Parachromis loisellei Care? (Tank size, setup, behaviour, breeding, Tank Mates, Feeding, etc.)

[cyclops5432]

So recently I saw a few Parachromis Loiselle's at my local fish and I really badly want to get one, but I don't have much experience keeping parachromis cichlids. I have a spare 65 gallon so I'm hoping to get 1 fish. This is the fish I'm hoping to get so could someone please sex it?

View attachment DSCN6311.JPG

 

[duanes]

The pic looks female to me, but if it is too young, gender traits may not have developed yet.
A kind of universal trait in most of genus Parachromis is males usually have prominent spots on th lower jaw, similar to the ones in the pic of the P motaguense below.

Males of your Parachromis can easily hit 12 or more inches, so a 65 gal tank for an adult is a bit wimpy, since yours looks female o me, it may only hit 10".
This species comes from pristine waters with very low nitrate, so in a tank as small as 65 gal, once it reaches maturity, to keep it healthy you may need to do daily 50% water changes to keep it from scarring up with HITH.
This is the kind of habitat and space they live in nature, a female appears about the 1 minute mark.
Aktun Ha

 

[cyclops5432]

Thanks a lot for your reply duanes. Regarding the tank I could pretty easily upgrade to 90 gallon so that is out the way. Also as it is possibly a female does this mean it's less aggressive? Does this open the possibility for tank mates in a 150g or larger. Also, I read that this species lives in swampy areas so are plants OK? On the topic of diet read that loisellei is mainly insectivorous. Add more information if possible.

 

[duanes]

Just to clarify, below is a female motaguense, note the lack of spots on the gill plate and lower jaw.

That said, it might not be as dramatic for what was once dubbed loiselli (now dubbed either friedrichstahli, or multifasciatus depending on who you talk to), (because the name loisellii is now considered invalid as of 2018)..
Females can be as aggressive as males.
In nature they eat insects., and fish, so a pellet made for carnivores is your most healthy bet.
A friend kept a full grown pair in a 150 for life, that spawned many time, but no other cichlids, or fish.
I have kept a number of Parachromis pairs in 6 ft tanks, but only as pairs (not dovii of course, they need much larger tanks), but even as pairs they needed to be watched closely, and divided if the females became abused.
As far as plants go, floating plants or terrestrials with roots in the water are probably your best bet.

 

[cyclops5432]

Been doing a bit of research, and I didn't really see the black spots on the jaw of the loisellei. See below

 

[keystonewma]

I used to keep this species. I had a female and she was extremely aggressive. She first killed a larger female in the tank, and a few months later she killed her mate, who was about 1.5 times larger than her. I later put her in with a couple of mature male jags and she didn't let them push her around. Each cichlid has its own personality, but yes the females of this species can be very aggressive.

I wish I could find some of these locally, I would love to keep them again. Yours looks like it will turn into a great one!