Texas Cichlid Died, Now What?

[duanes]

Here are a couple shots of carpintus to compare, my first impression (like Gourami Swami said) is yours is carpintus.

Male in breeding color above, female below

normal male coloration below

and a tamosopoensus I had

 

[duanes]

and even though tamosopoensus are slightly smaller than the others in the carpintus clade, a 40 gal is not adequate for them either.

mine easily surpassed 7'and when in spawning mode, were as lethal as any other cichlid in protecting a 4 x 4 x 4ft area (250+gallons).

 

[Gourami Swami]

mine easily surpassed 7'and when in spawning mode, were as lethal as any other cichlid in protecting a 4 x 4 x 4ft area (250+gallons).

Good to know, I got that info from this article:
https://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/features/articles/herichthys-tamasopoensis-in-the-wild
But I was a bit skeptical about the 7" max info. How large did yours end up getting? Agreed as well about the 40g, I wouldn't keep them in less than a 75.

 

[duanes]

I kept my pair of Tamo in in a 100 gal, 6ft tank, where they hit around 7", the male would have been a little larger, female, maybe 6". There were a few other cichlids in the tank at first, but they had to be removed, once the Tamo's spawned, or they would have been goners.

 

[duanes]

Just to show how well they can hold their own, here is a shot of one of the Tamo's
with a tank mate before they spawned.

 

[Gourami Swami]

Just to show how well they can hold their own, here is a shot of one of the Tamo's
with a tank mate before they spawned.

Very cool pic thanks for sharing. Mine hasn't been particularly aggressive, but nobody has challenged his dominance. I am also not 100% sure he is a male just guessing. I have him in a 5' 80 gallon with some panamensis. He more or less leaves them alone.