black belt cichlid

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I

iLIVE4ThIs0309

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 4, 2005
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Michigan
anybody know anything about these cichlids...ex. how to sex them, how large will they get, temperaments, etc. if anybody has pics of juvi's of this species i would like to see them..i have a gt in a 75..and was wondering if the black belt could stand his own ground..anything helps..thanks

-eric
 
They grow to around 12"

Come from southern mexico, guatemala, belize, costa rica and panama. Sexing juvinile black belt cichlids can be acheived only with certain amount of educated guesswork. In groups of semi-adult specimens about 6" the males exhibit early sexual behaviour as they establisha pecking order and display to females. Adult males are slender in direct comparison to females and often display longer anal and dorsal fins showing stronger redin the fins.

They are ideal for general community system of cichlids. It's colour pattern of red cheek and caudal finwill enhance any central american cichlid display. IMO.
 
Vieja maculicauda can actually be quite aggressive. An equal sized Green Terror may have trouble holding its ground with a Black Belt Cichlid if you get an aggressive one. They grow fairly fast to about 6-7" then growth rate begins to slow.
 
they grow at a decent rate depending on food and wc, also all the ones Ive owned have been aggressive once it gets 6-7". once again a fish deserves its name, Black Belt.

for sexing your best bet is to get 3+ and let them bond, hopefully. Both look the same till they start growing and the male gets bigger while females will have a redder throat.

here's a few sites I found when i set my tank back to try and breed em this go round.
http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/other/veja_maculicauda.html
http://fish.mongabay.com/species/Cichlasoma_maculicauda.html
http://www.thatfishshop.com/findex/fish/vieja_maculicauda.htm
http://www.wetpetz.com/blackbelt.htm

Mine are still a lil shy unless eating but Ill try to get a few pics. other than the black belt and red neck, not much is different though.
 
Tangled up in cichlids has a nice pic of the black belt cichlid. The Vieja family does have alot of beautiful fish. The bb is definitely one of them.
 
Black belts are fast grower and males do grow over 14" if large space is provided.

I had a male and he was about 14" when I sold him to Sadim. It is not a good idea to keep a blackbelt with a green terror. The blackbelt might kill the GT in the future.
 
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