Fire mouth cichlid
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Fire mouth cichlid ( Thorichthys meeki ) |
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| Thorichthys meeki | ||||||||||||
| Brind , 1918 |
The fire mouth cichlid ( Thorichthys meeki , syn .: Cichlasoma meeki ), also called red breasted cichlid or masked cichlid , is a freshwater fish from the family of cichlids (Cichlidae). It comes from the Belize River , the adjacent southeastern Mexico , Guatemala (between Río Grijalva and Usumacinta ) and Yucatan and comes there in the lower and middle sections of rivers with low currents, sandy and muddy bottoms, in Yucatan also in cenotes and the underground Connections between them. Its species name "meeki" refers to the American ichthyologist Seth Eugene Meek (1859-1914), who described the genus Thorichthys .
features
Fire mouth cichlids grow to be 15 to 16 cm long and a maximum of 12 years old. Females stay smaller. Her body is high back and flattened on the sides, the head profile is steep, the mouth is terminal and pointed. The fish are blue-gray in color, the back is darker, the belly orange to yellow-olive, the throat brick to bright red. On the flanks there are 5 to 7 more or less distinct dark transverse bands. A dark longitudinal band, which can also be dissolved into individual large spots, extends from the upper edge of the gill cover to the root of the caudal fin. The gill cover has a gold-rimmed, lacquer-black spot. Since the scales have red edges, the whole body, especially the sides, can appear covered with a red net.
- Fin formula : dorsal XV – XVI / 9–10, anal VIII / 7–9.
- Scale formula : 28–32 (mLR)
The fire mouth cichlid is an open breeder that lays its 100 to 500 eggs on flat stones, larger leaves or roots. It feeds on an omnivorous diet and also consumes algae.
Aquaristics
Keeping and care
The animals should be kept in pairs as they are intolerant and vicious. Hiding places, for example from upturned flower pots, are vital. Fire mouth cichlids eat all kinds of food: flakes, tablets, freeze-dried food as well as live food. Vegetable complementary food is necessary, the animals also eat aquarium plants.
Legal regulation in Austria
In Austria, the minimum requirements for keeping fish are defined in Regulation 486 in Section 7 and its Annex 5. See also the Wikipedia entry ornamental fish .
The following limit values must be observed especially for fire mouth cichlids:
| value | annotation | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum size of the aquarium | 100 × 40 × 50 | Length × width × height in [cm] |
| Area for the water temperature | 23-30 | Degrees Celsius [° C] |
| Area for the water hardness | 0-15 | Degree of German total hardness [⁰dGH] |
| PH range | 6.0-8.0 | Acidity |
| Maximum value of nitrate | 50 | [mg / l] |
literature
- Claus Schaefer: Thorichthys meeki. In: Claus Schaefer, Torsten Schröer (Hrsg.): The large lexicon of aquaristics. Volume 1: A-H. , Volume 2: I-Z. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8001-7497-9 , Volume 2, p. 937.
- Hans Frey: The fresh water aquarium. A manual. 21st edition. Neumann Verlag, Leipzig, Radebeul 1977, p. 197, 292-293.
- Günther Sterba (Ed.), Gert Brückner: Encyclopedia of Aquaristics and Special Ichthyology. Neumann-Neudamm, Melsungen u. a. 1978, ISBN 3-7888-0252-9 .
- Günther Sterba: The world's freshwater fish. 2nd Edition. Urania, Leipzig / Jena / Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-332-00109-4 .
Web links
- Feuermaulbuntbarsch on Fishbase.org (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rüdiger Riehl, Hans A. Baensch: Aquarienatlas . Ed .: Hans A. Baensch. tape 1 . Mergus, Melle 2006, ISBN 3-88244-227-1 , pp. 690 .
- ↑ BGBl 486., 2nd Animal Husbandry Ordinance. Retrieved February 9, 2019 .
- ↑ a b BGBL II No. 486 Annex 5, minimum requirements for keeping fish. Retrieved February 9, 2019 .