Mayaheros Uropthalmus and brackish conditions

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Big and Bald!!

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Apr 4, 2018
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I was hoping to be able to introduce a Mayan to a brackish tank, should I set one up, given its ability, and frequent appearance in brackish and sometimes marine conditions, it not only seems to survive, bit thrive from stuff I've read... But when I read cichlid species able to handle brackish conditions I just get the black chin tilapia and two Asian species I'm not really interested in. For the main fish I want to keep I lean far more towards Cichlids than other fish... So if this is detrimental to the Mayan's long term health I will go with a freshwater set-up, just nice to open up different options but I want Cichlids I'm interested in, in my set up... If it can live happily in a brackish set up I'll go with that, if not I will go with a Freshwater set-up. New to this so please forgive my lack of knowledge. Excited to get started though, won't be for a few months as I've got a lot going on temporarily, once its over I can get started, I figured its to best to get started and get the best info I can as early as I can for the best interest of the fish, something awesome to look forward to, love reading about the different cichlids and their different attitudes and lifestyles :) Thanks
 
I have heard they can handle brackish conditions, and have actually seen a pic of them swimming on a beach. Somewhere on this site I believe. duanes duanes probably has good insight.

One thing I would consider is water salinity aside- Mayans are super aggressive, what brackish fish were you considering keeping it with? Unless in a very big tank, most of the commonly available brackish fish I can think of wouldn't be great matches.
 
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There are uropthalmus sub-species living in sea water off Belize and Isla Mujeres, Mexico. As to how long or how many generations (percentages of spawn survivors and deaths) it took to adapt to those marine conditions, and to evolve, might be the key to understanding the tolerance, How long has Isla Mujeras been separated from the mainland, 1 million, 10 million years?
And whether or not they are actually uropthalmus, or developed into an entirely different species from their freshwater ancestor, may be significant.
When first described they were not considered pro, but troeschelii.
Brackish tolerance may be one thing, total sea water salinity may be another.
The normal conditions on the Yucatan vary from totally fresh water cenotes to brackish, and there are scientists who suggest splitting the species uropthlmus into a number of separate species.
Mayan Cichlid (Cichlasoma urophthalmus) - Species Profile
The Mayan cichlid, 'Cichlasoma' urophthalmus: An Overview by ...
extensive work has been done by Shmitter-Soto, to extensive to list here, but worth the search
 
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I get what you guys are saying... Some may look the same but evolving in differing areas maybe, which means genetically, the fish I buy may or may not adapt to brackish conditions as readily... Tolerance is one thing but obviously for the fish's long-term well-being it may be best to go down the Freshwater route, which gives me more options cichlid wise, I was just hoping for more options for omnivorous and predatory fish to go with cichlids, Uropthalmus seemed like the only potential brackish tolerant species I would have kept, the Asian species don't interest me. Maybe going Freshwater and starting off not too aggressive but beautiful, large and impressive still, would be a good start, like Pareetroplus Synspila? A small community in a fairly large set up would be great.
 
If I may change the topic slightly, does anybody know of any documentary on CA and SA cichlids in the wild, I want to learn as much as I can both in the hobby and for personal interest as I love nature. I've seen the African one Jewels of the Rift. Central and South Americans appeal to me the most though, Thanks for your input guys :)
 
Big and Bald!! said:
If I may change the topic slightly, does anybody know of any documentary on CA and SA cichlids in the wild, I want to learn as much as I can both in the hobby and for personal interest as I love nature. I've seen the African one Jewels of the Rift. Central and South Americans appeal to me the most though, Thanks for your input guys :)
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At the top of
Big and Bald!! said:
If I may change the topic slightly, does anybody know of any documentary on CA and SA cichlids in the wild, I want to learn as much as I can both in the hobby and for personal interest as I love nature. I've seen the African one Jewels of the Rift. Central and South Americans appeal to me the most though, Thanks for your input guys :)
Click to expand...
Alot of footage in this thread if you haven't seen it.
https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/natural-habitats-of-cichlids.670096/
Willem Heijns has made a few videos of central American cichlids.
 
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