Festive Cichlid

1 Festive Cichlid Overview

The Festive Cichlid, also called the Black-brow fish, is native to the Amazon River basin. It has a very distinctive appearance, reaches about 15 cm, and looks much like the Jaguar cichlid. It is named for a black diagonal stripe resembling an eyebrow.

Chinese name: Festive Cichlid

Kingdom: Animalia

Subphylum: Vertebrata

Subclass: Actinopterygii

Suborder: Labroidei

Genus: Cichlasoma

English name: Festive Cichlid

Binomial: Cichlasoma festivum

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Osteichthyes

Order: Perciformes

Family: Cichlidae

Species: Festive Cichlid

2 Appearance

Sexing the Festive Cichlid is very difficult, much like with angelfish and discus. As an Amazonian cichlid, its habits and traits match those of South American Amazon cichlids, with a strong sense of territory.

The Festive Cichlid reaches about 15 cm, with a body like the Jaguar cichlid but broader. The dorsal fin base is long, the anal fin base short, and the fin rays extend sharply to the caudal edge. The pelvic fins are slender. The body is light brown-yellow. Its main feature is a black diagonal stripe like an eyebrow—running from the mouth, through the eye and gill cover, along the body, slanting up to the rear of the dorsal fin.

The Festive Cichlid resembles the pineapple cichlid in shape. The black stripe across the eye is why it is named after the eyebrow (the eyebrow). A false eye spot at the caudal peduncle is a defensive strategy. As an Amazonian cichlid it shares all the habits of South American Amazon cichlids. It is strongly territorial and rather shy, easily startled.

3 Habitat

The Festive Cichlid is an Amazonian cichlid with a strong territorial sense. Because it is shy, when setting up its environment provide plants and other scenery so it is not frightened.

Native to the plant-rich waters from the Amazon basin to western Guyana, it adapts to many water types, but for best keeping give weakly acidic soft water at pH 6.5, DH 5. Because it comes from densely planted natural waters, keep it with dense planting—strong, lush plants such as giant sagittaria, twisting val, crypts and Amazon sword.

4 Feeding

The Festive Cichlid is not hard to keep; it feeds actively and grows fast at 24–28°C. What feed is best for it?

Foods include daphnia, tubifex worms, micro-worms, mealworms, small live fish and pellets. For fish 3–12 cm, feed mainly daphnia supplemented with tubifex, bloodworms and mealworms. For fish over 12 cm, choose slightly larger foods such as bloodworms, tubifex, mealworms and small live fish. Mostly animal-based; small varieties can be trained onto pellets, while plant-based diets are rare.