Meek's cichlazoma is a predatory fish that aquarists love to breed. This subspecies, of course, has its own characteristics and subtleties that must be studied before purchase. You can find them in our article.
general information
Cichlazoma brought to us from eastern Mexico. She is a predator. The second name of the fish is red-headed cichlazoma. She has a tall and elongated body. Color gray with an olive or blue tint. In older individuals, it changes to purple. The size of Meeki's cichlomas is 10-13 centimeters. Females have slight differences from males. We will talk about them a little later.
Few people know, but depending on the content and habitat of the fish, dark spots or streaks may form on its body. In the aquarium in which cichlazomas live, it is necessary to have a large number of plants and shelters. They will need to be carefully attached. Meek’s cichlazoma is a fish that loves to jump out of the water to view a subject. For this reason, you must always close the aquarium.
Features of cichlazoma
One of the most beautiful aquarium fish is considered Meek cichlazoma. The content of such fish and its features can be found in our article. As we said earlier, for a comfortable living cichlazoma, you need to install a large number of additional accessories in the aquarium. These include algae, large stones, pots made of ceramics, caves, and snags. If you want to have more than five cichlases in your aquarium, then its volume should be more than 100 liters. Experts also recommend using only sandy soil for filling. The water temperature for a comfortable stay of fish from Eastern Mexico is 20-25 degrees Celsius. It is worth emphasizing that in the aquarium it will be necessary to install a powerful filter. This is no coincidence, because cichlazomas like to pick up trash from the bottom, thereby making the water cloudy. Few people know, but it is believed that these fish have a well-developed brain. With age, they are even able to recognize their master.
The water in the aquarium in which Meek cichlazoma resides should be changed weekly. In case of non-compliance with this recommendation, fish can develop diseases of the eyes, fins and skin.
Fish compatibility
As we said earlier, Meek cichlazoma is a predatory fish. It is for this reason, before you purchase it, you need to study all the subtleties of its combination with other species.
Aquarists love cichlazoma not by chance, because for a flock of females, only one male is needed. It is worth emphasizing that this type of fish has its drawbacks. They are not recommended to be kept in the same aquarium with some other species. Any aquarist is striking in its beauty Meeka cichlazoma. Compatibility and peculiarity of reproduction of such fish can be found in our article.
Few people know, but cichlazoma can be placed in one aquarium with smaller fish. However, it is worth remembering that comfortable cohabitation will only be if they grew up together. Otherwise, cichlazoma can eat weaker fish.
It is worth paying attention that cichlomas are quite aggressive. Despite a long cohabitation with other fish, they may occasionally have skirmishes. It is strongly discouraged to hook inactive fish to cichlazoma. They will be perceived by the predator as food.
Meech cichlazoma nutrition
For the development of any organism, proper nutrition is necessary. As we said earlier, the cichlazoma fish is a predator. She's not too picky about food. She eats almost any live food. Specialists recommend adding finely chopped meat, dried nettle and lettuce to the fish diet. This is necessary for a balanced diet, as well as for obtaining all the necessary vitamins and minerals. It is worth noting that, in addition to live food, frozen and dry must also be introduced into the fish diet.
At an early age, cichlazomas eat much more than other fish. For this reason, their diet should be given due attention. With age, cichlase must be fed with larvae, tubuli and a chopped heart. If you follow all the recommendations, your fish will feel comfortable and cozy.
Appearance of cichlazoma
Meeka (cichlomas) are quite peculiar fish. The photos presented in the article will allow you to make sure that they are all different and unique. Cichlazoma has a gray color with a silver tint. In addition, their body can shimmer in yellow, blue or green. Surprisingly, on their fins there are shiny dots or stripes. They fascinate absolutely any aquarist.
Depending on the standard of living, cichlazoma can change its color. As we said earlier, they can also form dark spots on the body and fins. The length of the fish that lives in the aquarium reaches only 10 centimeters. But in a reservoir, cichlazoma can grow up to 15 centimeters. The shell of the eyes of a predatory fish is blue. Life expectancy is 9-11 years.
Cichlazomas are incredibly beautiful fish. The photos that are posted in the article make sure that they are really beautiful.
How to distinguish a female cichlazoma from a male?
Perhaps, when buying fish for further breeding, absolutely everyone is interested in the opportunity to distinguish a female from a male. Almost every aquarist has Meeka cichlazoma. The male is noticeably different from the female.
The very first difference is the type of fins. In the male, they are longer and more pointed. The size of the body itself is also different. As a rule, the male is much larger than the female. In addition, its color is much brighter. Any aquarist is attracted to such a fish as Meeka cichlazoma. The female differs from the male not only in size and color, but also in behavior. Having remembered the recommendations that are given in the article, you can easily determine the gender of cichlasoma.
Breeding Features
The period of puberty in this species begins at the age of eight months to a year. If you contain a large number of such fish, then you will easily notice that those pairs that are at the stage of growing up begin to separate from the general group. As said earlier, monogamy prevails in them. One male is enough for ten females. It is known that cichlomas are capable of laying more than 100 eggs at a time.
If you plan to cultivate Meek’s cichlazoma, you must remember that spawning from a common aquarium needs to be moved for a while to a separate vessel. To do this, you need to take a small container and fill it with water. In this vessel, it is necessary to carefully move all the laid eggs. It is worth emphasizing that the water in the tank should completely match in quality with that in the general aquarium.
Few people know, but it is precisely in cichlazoma that the parental instinct is very developed. Male and female equally care for their offspring. It is worth noting that unfertilized caviar is eaten by fish.
In which part of the aquarium are cichlomas?
Today, the names of aquarium fish, of course, are pleasing with their diversity. Choosing a pair of species from the thousands of others is quite difficult. It is cichlazoma that attracts the greatest number of aquarists. This is due to the unpretentiousness of these fish in nutrition, and their unique appearance. In which part of the aquarium do cichlomas live? You can find the answer to this question in our article.
Meek's cichlazoma lives in the lower part of the aquarium. For their comfortable living, experts recommend placing a large number of plants. This is no coincidence, because this species of fish loves to hide in them. In addition to plants, as we said earlier, it is extremely necessary to place stones and shelters in the aquarium. They live cichloma, and during puberty spawns there.
Habitat of fish in nature
As mentioned above, Mekek's cichlazoma came to us from eastern Mexico. It's no secret that the tropical climate prevails there. It is hot there not only in summer but also in winter. Under conditions of nature, a cichlazoma lives in those reservoirs that are not subject to freezing. As a rule, they have a fairly high water temperature and slow flow. It is for this reason that Meeka is active throughout the year. Experts have noticed that usually cichlazoma chooses sandy water bodies for its life. You can meet her in lakes, rivers and ponds. Like in an aquarium, such a fish lives near aquatic plants. If she does not have the ability to eat animal food, she can consume algae.
Diseases to which cichlomas are affected
Some people believe that the names of aquarium fish are the only thing that distinguishes them from each other. This is a fairly common opinion, nevertheless it is erroneous. All fish are distinguished not only by features in the content, reproduction and nutrition. Each species is susceptible to certain diseases.
It is believed that cichlazoma is a fairly hardy fish. Her diseases rarely appear. Their occurrence is associated with poor living conditions. Another reason is poor nutrition. If you notice that the condition of the fish has changed for the worse, then first of all you will need to put it in a separate aquarium until it is completely recovered. This will protect other fish from possible infections.
Most often, cichlazoma has nitrate poisoning. In this case, the fish becomes fearful and constantly tries to hide from the light and people, and its gills darken. When poisoning, her coordination is noticeably disturbed. It is also worth noting that in this case the fish is suffocating. It is for this reason that when poisoning cichlazoma, it tries to be in the upper part of the aquarium. To get rid of the disease, first of all, you need to completely replace the water in the aquarium. After that, you will need to treat it with a therapeutic agent, which you can purchase at a pet store, and install a biological filter.
If cichlazoma is kept in poor conditions, then it is susceptible to such a disease as fin rot. Recognizing it is quite simple. A white stripe forms on the fins of the fish, which is constantly increasing. In the early stages of the disease, it is enough to simply replace the water, in the later stages it will be necessary to use special medications.
To summarize
Meek's cichlazoma is a fish of incredible beauty. In addition to this, as we said earlier, she also has some quick wits. If you want to get fish, but don’t know which species to choose, then get cichloma. She will definitely like a true connoisseur. Following all the recommendations that are presented in our article, you can create comfortable conditions for the fish and enjoy its presence in the aquarium for as long as possible.