Rainbow Cichlid Care

Most of us who love to have a fish tank in our houses would also want to have some colorful fish in it. The Rainbow cichlid is one such fish that could be kept in your tank at home. However, it would help to get a complete Rainbow cichlid profile before you actually start rearing the fish. The article below would provide some light on the rainbow cichlid profile. Rainbow cichlid care would require you to firstly have a reasonable sized tank which has a few plants, rocks and wood in it. If you are keeping a pair, twenty nine gallons is the smallest size tank you could keep. If more than one pair, ensure that the tank is at least 4” in length. The water in the tank should be medium hard and the temperature should be 71°F to 78°F (22 to 26°C). Rainbow cichlids are omnivorous fish and generally eat most prepared or frozen foods. Rainbow cichlid care requires feeding them tubifex, flake food, cichlid food pellets, bloodworms and freeze dried krill. Food that is especially good for them is algae based flakes or plant matter. They relish live food and you can observe this by seeing the intense golden orange coloration when you add live foods to their diet. These fish are easy to breed. The eggs are laid on a flat surface and both the male and female care for them.

The Rainbow cichlid is a tropical freshwater Central America cichlid. The scientific name for it is Herotilapia multispinosa. The Rainbow cichlid originates from Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama. If you have never kept a cichlid before, a Rainbow cichlid is the ideal one for you to begin with, as they are easy to maintain and breed. The body of the Rainbow cichlid is somewhat laterally compressed and elongated. The female rainbow cichlids are smaller than the male rainbow cichlid. The anal and dorsal fins of the males are more pointed than those on the females. As the males mature, they will also be more colorful than the female fish. The rainbow cichlid will change color according to its moods. This is a colorful fish, it does not grow very big and it is very peaceful. This fish should not be kept with very aggressive companions. These kinds of fish usually have a bright orange base with variable black markings along the length of their bodies. The fins, excluding the pectoral ones are edged in bright blue. These darken and can extend up to the lower portion of the body when these fish are breeding. Unlike other cichlid in Central America, this cichlid has tricuspid teeth. They use these teeth when feeding on the filamentous algae which are part of their diet in the wild.

Rainbow cichlid fish do not require any special care. They are easy to look after. You could read up any books on fish care if you still need any information on the Rainbow cichlid profile. These books are easily available in bookstores and libraries.