Parachromis managuense
By William Berg
of Sweden, for aquaticcommunity.com
Aquarticles
Parachromis managuense has a bad reputation, just like many of the other large
predatory cichlids. This reputation is largely undeserved, and besides, the positive sides
of these fishes more than make up for any negative ones. Not to mention that an adult P.
managuense is incredibly beautiful.
I've kept these cichlids and have nothing but good to say about them as long as you
have an aquarium large enough to handle this species that grows to 55 cm/22 inches. I
would say that the absolute minimum to keep these cichlids together with other cichlids is
a tank of 540 litres/120 gallons. And that's a minimum; a larger aquarium is preferable.
Large specimens require even larger aquariums. They can be bred in aquariums that are at
least 250 litres/55 gallons.
The aquarium should be decorated so that natural territory boundaries are created and
so that there are a lot of hiding places for the female, as the male can be quite mean to
her if she isn't ready to breed when he is. Larger rocks should be placed directly on the
bottom of the aquarium since this species digs a lot and can move large stones. Use silica
to glue caves and stone formations together so that they don't fall down.
This species hasn't got any bigger demands and thrives in most water conditions as long
as pH and DH levels aren't too extreme in either direction.
P. managuense can be kept with other cichlids from the region as long as they
aren't too small and can stand up for themselves. This is true for most cichlids species
from Central America. P. managuense can be aggressive, but in my experience their
aggressiveness is greatly exaggerated and P. managuense leaves most fishes alone.
However, during breeding they will protect their young and their territory furiously, and
since they are quite large they can claim large territories especially if normal
boundaries aren't created in the aquarium. But I wish to stress that P. managuense
normally isn't that aggressive and doesn't beat other fish to death. Just don't keep them
with fish small enough to eat (except for Ancistrus which usually survive despite
their small size).
Feeding P. managuense is easy and they accept just about any food. I recommend
feeding them a diet of pellets, shrimps and fish bits. To vary the diet I sometimes feed
them live feeders, usually convicts since it seems that one always have spare convicts one
can't get rid of by selling or giving away. I usually feed my P. managuense twice
a day with the occasional week without food.
Sexing P. managuense is usually easy and follows the line of most other
cichlids. Females are smaller and rounder. Breeding P. managuense is according to
my experience also easy as long as you give them their own aquarium. Breeding them in
aquariums with other cichlids is harder, but not too hard. The biggest problem is deciding
what to do with and how to raise the very large number of fry. Each spawning can generate
up to 2000-3000 fry.
They are usually very good parents and the fry grow very fast. They guard their young
for up to 6 weeks during which time the fry reach a size of 1.5 - 2 cm, or approximately
¾ inch. After that the parents spawn again and the fry have to be removed or the parents
will kill them while protecting the new batch. However on rare occasions the parents can
protect two batches simultaneously. This usually ends in the second batch being eaten by
their older sisters and brothers, which will grow very fast on this diet. :-)
Spawnings are usually 4-7 weeks apart. They usually lay their eggs on a rock or root
that has been carefully cleaned, and then dig very big craters right down to the glass
bottom in which to keep their young. The fry are small but accept most kinds of food. The
parents will spit out pellets that they've chewed into tiny pieces for the fry to eat. The
growth rate I mentioned above is based on my own experiences when I feed only pellets.
However, I don't recommend you to rely too heavily on the parents chewing food for their
young. You might observe whether the fry get the food they need this way, but if they
don't I recommend you feed the fry if you want them to survive.
Raising the fry without their parents is much harder and I wouldn't recommend
separating fry unless it's absolutely necessary. If possible, it's better to wait a few
weeks until the fry have grown a little.
If you like predatory fish and are willing to take my word that most of its reputation
is undeserved, then I recommend you to try this very beautiful fish.
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