The Orinoco Angelfish (Pterophyllum altum) known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the Altum Angelfish, Deep Angelfish, Orinoco altum or Altum Angel is found in the Orinoco River basin and the upper Rio Negro watershed in Southern Venezuela, Southeastern Columbia, and the Northen part of Brazil. Most Orinoco Angelfish are found in the well oxygenated, extremely […]

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The Chocolate Cichlid (Hypselecara temporalis) known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the Emerald Cichlid is found in the Ucayali, Amazonas, SolimñƒÂ´es, Amapá and Oyapock Rivers in Brazil, Colomiba, Peru, and Venezuela. The Chocolate Cichlid is a peaceful, rarely aggressive species that prefers living in the silt laden, slow flowing rivers and backwaters of their […]

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The Red Devil Cichlid (Amphilophus labiatus) is a large Central American species that is usually found in submerged rocky areas hiding among the crevices in Lake Managua and Lake Nicaragua. Tropical fish keeping enthusiasts will readily attest that the Red Devil Cichlid is one of the most aggressive cichlids around, bar none. Keeping a single […]

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Severum (Heros efasciatus) known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as Green Severum, Red Spotted Severum, Golden Severum, Hero Cichlid, and Banded Cichlid are found throughout the main channel of the Amazon, the rio Solimoes, and rio Xingu in South America. Often confused with Heros severus, (previously known as Cichlasoma severum) Severum are a favorite South […]

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The Convict Cichlid (Archocentrus nigrofasciatus)also known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the Zebra cichlid, is found in the lakes, rivers, and streams of Central America, primarily from El Salvador to Guatemala on the Pacific coast, and from Honduras to Guatemala on the Atlantic side. Although Convict cichlids are found in lakes, they prefer living […]

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Festivum (Mesonauta festivus, Cichlasoma festivum) also known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as Flag Cichlids or Barred Cichlids, are found throughout much of the river drainages of northern South America. They have been collected from the Rio Tapajós, Rio Jamari, Rio Madre de Dios, Rio Guaporé, Rio Mamoré, Rio Paraguay and Rio Paraná in Venezuela, […]

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The Electric Blue Jack Dempsey (Cichlasoma octofasciatum) also known scientifically as Archocentrus octofasciatus, Nandopsis octofasciatum, or Rocio octofasciata is found in northern and Central America from the Papaloapan River in southern Mexico to the Ulua River in Honduras. Although it has become somewhat more common in tropical fish keeping shops, it is a somewhat rare […]

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The Green Terror Cichlid (Aequidens rivulatus) is a South American river cichlid found primarily in the Rio Tumbes in Peru, and the Rio Esmeraldas in Ecuador. Green Terror Cichlids are collected from over a variety of substrates that include mud, sand, gravel, large river rocks, and even thickly layered beds of dead leaves.  They are […]

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The Nicaraguense Cichlid (Herichthys nicaraguense) correctly identified as Hypsophrys nicaraguensis, is endemic to the Atlantic slope of Central America from the San Juan drainage, including Lake Nicaragua (in Costa Rica and Nicaragua), to the Matina River drainage in Costa Rica. The Nicaraguense Cichlid is also known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the Moga, Parrot […]

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The Electric Blue Acara (Andinoacara pulcher) is a stunning color variety of the Blue Acara cichlid that is native to Trinidad and Tobogo and parts of Venezuela.  The Blue Acara is found in found throughout Central and South America from Panama to Columbia and is often confused with the highly aggressive Green Terror (Andinoacara rivulatus) […]

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The Midas cichlid (Amphilophus citrinellum) is endemic to the San Juan River in Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and is one of the most belligerent cichlids known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts.   They are frequently confused with the Red Devil cichlid (Amphilophus labiatus) which has larger lips, a smaller nuchal hump and less thickly set in […]

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The Oscar (Astronotus ocellatus) is a popular South American cichlid species that is also known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the Tiger Oscar, Marble Cichlid and Velvet Cichlid. Astronotus ocellatus is native to Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Peru, and occurs in the Amazon River basin, along the Amazonas, Içá, Negro, Solimões, and Ucayali […]

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Ram Cichlids (Mikrogeophagus ramirezi) are a peaceful, social species of Dwarf cichlid that are found in the Orinoco River basin in Venezuela and Columbia, South America. There are several color variations of Mikrogeophagus ramirezi that lend to their common names such as German Blue Ram, Electric Blue Ram, German Gold Ram, Butterfly Cichlid, Blue Ram, […]

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The Managuense Cichlid (Parachromis managuense) is a large Central American species that is also known to tropical fish keeping enthusiasts as the Jaguar Cichlid or Aztec Cichlid.   The species was originally found in Lake Managua, Nicaragua where it got its name but is distributed throughout Central America from Honduras to Costa Rica. The Jaguar […]

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The Firemouth Cichlid (Thorichthys meeki) is found in the shallow, slower moving (and often turbid) rivers of the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico, south through Belize and into northern Guatemala. The Firemouth Cichlid’s body color is a pearlescent turquoise blue, with red edged scales. The “throat” and breast areas are colored a brick to fire engine red, […]

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The Agassiz’s Dwarf Cichlid (Apistogramma agassizii) is found in the Amazon River basin from Peru to the Capim River Basin and is also known as Agassiz’s Apisto by tropical fish keeping enthusiasts. Agassiz’s Dwarf Cichlids inhabit the clear, still or slow moving, leaf littered black and white water creeks of their geographic area, and feed […]

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The Cockatoo Dwarf Cichlid (Apistogramma cacatuoides) is found in the streams, backwaters and tributaries of the Ucayali, Amazon and Solimões rivers in the Amazon River basin, and from the Pachitea River to Tabatinga in Peru and Columbia. Tropical fish keeping enthusiasts also refer to the Cockatoo Dwarf Cichlid as the Double Full Red Cockatoo Cichlid, the […]

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Tropical fish keeping enthusiasts the world over covet freshwater angelfish as “the fish to have” in their aquariums. Freshwater Angelfish are cichlids common to the Amazon region of South America and are one of the more popular species used in starting up new single species aquariums. Although they add a lot of grace and beauty […]

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