Breidohr's vieja

Care at a glance

Overview

Breidohr's vieja is a big, substrate-grazing Central American cichlid with a firm temperament. It does not live in groups, so keep a single fish or a bonded pair, and give a pair its own large territory. It works the lower half of the tank, digs, and grazes, and it becomes aggressive around a spawning site, so choose sturdy, similar-sized tankmates and expect to rearrange rockwork. Its diet leans vegetable, so feed a spirulina-based pellet and greens alongside some frozen foods, and skip live plants, which it will eat or uproot. A tank of around 450 liters or more, with rock and driftwood cover, suits it.

In the wild

Vieja breidohri comes from the upper Grijalva basin in Mexico, living in rivers, rapids, and reservoir margins over rock, sand, and silt. It favors well-oxygenated water with some current. Give it a sand floor, stacked rock and wood for territory, strong filtration, and hold 24 to 29 C and a pH of 7.0 to 8.2 in medium-hard to hard water.

Good to know

Vieja breidohri belongs to the cichlid family and reaches about 20 centimeters, compact for a genus whose members often pass 30. It is a substrate-spawning cichlid of medium breeding difficulty, a pair laying eggs on a cleaned surface and guarding the fry together. Adults are smoky blue-grey with a dark stripe and blotches along the side.

Did you know

The fish was described from Mexico's largest reservoir, the Presa de la Angostura on the Grijalva, which is also where its common name, the Angostura cichlid, comes from. A dammed river became the type locality for the species.

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Oaxaca vieja

  Vieja zonata

  Freshwater

  9.8 in (25 cm)132 gal (500 L)75–84°F (24–29°C)
• Window vieja

  Vieja fenestrata

  Freshwater

  11.8 in (30 cm)132 gal (500 L)75–84°F (24–29°C)
• Twoband vieja

  Vieja bifasciata

  Freshwater

  14.2 in (36 cm)159 gal (600 L)75–84°F (24–29°C)

• 

  Blackbelt Cichlid

  Vieja maculicauda

  Freshwater

  12.6 in (32 cm)66 gal (250 L)72–82°F (22–28°C)

• 

  Redhead Cichlid

  Vieja melanurus

  Freshwater

  14.6 in (37 cm)75 gal (285 L)77–82°F (25–28°C)

• 

  Tailbar cichlid

  Vieja hartwegi

  Freshwater

  11 in (28 cm)92 gal (350 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)