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Ok so I did some looking on a web site that some one posted on here and found a Green Texas Cichlid. From what I got from the site is they only get to be about 7". Has any one kept them? If you have any information about them I would love to hear it. Pictures are good too!!

Thanks!!

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

the green texas cichlid (Herichthys carpintis) aka the Pearlscale cichlid is a close cousin of the regular (or blue) texas cichlid (Herichthys cyanoguttatus). I've heard that the blue texas is more aggressive and I've also heard that the green texas is more aggressive. So I guess the truth is that, like all cichlids, personality and aggression level will vary from fish to fish and that in general they are about equal. I do believe the regular texas grows a bit larger, in the 12" range. I am pretty sure though that the carpintis can get to around 10". I have a carpintis but it's still pretty small. Actually I have 2, a male and a female but the male isn't doing very well. They're both in the 1.5-2" range. I can tell you that I'm about 95% sure you can sex carpintis rather easily. Females have a black blotch in the dorsal fin and males don't.

Would a 55 Gal. be too small for these fish with a pair of convics?

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Yes, a fifty-five would be too small. The convict pair alone would dominate most if not all of the tank, especially when raising fry. A big, ten inch cichlid like the green Texas would need at least seventy gallons, in my opinion.

Last edited by sirbooks at 21-Mar-2005 10:57

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

is there any New world Cichlid that is colorful, and grows to about 6 to 7 inches?

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

is there any New world Cichlid that is colorful, and grows to about 6 to 7 inches?

actually, some of the most colorful new world cichlids only grow to around 6 or 7 inches. For example, the entire genus of [link=Thorichthys]http://www.cichlidae.com/gallery.php?genus=Thorichthys" style="COLOR: #FF3300[/link] grow to 5-7" and are amazingly colorful once they fully color up. The problem here is that these cichlids can take between 1-2 years to fully color up. I can promise you however that once they do you'll agree that the wait was worth it.

there are also a number of very colorful Gymnogeophagus that stay in the 6" range. these may not be as easy to obtain though.

jason?? is that fish in the pic of yours a firemouth?? and is that yours?

napower, no that link is to the Cichlid Room Companion which is the site of Juan Miguel Artigas Azaz...a well known cichlid keeper, breeder and collector in Mexico. The pic in the middle of the page is of a breeding Thorichthys maculipinnis, and on the left side of the page is a list of all the Thorichthys species.

I'm no expert at cichlids, but Jason's avatar is probably not a firemouth; it looks more like a red lab than anything else, minus, of course, the coloring and thick lips.

Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 23-Mar-2005 18:43

oh, my bad...I thought you meant the fish in the link I posted.

No, the fish in my avatar is a 4+ year old female Amphilophus robertsoni. One of the common names of this species is the False Firemouth because they look very similar. And yes it is my fish...I've had her for, well, about 4+ years.

Last edited by jason_r_s at 23-Mar-2005 22:57

Hey, at least I got the genus .

Jason

What are the temperment of these fish and how hard are they to find in lfs?

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Wings...that depends on which fish you're talking about.

The ones I mentioned in my answer to your question were any Thorichthys and some Gymnogeophagus. Gymnogeo's are for the most part pretty peaceful I believe but may be hard to find. Some Thorichthys are a little more common like of course the most common firemouth (T. meeki). Others that I've seen on occasion are T. aureum and T. maculipinnis (I recently saw this one for sale as a Gold-fin meeki). The temperament of pretty much all the Thorichthys would be comparable to the firemouth but if anything the others might be less aggressive. They're usually pretty well mannered in at least a 30 gallon tank.

The fish in my avatar (A. robertsoni) has been a little more common lately, at least around the Indianapolis area. After years of never seeing them they've popped up at a few different lfs. These fish are territorial but not overly aggressive with other species. However, they don't like their own kind in general. I've heard of many people having trouble with them in 55-75 gallon tanks. I have had very little trouble with mine but they are in a 150 along with several other cichlids.

have a look here and see if there are any lfs that are near you on that list. If so, then you will have a lot more options as to what to stock with. If there's not one near you on that list, you could try to convince an lfs near you to order from him.

Last edited by jason_r_s at 04-Apr-2005 13:12