Speckled peacock bass

Care at a glance

Overview

A single adult needs a tank of at least 1500 liters at 26 to 29 C and pH 5.0 to 7.0, with heavy filtration. Provide long, open swimming lanes and robust equipment. Feed meaty predator foods and pellets, and never live feeder fish. Only very large, tough tankmates are safe, and most keepers house it alone.

In the wild

The speckled peacock bass lives in the Rio Negro and Orinoco basins in Brazil, Venezuela, and Colombia. It hunts in slow, warm blackwater rivers, lagoons, and flooded forest. This is the largest cichlid in the Americas and an open-water predator. It needs an enormous tank and is realistic only for the most dedicated keepers.

Good to know

Cichla temensis was described by Humboldt in 1821 and reaches about 99 cm and over 12 kg, making it one of the largest cichlids in the world. It shifts seasonally between a pale-spotted phase and a dark, barred breeding phase. It is a premier Amazon sport fish.

Did you know

It holds the all-tackle angling record among peacock bass and can change its color pattern dramatically with the seasons.

Related species

• 

  Butterfly peacock bass

  Cichla ocellaris

  29.1 in (74 cm)211 gal (800 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Wolf cichlid

  Parachromis dovii

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• True red terror

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• 

  Flowerhorn cichlid

  Amphilophus hybrid

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• 

  Jaguar cichlid

  Parachromis managuensis

  15.7 in (40 cm)119 gal (450 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Redhead Cichlid

  Vieja melanurus

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