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I have had a Synspilum for three years but haven't been able to find anything much about the fish except it's diet.Iwould like to get a female but I would like to know more about the spieces before I do. Hope You can help.Craig Stevens. Thank You

Hi Craig,

I've never kept Synspilum but I think most cichlids are great. Here is an article you might like, "Cichlasoma (theraps) synspilum

written by Mike Springer
Common name: Pastel Cichlid
Native name: Quentzal, it is the name of a colorful bird
pH: 7.0-7.8
Temperature: Norm 78-80°, Breeding 82°
The synspilum is a colorful cichlid from Guatemala, Belize and the lower part of the Yucatan Peninsula, which is located in southern Mexico. There are three different color forms of this fish found in these areas. A green form, which is found in Chiapas, Mexico is green and turquoise with pinkish-red below the mouth and in front of the pelvic fins. An orange form is found in the central and southern part of Belize, which is orange all over with a turquoise anal fin, white below the mouth and in front of the pelvic fins. The last form is the most regularly seen in shops. This form has an orange upper-body, turquoise lower body including the anal fin, pinkish-red below the mouth and in front of the pelvic fins. All color forms have large black splotches along the lateral line from midway to the caudal fin. They also have a numerous amount of smaller black spots spread over the body and fins.

No two synspilums are colored exactly alike. Males synspilum grow nuchal humps (similar to the Cyphotilapia frontosa), which are considered the largest of all North and South American cichlids. Males will grow 12 to 15 inches and females will stay a little smaller. Could this cichlid grow bigger given the best living conditions? I don't know, but they probably can. Most books list Cichlasoma theraps maculicauda (common name-black belt cichlid) as growing to the same length as the synspilum, but at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago there are two black belts that are easily 18+inches, very round, and very "fat" (go to the Shedd Aquarium it's great!!).

In the wild, these fish feed on plant matter, seeds and fruit that fall in, or that are swept into the water. In a home aquarium, adult fish can be fed lettuce, zucchini, cucumber, and possibly fresh spinach. I mostly feed my fish Hikari Cichlid Excel and Hikari Bio-gold Cichlid pellets with an occasional feeding of lettuce.

Two adult fish require an absolute minimum of a 55 gallon tank and will need good mechanical, chemical and biological filtration. These fish would do better in a much larger tank. If only I could talk my wife into a new 135 gallon tank. I'll have to work on that one.

Do not use an undergravel filter, since these fish dig and will dig to the filter plate thus reducing the flow through the gravel, which will increase waterflow through the bare spots, and finally will in turn destroy the effectiveness of the filter. Use power filters or canistar filters and if money is no problem, a "saltwater style" wet and dry system would be great. These fish are susceptible to hole-in-the-head disease so proper filtration and weekly water changes of a minimum of 30% to 50% is mandatory. My tank has just enough pea-sized gravel (¼ to a ½ inch) to cover the bottom of the tank to reduce reflection and the fish seem to like moving and digging in the gravel.

Do you like live plants? Yes? These fish do too! These fish are herbivores and will eat just about any live plant. If you insist on having live plants you might try thick leafed plants such as amazon swords. This might be a good time to use your "plastic" green thumb, and buy some plastic plants if you really want plants in the tank.

A person could write a whole article on how to obtain a breeding pair of synspilums. Dr. Wayne S. Liebel is the author of a column in Tropical Fish Hobbist called "Wayne's New World." If you check back issues of this magazine in Masi's library, you can catch up on the series of articles that gives many hints on ways to obtain a breeding pair and how to induce or encourage the spawning of most new world cichlids.

Now assuming you have a male and a female, they may start breeding once they have reached an adult stage. Males are bigger than females and often have nuchal humps. My male chased the female around the tank and did a lot of "tail slapping." The female seemed to initiate the locking of their mouths and the male would often back away after a few minutes of pushing and pulling. You must provide some type of surface for your fish to lay eggs on. They may dig through the gravel and lay their eggs on the bottom of the tank. Some people provide large flat pieces of slate for the fish to lay eggs on, but I prefer to provide large clay flower pots. This not only provides a surface for eggs, but also allows a hiding place for the female if the male gets too aggressive.

I don't know if these fish require target fish to release aggression while breeding, but I do have three Corydoras in my tank. The male and female would nip at them if they got to close to the eggs. It's up to you.

The following paragraphs is a step by step process of what occurred inside my tank during the breeding process of the two cichlids.

During the breeding process both male and female darken with the female seemingly darker than the male. The lower portion of the fish's body became almost completely black.

After much activity the fish started cleaning a site for their eggs. In this case, the fish dug gravel away from the biggest pot in the tank. The fish went over every inch of the pot picking it clean with their mouth's. Before the female deposited her eggs, her ovipositor protruded from her vent approximately 1/8 of an inch long. After the female laid her eggs the male fertilized them. The female then continuously fanned them and did not eat or leave the eggs until the eggs hatched. During this time the male swam around the tank and periodically "checked up on" the female and eggs, but he did not participate in the fanning of the eggs. These fish will lay about 300 to 500 eggs at a time.

After the eggs were laid I did 20%-30% water-changes every two days to help prevent the eggs from fungosing.. You can use a variety of different chemicals to prevent this, but I prefer not to add anything unnatural to my tank. Check with your local fish shop for advice on anti-fungus medications.

About three days later the female helped the fry from the eggs by "chewing" them from the eggs. After hatching, the female moved the fry to a second pot by sucking them up and spitting them out into the second pot. The female kept the fry to the back of the pot for 10 days. During this time I fed the fry frozen baby brine shrimp. After ten days the fry became harder for the female to keep in her post-spawn site. At three weeks the fry are schooling and stay close to the female. After the lights went off at night the female would herd the fry into a pot until the lights went back on. At three to four weeks I began feeding the fry crushed spirulina flakes.

After four to five weeks I removed the fry from the parents, since it is possible for the parents to be ready for another batch of eggs in a short time. If the fry were left in, the parents may kill them to protect their new eggs. I kept the fry in a tank to themselves, since other fish may hurt them. A bare tank with a sponge filter works best, and don't worry if the fry nibble on the sponge, they are just feeding on food and debris that is stuck to it. The fry require the same water conditions as the adults.

The fry are a very drab gray with a black stripe along the lateral line. They won't begin to get any color until they are two to three inches long. When the fry are six to nine months old. You will notice some fry are much bigger than others. It's a chance the larger fish are males. Please refer to the articles in "Waynes New World" for more on this.

The synspilum are my favorite of all freshwater fish. If you enjoy large and colorful cichlids, then give them a chance you won't be disappointed. "

For those who are wondering....
mature synspilum

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An interesting thing is I've heard the Red Parrot is a cross(hybrid) between C. citrinellum and C. synspilum, not sure if that is the case. Others say Red Parrot is a cross between Red Devil and gold severum.

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