Parachromis managuense - Jaguar Cichlid

Parachromis Managuense - Jaguar Cichlid has as a bad reputation, just like many of the other large predatory cichlids. This reputation is to a large part undeserved, and besides, the positive sides to these fishes more than well make up fore any negative ones. Not to mention that an adult P Managuense - Jaguar Cichlid is incredibly beautiful.

I’ve kept these cichlids and have nothing but good to say about them if you have aquarium large enough to handle this species that grows to 55 cm/ 22 inches. I would say that the absolute minimum to keep these cichlids with other cichlids is 540 L / 120 Gallon. And that’s a minimum; a larger aquarium is to be preferred. Large specimens require even larger aquariums. They can be breed in aquariums that is 250 L/ 55 gallons or bigger.

The aquarium should be decorated so that natural territory boundaries are created and so that there are a lot of hiding places for the female as the male can be quite mean to her if she isn’t ready to bread when he is. Larger rocks should be placed directly on the bottom of the aquarium since this species digs a lot and can move large stones. Use silica too glue caves and stone formations together so that they don’t fall down.

This species hasn’t got any bigger demands and thrives in most water conditions as long as ph and dh levels aren’t to extreme in any direction.

P Managuense - Jaguar Cichlid can be kept with other cichlids from the region as longs as they aren’t too small and can stand up for them self. This is true for most cichlids species from Central America. P Managuense - Jaguar Cichlid can be aggressive, but to my experience their aggressiveness is greatly exaggerated and P Managuense - Jaguar Cichlid leaves most fishes alone. However, during breeding they will protect their young and their territory furiously and since they are quite large they can claim large territories especially if normal boundaries aren’t created in the aquarium.

But I wish to stress that P Managuense - Jaguar Cichlid normally isn’t that aggressive and doesn’t beat other fish to death. Just don’t keep them with fish small enough to eat (except for Ancistrus which usually survive despite their small size).

Feeding P Managuense - Jaguar Cichlid is easy and they accept just about any food. I recommend feeding them a diet of pellets, shrimps and fish bits. To vary the diet I sometimes feed them live feeders, usually convicts since it seems that one always have spare convicts one can’t get ride of by selling or giving away. I usually feed my P Managuense two times a day with the occasional week without food.

Sexing P Managuense - Jaguar Cichlid is usually easy and follows the line of most other cichlids. Females are smaller and rounder. Breeding P Managuense - Jaguar Cichlid is according to my experience also easy as long as you give them their own aquarium. Breeding them in aquariums with other cichlids is harder, but not too hard. The biggest problem is deciding what to do and how to raise the very large number of fry. Each spawning can generate up to 2000-3000 fry.

They are usually very good parents and the fry grows very fast. They guard their young for up to 6 weeks during which time the fry reaches a size of 1.5-2 cm/ approximately 0.75 inch. After that the parents spawn again and the fry have to be removed or the parents will kill them while protecting the new batch. However on rare occasions the parents can protect 2 batches simultaneous. This usually ends in the second batch being eaten by their older sisters and brothers, which will grow very fast on this diet.


Jaguar cichlid - Parachromis managuensis. Copyright www.jjphoto.dk

Spawnings are usually 4-7 weeks apart. They usually lay their eggs on a rock or root that have been carefully cleaned and then dig very big craters right down to the glass bottom in which they keep their young. The fry is small but accepts most kinds of food. Their parents will spit out pellets that they’ve chewed into tiny pieces for the fry to eat. The growth rate I mentioned above is based on my own experiences when I only feed pellets. However, I don’t recommend you to relay to heavily on the parents chewing food for their young. You might try if the fry gets the food they need this way, but if they don’t I recommend you to feed the fry if you want them to survive.

Raising the fry without their parents is much harder and I wouldn’t recommend separating fry unless it’s absolutely necessary. If it’s possible it’s better to wait a few weeks until the fry have grown a little.

If you like predatory fish and are willing to take my word for that most of its reputation is undeserved, then I recommend you to try this very beautiful fish.

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