..................................Wolf Cichlid
Other names:...........Dovii Origin:......................Central America Max size:..................30"; 16" for females PH:............-..............6.5-7.0 Temperature:...........73-82 F. Min tank size:..........115 gallons Food:.........................live foods, beef heart, worms, pellets |
The wolf cichlid is a very tough predator. Do not be fooled by its scientific name "dovii", meaning peaceful dove. The body of this fish is pure muscle, which allows this very slender, lean cichlid to move extremely quickly and with great power. The very think and muscular caudal peduncle and the large round tail are ideal for driving such a large fish through water with good speed. The eyes are well set back on the head and face forward, typical of a predator. At least two very prominent incisor teeth are visible, protruding upwards from the lower jaw.
The adults are quite easy to sex. Juvenile specimens are fairly uninteresting silver fishes, with a broken horizontal stripe running along the flanks. But as they mature, males develop longer, more pointed fins that have lots of spots. Males also have lots of small spots on their heads. Females on the other hand, rarely show any spots at all and their base color matures to a mustard yellow. This fish's color often varies and sometimes the males have a purple base color.
Males grow much bigger than females, with a much more powerful head. This is one of the largest Central American cichlids; in fact it is one of the largest cichlids all together. Cichlasoma dovii is a pure predator; in its natural habitat, it is rarely interested in eating anything other than fish. Furthermore, the adult fish does not hide from its prey, but roams about openly in extremely clear and very clean waters. Small Wolf cichlids can't do this, cause they could become a meal for the larger ones.
Despite its predatory behaviour, the wolf cichlid is fairly timid in the aquarium. Make sure to provide plenty of caves and low lighting for them. At first, feeding them can be a pain, as they usually only take live fish, but eventually they can be persuaded to accept more readily available food like beefheart and pellets.
A large tank of 90 gallons should be the minimum for this large fish. As it comes from very clean water, it is highly intolerant of any dissolved metabolic wastes, so do regular large water changes, and provide good filtration.
Wolf cichlids rarely breed in captivity, but there are reports of spawnings when the fish reach about 5 inches in length. They prefer to spawn on a piece of rock with a slight incline and some cover, but will use any rock if there is no other choice. They may lay as many as 1,500 eggs, so it will be necessary to cull many of the fry.
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