Breeding Conditions in Texas for Cichlids

The only cichlid native to the United States is found in Texas. The Texas cichlid is a popular aquarium fish in areas outside its range. It's a gold-colored fish with pearly highlights and white and turquoise dots on its body and fins and black dots on the rear half of the body. Many cichlids have three black bars on their bodies. Before they're fully grown they are pearl-gray with white dots.

  1. Breeding Environment

    • In the wild both parents care for and protect their young. Cichlids are open breeders and depend on densely grown pools filled with rock, roots and large plants. This environment, including the well-oxygenated water, should be reconstructed in an aquarium if you want to breed them in captivity. Cichlids are very prolific in the wild and easy to breed in captivity.

    Determining Gender

    • When breeding period arrives the Texas cichlid's underside turns completely black and the bars on its back are more intense in color. Male and female cichlids look very similar, but females are smaller and aren't as brightly colored as males. Sometimes older males will develop a cranial bump, which is a way to tell male from female, except that females have also been found to develop cranial bumps.

    Breeding Habits

    • At 2 to 3 inches the female cichlid begins cleaning a flat surface for spawning. Cichlids lay 500 to 1,000 eggs on the prepared surface and the male fertilizes them. The female then tends to the eggs while the male guards the territory - cichlids are territorial and sometimes can't be kept in the same aquarium because of possible violence. They will dig a small home for the fish to live in when the eggs hatch in three to five days. They will stay in the hole for five to eight days. The baby cichlid is called a fry. Cichlids sometime eat their young.

    Breeding Blue Texas Cichlid

    • Blue Texas cichlids are similar to the regular Texas cichlid but are sometimes more particular about spawning in specific environments. In an aquarium water parameters can be adjusted. The main difference between the two is that the fry or baby cichlid will accept newly hatched brine shrimp to eat on its first day, whereas the regular Texas cichlid won't accept this food for about a week.

    Breeding Green Texas Cichlid

    • The green Texas cichlid also differs from the regular Texas cichlid. It is a substrate spawner and will lay up to 1,000 or more eggs. The biggest impediment to breeding the green Texas cichlid in captivity is finding a compatible pair. These cichlids hatch in five days and are swimming and eating newly hatched brine shrimps three days later.