Managuense Cichlid

phxl

phxl

AC Members
Nov 11, 2008
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Des Moines, IA
I was at Petsmart on my lunch break because I needed to pickup a powerhead, and naturally I had to swing by and look at the fish.

The typical... oscars, dempseys, convicts, they had some severums too. Then i notice a single oddball fish in with the severums. He was a young guy, about 2-3" and had this beautiful purple tone. I glance at the tag and take a mental note...

Managuense Cichlid
20+ Gallon Tank
$3.59

I get back to work, jump on google, punch in "managuense"... right? Suprised when I realize that I just saw a Jag at petsmart, and it was labelled as a 20 gallon fish and for $3.

In reality they need, what, 70 i think i read?

Impulse wants me to go back and buy him. I am getting ready to setup a 125 for my oscar and jacks, but i have heard that jags can be even agressive still as tankmates with those guys.

Should I just let it go? Or possibly save him from a worse fate and pass him to confident owner if it doesn't work out for me?
 
They need a 75 at minimum are are highly aggressive. Good luck if you can keep it with anything else.

Might even be a dovii ----need pictures to know for sure. If it is, those wolf cichlids are the baddest of bad.
 
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Wow, I was reading other peoples experiences on a different site. While some people had good luck, there are also some real horror stories. Probably not a risk I want to take with my other fish.

It's a shame. It would probably be a few months before I was ready to consider another large tank.
 
Yeah it's most likely a Jag. I see them at my Petsmart all the time. Almost all the fish descriptions there are wrong. I'd say 125 is a good size tank for a male Jag. A 90 gallon for a female. Jags can be extremely aggressive but they are a very spectacular looking fish when full grown.
 
I've never owned a jag but I will someday. What I have read is that they can be pretty aggressive but they apparently have awesome personalities. A true "wet pet" in every sense of the word. A jag and a JD might work together but I'd be concerned about the oscar. You would be better off with another aggressive cichlid like a festae to go with a jag.
 
I was looking at these guys at my PetSmart the other day.. only the they have a newer set of tags, and the tag said they got 14 inches and needed at least a 75 gallon. PetSmart is getting on top of their game. I noticed they corrected quite a lot of the information on their picture tags. And no more of that dreaded "requires aquarium salt!"
 
ChiaJesus, I love your tank names. I might have to start naming mine.

The Jag sounds like a great fish, I'll look at them again down the road when I can do all the setup properly. I don't see a lot of them around here, so I get excited when things I read about manifest themselves in front of me ;)

Maybe I'll stop in and mention to them that the tag needs updated.
 
That's cool! I love jags but can't have one (tank's to small). One of my local fish stores has a tank labeled managuense cichlid but they don't look at all like the pictures I find online. In fact they look like Pseudotropheus socolofi so I always figured it was a different name for that species lol.
 
I had a Jag and an Oscar in a 75 gallon tank for 9 years. Not only did they get along, but they were quite bonded to one another. When the Jag got sick, he was leaning to one side or the other, the Oscar was almost constantly at his side, propping him up. When the Jag died, the Oscar stopped eating, and died several months later. I've never seen or heard of anything like this behavior in fish. I got them both when the were young, but the Oscar was a little bigger than the Jag. If I didn't move to a smaller house, I think I would try that combination again, just to see if it was really that rare a situation.

Finster
 
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