Anyone here keeping Mayan Cichlids?

[SwampFins]

I just came back from my local LFS and was talking to someone about wanting to add one more fish to my setup and they turned me onto one of these guys.

They had a similar setup going at the store with a few central Americans (all adults) so I figured I'd give it a shot.

Just wanted to see if anyone had any past experiences with them and what not. I couldn't find much online aside from the wildlife profiles, not much in regards to home aquaria.

I'll see if I can snap a pic of mine in a few mins!

 

[duanes]

I kept them in the past, they spawned a few times in my tanks.
They weren't especially aggressive for me, but were susceptible t HLLE if not enough water changes were performed.
This made sense after I later spent some time diving with them in the Cenotes of Mexico, where the upwelling of pristine water from below puts them in constant water change.
Here is a video of them in Cenote Azul.
Azul imovie edit

 

[SwampFins]

This little guy has a lot of personality. He swims right next to the big boys.

The firemouth didn't seem to like him much when I introduced him but it was quickly sorted out. Hes actually schooling with them now.

I made sure to feed everyone before adding him to the tank. Then I re arranged everything to reset zones and did a big water change before finally adding him.

 

[SwampFins]

I kept them in the past, they spawned a few times in my tanks.
They weren't especially aggressive for me, but were susceptible t HLLE if not enough water changes were performed.
This made sense after I later spent some time diving with them in the Cenotes of Mexico, where the upwelling of pristine water from below puts them in constant water change.
Here is a video of them in Cenote Azul.
Azul imovie edit

WOW that is so cool. Thanks for sharing that! That is for sure bucket list for me.

Good to hear they seem to be alright as far as aggression goes. For south Americans anyway haha.

I noticed they tend to school almost in that video, which I find interesting considering they are all big cichlids with a huge open space. I guess in a way that shows some promise for a community setup.

 

[newworld]

That fish doesnt look like a Mayan....sorry

 

[Toiletcar]

That fish doesnt look like a Mayan....sorry

Does to me. It’s a juvi cichlid, how do you know? There are many catch locations that look very different. The bars and spot look normal Mayan to me.

 

[Toiletcar]

Adult and juvi Mayans for comparison. Look nothing alike as well.

 

[Gourami Swami]

Spangling on the face seems off for a mayan to me, though I agree it could be anything at this stage, hard to tell. Perhaps a hybrid with some mayan in it.

 

[newworld]

Does to me. It’s a juvi cichlid, how do you know? There are many catch locations that look very different. The bars and spot look normal Mayan to me.

Body shape, pattern doesn't look right I'm aware of the variants I've caught hundreds....

 

[duanes]

I noticed they tend to school almost in that video, which I find interesting considering they are all big cichlids with a huge open space. I guess in a way that shows some promise for a community setup.

In the video most are females, and some subordinate males without territory.
The alpha males held territories in caves of about 10ft x 10ft x 10ft. Any unreceptive females, and small males were driven away from the alphas area, and harshly. You can see how torn up many in the school are.
Given the proper space many cichlids shoal (especially the females) most tanks are too small to bring out that kind of behavior.