Midas Cichlid
Submitted by
Animals on Mon, 06/22/2009 at 7:30pm.
This was by request of ADK. Hope you all enjoy it.
The Midas Cichlid is eye catching and gorgeous. The color morphs that can be acquired are really striking, range in colors from oranges, yellows, whites, and mixtures of these. It is one of the fish that was used to breed today's popular hybrid, the Flowerhorn Cichlid. It is also now being used in scientific studies for behavioral research.
They are moderately easy to care for but will need to be housed in a large aquarium. They appreciate a bottom of fine sand and plenty of hiding places among rocks and wood. They are avid diggers and plants don't fare so well as they will be eaten or shredded. Make sure rocks are well bedded on the actual glass bottom of the tank to prevent toppling. Be sure to leave an open area in the center for swimming. Good water quality and a very large tank are both needed for their optimum health.
Though not as aggressive as some of the larger cichlids, if the Midas Cichlid is put into a small 4’ tank, you can be assured they will be. In the wild they defend an area of 4’ around their nest, putting the Midas Cichlid in a large tank of at least 6’ in length will help lessen aggression by a large degree. If housing them with other fish, decorate in a way that provides natural borders for their territory. Keeping other fish out of their 'line of sight' will also help to lower aggression.
The Midas Cichlid is very similar to the Red Devil Amphilophus labiatus, and some sites still list them as the same fish. These two fish differ very little in the appearance however they are found in different places. While the Midas Cichlid can range from Costa Rica to Nicaragua, the Red Devil is only found in the Nicaraguan lakes.
The Midas Cichlid is a thick deep bodied fish. The male, when it matures, will develop a nuchal hump on the head. The female does not have this enlarged nuchal hump, though she does have a hint of one. They can live up to 12 years. The Midas is really variable in color, and the color morphs that can be acquired are quite interesting. Through captive breeding some of the color morphs now available include orange, all yellow, all white, white and orange, or piebald. What is really interesting about a wild Midas Cichlid, is that once they are put in a tank, they lose the barred pattern that they naturally have. They have recently introduced a strain of Midas that retains the original bars of a wild caught specimen called a “Redhead Barred Midas”.
All cichlids share a common feature that some saltwater fish such as wrasses and parrotfish have and that is a well-developed pharyngeal set of teeth that are in the throat, along with their regular teeth. Cichlids have spiny rays in the back parts of the anal, dorsal, pectoral, and pelvic fins to help discourage predators. The front part of these fins are soft and perfect for precise positions and effortless movements in the water as opposed to fast swimming.
Cichlids have one nostril on each side while other fish have 2 sets. To sense “smells” in the water, they suck water in and expel the water right back out after being “sampled” for a short or longer time, depending on how much the cichlid needs to “smell” the water. This feature is shared by saltwater damselfish and cichlids are thought to be closely related. This species is not listed on the IUCN Red List.
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