How to Keep: Chocolate Cichlids - Fish in the Spotlight Ep. 3
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- Опубликовано: 27 авг 2015
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Chocolate cichlids are a large and beautiful South American cichlid. They are fairly peaceful and a great community fish. Here's what you need to know about them in just 4 minutes!
Music by: Kevin Macleod, Incompetech.com 
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thanks so much for your post! my dad and i bred chocolates when no one knew what they were in my area. about 25 years have passed and im starting to see these guys all over. they are very entertaining, almost dog-like, beautiful fish.
thanks again
Yes I agree, the chocolate cichlid is awesome, I have four which are now about 15cm so they are doing well in my American cichlid 6foot tank. I also have red spotted 3 large severams, 2 spotted oscars, silver dollars, Dempsey, acarras ect. Thanks for the video info. Awesome dude
What a beauty...great video and narration :)
Beautiful fish. I really like this tank.
+Day5 Aquatics Hooray! It worked!
Thanks amigo!
Thank you Kevin
Amazing info great job
Well done!
Great video
I had one but lost it when my tank crashed after I added another filter. It was about 7" long.
Hi awesome video. I too have three large chocolate cichlids, I did have four until a week ago, when I found one dead, flooring on the surface. Don’t know why it died. Maybe it was fighting with my two large orange spotted severams, who knows what goes on at night. I was hoping to learn how big this beautiful fish grow. At the moment mine are 5-6 inches. Can ant one please tell me how large they will grow ? Many thanks
I have a 5 inch oscar and a 5 inch chocky..they get on well...I would say that their dispositions are very well matched...they both come eagerly to front for food..and they both are sooks...in fact I think that chockys are very sensitive fish... I had a severum that I bought the same ttime as my choc...they were both juveniles..but my sev had a facial/gill deformity that I did not see when I bought him as he was so small...when my sev died, my choc hovered over the top of his body with his nose facing the surface, he was perfectly still. He stayed like that for a minute or so before gently moving away...it was eerie and it reminded me of that scene in start trek the voyage home when the whales respond to the aliens (remember it?). The other thing that I have observed is that chocs use the top of their heads to push other fish around. They slide in underneath and then forcefully raise their heads, giving the fish they are targeting a good shove...I also have 4 juvenile sevs in the tank and I can say that choc has been great with them...no fighting..no threatening behaviour...choc has his own spot in the tank where he likes to hang out and sleep and if the sevs try to take his spot it is the only time I see him be a bit more forceful..and even then it is not aggressive..he just moves back in with authority and they get out...
The other really cool thing about chocs is the way they change their body colour...at night mine is mottled and patchy and an all together different colour to match the driftwood he is under...they also change colour depending on mood...I use my chocs behaviour to let me know if there is anything amiss in the tank...if he is not happy then I start to take a good look at what is going on...this includes the water quality ...if I cant work out what is wrong then I just do a water change anyway...
I live in Australia and I grew up in the time when we were going from imperial to metric...and so I can use both..however..metric makes way more sense and is so much easier to use. 1 litre of water = 1kg....easy...
+ORANGE FISHHEAD This is probably the best video comment I have ever received!
Yes. Chocolates are characters! They are a lovely community member. They can get quite large but are very gently. They may poke or prod but they almost never attack anything.
As you mentioned the color change is quite cool. Many cichlids change their color depending on their mood or whether they're in breeding mode. Chocolates are no different. Even at night they change colors. Take a flashlight and explore around your tank a few hours after the lights have gone out. I bet you'll see something quite different than your daytime tank.
They are a joy to watch
c h o c k y
whats the yellow and black striped one called?
What was the black and white striped fish?
taste like emerald?
I always thought emerald cichlid was crytoheros Fredericki??? Never heard a chocolate cichlid called a emerald???
Are some chocolate cichlids dude. I have three chocolate cichlids in my 6 ft tank. I did have four but I got on morning two months ago to find a dead chocolate cichlid. Don’t know why it died, who knows maybe they were fighting over night. Anyways, I still have three and they are getting big. They are now about 6 inches, and boy oh boy have they grown fast. I keep 5hem with two large several and several geogheus . Also have 3 9 inch silver sharks who race around the tank, but they are very peaceful indeed. I’ve got two 10 inch pleas as well, also have several jadeite which I breed last year. I was given a convict by a family member, But he hides all the time in a cave. Not liked by the other cichlids for some reason . Oh yes I have about 20 Cory‘ stop ear all the left over food. I love these fascinating little fish. Last but not least, I have a yellow lab and a Frontosa in there too, yes I know they are african cichlids but they were being attack in my 55 gallon African cichlids tank so that why they are in with my American cichlids. They get along most of the time. Your video was very interesting . Looks like your chocolate cichlids are large. Thanks the information on how to sex them. I’m sure you agree that most fish are sexed by their fins. Fish keeping is fill of ups and down just like life is. Take care dude and keep enjoying this wonderful hobby. I will watch out for more of your videos.
Hi AquaStudent. Great video. Can you share any info on the following;
- sexing chocolate cichlids? Is there any way to reliably distinguish between males/females? I have a chocolate cichlid that is probably 7" TL. I'd like to get it a mate, but first I have to sex it!
- aggression whilst breeding? Any info? I have bred and spawned various cichlids previously. From Convicts and Dempsey's to Geophagus Tapajos and Bolivian Rams. I would expect heightened aggression from Chocolates (as is normal for cichlids); but how much? Are they closer to the Tapajos or the Convicts in terms of aggression levels? The last thing I need is two 8 inch "convicts" in my south American "community" tank!
Thanks in advance.
Cheers,
Daryl
The best method for sexing cichlids is using the venting method. It seems a bit gross but it will get the job done. Take a look at this page for an introduction on it. You should also take a look at some videos on venting or stop by the Aquatic Support Community on Facebook.
Venting Cichlids Resource - www.fishhead.com/articles/ventsex.htm
hum... how's the yellow "convict" is called?
that was a juvenile severum to which i think you are referring. not a convict.
Murg Trollen I’ve seen a yellow convict before
thew other day i saw a 12 inch plus chocolate cichlid with a width of 4 inches for sale for £30 it was good but i brought an oscar instead because when i went into the shop earlier and the lady said it was 15 so we wnt back but she doubled the price so i just brought a 10 inch oscar for 15
+LJS Exotics and Aquatics That's a shame. They are an excellent fish. Very similar to oscars but different colors. They are playful like oscars though.
If you're able to go back and get them for a price you find reasonable you won't regret it.
thanks but im getting a mbu puffer fish on saturday for £100 its 4 inches long
+LJS Exotics and Aquatics That'll be a fun fish too! Puffers have some delightful personalities.
yeah i had a fahaka who hand fed but then i had white spot and now hes gone
+LJS Exotics and Aquatics That's unfortunate. Hopefully you can get the new one to eat out of your hand.