Managuese cichlids inhabit Eastern Honduras in Lake Managuas and Lake Nicaragua in Costa Rica. They are very territorial and will bite and burrow. They grow to a length of 11" maximum so they require a roomy tank with a large open area for swimming as well as rocks for hiding in. A Ph of 7.0 to 8.7 and a hardness of 10-15 degrees DGH is adequate. The male like most South American Cichlids is generally larger with his dorsal and anal fins pointed.

I traded for these fish with Tyler Wagner from our club who purchased them from one of our local pet stores. He had successfully spawned them so again my first effort was to also spawn them. I placed them in a 75 gallon tank with medium to coarse gravel and lots of large pieces of mountain rock stacked on top of each other. I fed them large cichlid pellets and dormin food. They ate like pigs and nothing was ever left uneaten, sometimes not even my fingers.

After a week they spawned on a large flat rock in the same manner as a convict cichlid. There were black worm like markings and silver colour shown. I carefully and quickly removed the rock out of the tank while getting attacked by the upset parents. They seemed to know what was happening and they weren't too happy about it. I them placed the rock ina 5 gallon tank with an airstone beside the rock and added methylene blue. After 7 days they hatched and another 6 days before they began to free swim. I fed them live shrimp brine and later crushed flake food. They grew fast and ate just like their parents, lots! It was somewhat enjoyable spawning these fish but just remember to have plenty of food around when you do.