings and temperament. He also lived to about ten years of age. He was paired for life with a female. I was told that one of their parents was wild. |
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Cichlasoma Breidohri Red. I think this is a male because my female died, but I can't be sure because I know nothing at all about this fish except that it conforms to the usual large cichlid specification. His superb red eyes are not shown well in this photograph. |
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Male Texas cichlid. His name was 'Bubbles' because he liked the corner with the airstone and would not let any other fish near the bubbles. |
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Close-up of the male Texas's face. The pinkish blob near the front of the dorsal fin is some form of disease which killed him eventually. I believe that this is a common Texas complaint. |
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Male Red Devil (labiatum) who measured about 8 inches in body length, possibly a bit more, by the time of his death due to a heater failure. This was my most quarrelsome fish, but what a character. We called him 'Wimpey' because he was always building up the gravel around his tank. |
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The same Red Devil when he was younger measuring about 3 inches in body length. Notice how much more pronounced his lips where. This is why the scientific name (at the time) was Cichlasoma Labiatum. As a juvenile he was also much more red than as an adult. I believe that he may have been fed hormones before sale to enhance his colour. This seems quite likely because there are many colour forms of red devil, but red ones with thick lips were particularly sought after. |
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5 inch female Jaguar cichlid. This fish was vicious - she was the only fish that would bite me for fun - a sudden dash would result in me having to lift my hand clear of the water surface before she would let go! Sometimes she would draw blood by wrenching her head sideways. You know when a dog bites and the owner claims that "he is only playing with you"? Well you couldn't say that about this brute. She had to be housed alone because she wouldn't tolerate other fish and considered my 8 inch Red Devil to be a poof! She also beat up a 10 inch Tilapia mariae. Cleaning her tank was not a pleasant task. She died one night when the heater stuck on; the water temperature was about 38C. She was about 7 inches long in the body and was about 4 years old. |
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Male Nicaragua cichlid. The pink patch behind the gills is only found on the male, and females and juveniles have a black stripe along the centre-line of the body. |
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Female and male Nicaraguas. These fish are unusual in the cichlid world in that the female is the more brightly coloured - but the males aren't far behind! Tank raised Nicaraguas don't get very large, but a fully grown female Nic in breeding colours is a truly impressive sight. |
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Male brown Severum. This fish was a brilliant father. The mother (see below) would eat her eggs at the slightest sign of danger, but not this fish. I used to remove the female and let dad get on with it himself. He would breed and look after the fry in a tank with other fish, and did so a couple of times with my pair of Nicaragua. In fact, he was a surrogate father accidentally for a number of Nicaragua fry! |
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Female green Severum in standard colouring, i.e not with her breeding colours. These fish have the most surprising range of colour schemes, depending on mood, that I have come across. I would call a normally coloured Severum 'smart' but a breeding one is possibly the most 'beautiful' fish you could keep. Never gaudy, but always attractive if displayed correctly. |
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The same female green Severum in breeding colour just before laying a batch of eggs. Here she is about 3 inch body length but at the time of writing (at 10 years of age) she is 6 inches. Most of her sons are slightly bigger than her, but tank Severums seem to stick at that sort of size. |
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Golden Severum. I never had any luck with these fish having bought two at separate times and both dying at about 4 inches in length. After two unsuccessful attempts at keeping a particular fish I always give up. |
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A reader's male Red Devil. I believe that this is a Cichlasoma labiatum, but it could easily be a citrinellum because it is very difficult to tell them apart and Devils are very varied in colouration. Note how similar the jaw shape is to my Devil above. Thanks to Tom Lay of Palo Alto, California, USA for permission to use this photograph. |
