Microphthalmus cichlid

Care at a glance

Overview

The microphthalmus cichlid is a big, territorial Central American, best kept singly or as a single male-female pair, never in a group. It spends much of its time near the bottom, digging and shifting gravel as it grazes and rearranges its patch. Temperament is aggressive, so choose tankmates with care: only robust fish of similar size that can stand up to it, and be ready to separate a pair that turns on its neighbors. Feed a varied omnivore diet of pellets and frozen or fresh meaty foods, with some vegetable matter. Plan on a tank of at least 450 liters with a sand or fine gravel floor it can excavate.

In the wild

Chuco microphthalmus lives in the warm rivers of the Motagua basin in Guatemala and Honduras, where the water runs hard and alkaline. Give it neutral to hard, warm conditions: a temperature range of 24–29 C and a pH of 7.0–8.2. It naturally digs and reshapes the bottom, so use a deep sand or fine gravel bed, add sturdy stones and some driftwood for cover, and anchor or skip delicate plants, which it will uproot.

Good to know

Chuco microphthalmus belongs to the cichlid family and is a large fish, reaching about 30 centimeters. Like other Central American cichlids it is a biparental substrate spawner: a pair cleans a firm surface, lays the eggs on it, and both parents guard the eggs and defend the fry once they hatch, which keeps breeding at moderate rather than high difficulty. It is an omnivore with a carnivorous streak that constantly digs and rearranges the sand as it feeds.

Did you know

The name microphthalmus means small-eyed, from the Greek for small and eye. The fish has notably small eyes for its bulk, fitting for a cichlid that grubs through sand and gravel as much as it hunts by sight.

Common questions

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