First I have to say that they are one of the hardiest cichlids I have ever had. Of the 12 fry, 11 made it to maturity, 4" to 5". Out of that group I got four breeding pairs.

The three pictures at the top and the first one on the side show how different mature fish can look in different light. They start to fully mature at 4" to 5". The first and second on top are about 5" to 6". the third and the top on the side is about 9" to10".

The amazing thing about these fish is that even though they get big they do not have the usual cichlid combativeness. They will protect their young and I have never seen them harm one. They are the best family raising fish I have ever kept. Although a little tight, I have had two pairs live and breed in twenty gallon tanks. In one tank, a 35 gallon, where I really don't want any more fry, there are three generations in the tank. Besides the breeding pair, there are a young or two from two previous spawns. The last spawn finally disappeared. I imagine the small ones got them at night. That would have been four generations in the tank. The parents are fiercely protective of the fry but did nothing more than chase the others to the other end of the tank.

They like to rearrange their environment, and are always moving gravel, rocks and driftwood. In two of the pictures at the right you will notice that there is a cave in one end of the piece of floating driftwood. They spawned in there and then moved the big rocks that held the driftwood down. They proceeded to hatch the spawn from the floating cave. They like to dig in gravel but will readily spawn in a bare bottomed tank. They like to hide the spawn in a cave or under a slanted rock.

I had a bright idea when one pair was getting too large for the 6" flower pot and bought an 8" plastic pot. I filled the saucer with gravel, cut a "V" in the side of the pot and inserted it upside down in the gravel. The next morning I found the picture you see with the saucer floating upside down with a whole spawn attached. They had evidently dug out the gravel from inside, spawned and then dug the gravel from the outside which allowed the saucer to float. It was amusing to watch the female fan the eggs from an awkward almost sideways position. She did well and they hatched and grew.

These fish were bred and raised in approximately 75 degree water , ph about 7.2, hardness about 250 ppm, 0 ppm Nitrite and less than 20 ppm Nitrate. They are not fussy and are very hardy. They do not require live food. These were fed flake, NoBBS and lately Atisons Betta Fry food when very young. They were put on small pellets ASAP and then graduated to larger pellets. That has been their staple food and they have thrived on it. You can leave the fry in with the adults forever and be totally amused by their antics. The female is in charge but doesn't bully the male and they take turns herding the fry. They constantly show affection by little nudges back and forth. Occasionally the male gets booted but that doesn't last long.

They get sexually mature at about 4" to 5" and are difficult to sex. Best to raise 6 to 8 together and let them pair off. Eventually the males grow to be almost twice as big as the females and the males fins get more pointed as they grow.