Red Head Cichlid? Is this what it is....

[Stewey]

Ok a little story first. I was at an awesome pet store in Snohomish WA that is 45 minutes from my house. I was intrigued by this big fish in one of there 100 plus beautifully maintained aquariums. My guess he was 10" and what looked to be kind of blue in color but the lighting could have been effecting that. He was also damn near square in shape. He just kind of hovered mid talk and watched everything. The price was $89 and I asked one of the employees what kind of fish it was. She said "red headed cichlid". My first thought was, "there is no red on that fish". I asked what size tank that fish should be in and she said at least 75 gallons.

I never thought to take a picture of the cute big guy but I tried to look up a picture similar. So the attached picture is close to what I saw.

So my question is, what exactly is the fish I saw (I know I gave minimal info). Is the tank size for that fish correct? Are they aggressive? This one hovered in one place for 20 minutes but I'm wondering if they are active? I have a 6" Oscar that is very active?

Any info or pictures of these if you personally have one would be awesome.

Thank you so much for your help and time

God Bless
Stew

 

[rolandk10]

Isn't that a flowerhorn?

 

[Pond9]

Veija synspilum or however it’s spelled lol

 

[tlindsey]

The Vieja Synspila is also called Redhead Cichlid.

 

[duanes]

Agree with Tom, looks like Vieja melanurum (AKA symspillum), but there are a number from the Genus Vieja that look similar. The one above looks quite mature, hence the knot on its head, that would suggest FH to some people (which is usually a hybrid of Amphilophus trimaculatus and one of the Vieja.
Just a couple of the Vieja below
V bifasciattum also called a red head

V breidhori below

a young V melanurum below

 

[Stewey]

Thanks for all of your help..... From the looks of the pictures it seems the fish that I have been looking at is the V breidhori..

Thank you

View attachment 1375512
Agree with Tom, looks like Vieja melanurum (AKA symspillum), but there are a number from the Genus Vieja that look similar. The one above looks quite mature, hence the knot on its head, that would suggest FH to some people (which is usually a hybrid of Amphilophus trimaculatus and one of the Vieja.
Just a couple of the Vieja below
V bifasciattum also called a red head

V breidhori below

a young V melanurum below

 

[duanes]

Here are a few more pics of breidhori to compare.
1st a female

now a male

Now a pair in spawning dress

They come from the Chiaps area of Mexico, where highly alkaline water has an average pH of above 7.5 and a water temps in the mid 80s F.
In the river Salado where they are endemic, they are the only cichlid found in the habitat, and the flow is very strong.

 

[Gourami Swami]

It is a vieja. Probably a synspilum since that's what they said, and the lighting in the photo looks deceiving to me. But anyway- 75 will eventually be pretty small for a large male, looks like this one is getting there already, they can get upwards of 15". I would say a 125-180 (180 better for width) would be appropriate for a large male. 75 would work to grow one out for a couple years, but this one is already grown out. And if in a 75, tankmates would be a no-go, especially another large fish like an Oscar. Vieja are awesome fish, very personable and smart ime.