Amazon port cichlid

Care at a glance

Overview

Cichlasoma amazonarum is a straightforward pair cichlid and one of the easier medium South Americans to keep. A pair spawns in the open on a flat surface and both parents guard the fry, which is most of the appeal. It is undemanding about water chemistry and tolerates a wide range, so it suits a first larger cichlid. Give it wood, some cover and a sand floor, and expect it to rearrange the layout. Feed pellets and frozen foods.

In the wild

Cichlasoma amazonarum lives in lakes, floodplain ditches and quiet river margins across the Amazon lowlands, water that is warm and generally soft to neutral but varies a great deal by season. Keep it at 24 to 28 degrees Celsius and pH 6.0 to 7.5. It forgives more variation than most of its relatives.

Good to know

Cichlasoma amazonarum reaches about 16 centimeters and belongs to the small group that kept the name Cichlasoma when the genus was broken up. For decades Cichlasoma held well over a hundred species; the revisions moved almost all of them elsewhere and left the port cichlids behind as the true core.

Did you know

Hundreds of species once crowded genus Cichlasoma; the revisions sent them all away and left these ports holding the name.

Common questions

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