Emperor Cichlid

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cpm6t

Gambusia
MFK Member
Nov 8, 2011
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Sri Lanka
I've been trying to set up a tank for Peacock Bass. I'm amazed by their size and color. However, I'm still trying to get hold of them. In the meantime, my LFS called me today and told that they have an incoming batch of "Emperor Cichlid". Though they are from a different continent I know they grow that much big. On the internet pictures they seem to have good coloration too. Are they as colorful as Peacock Bass?

I'll have to make a decision on this tomorrow morning. Please let me know.
 
It's a matter of opinion but I like emps mush better than pbass. They are much easier to feed as they will take pellets from the start and I like their look better. They have nice blues and yellows as they age and have almost a saltwater look to them. Great personalities also. I've owned several of each but I've never cared for the bass much. There are plenty of people on this forum that love pbass though.
 
KNH said:
It's a matter of opinion but I like emps mush better than pbass. They are much easier to feed as they will take pellets from the start and I like their look better. They have nice blues and yellows as they age and have almost a saltwater look to them. Great personalities also. I've owned several of each but I've never cared for the bass much. There are plenty of people on this forum that love pbass though.
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Great. Can you please tell me some more info? How many should I get? Obviously goes with the space I can give them but somewhere I saw I should get either one or many(may be 4) and not a pair. Is that correct?
If I get 4 and put in a 6' X 2.5' X 2 (about 220g) tank how long will it take them to outgrow that?
 
They will most likely fight if you get 2 in that size tank. If your largest tank is a 220 just get one and it should last you a year or so. They grow very fast 2" or more a month when small. I've always parted with mine for one reason or another when they get 16 to 17". They can be very aggressive to some tank mates so keep that in mind also. They are the most interesting cichlid Ive ever owned. Good luck.
 
Okay. I'm sold on "Emperor Cichlid" from what I've seen on the net so far. If what I see on the LFS tomorrow are true Emperors and at a reasonable price I'm going to buy 4 of them. Use the 220 as a grow-out tank and start building my 850 gal (8' X 6' X 2.5') pond immediately.

If anybody else has experience on these guys please share. I'm certainly not seeing as much info/keepers of these guys as I see on pBass.
 
cpm6t said:
Use the 220 as a grow-out tank and start building my 850 gal (8' X 6' X 2.5') pond immediately.
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Awesome.

I think they aren't as commonly kept as peacock bass because of their massive tank requirements.
 
Mokujin22 said:
Awesome.

I think they aren't as commonly kept as peacock bass because of their massive tank requirements.
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I thought that they are the largest Cichlid, but according to "fishbase.org" there are several Peacock Bass varieties that get bigger than them. For example, the max length of Emperor is recorded as 65 cm there and Cichla Temensis is recorded as 99 cm. Cichla Monoculus is listed as 70 cm. So I guess there cannot be much difference in the requirements between the two?? Anybody owns the Emperors that are longer than 65 cm?
 
Despite record cichla being caught, many still believe that these fish get larger. Why many still keep the largest cichlid tag on them. Of course in the wild they die due to putting all their energy in protecting the fry, in captivity if you pull the fry they are believe to breed multiple times and will live much longer, since they breed at I believe less than 2 years or at 2 years they can live much longer and therefore get much larger. So belief is that they can and do get much much larger than than most of the peacock bass.
 
Okay, I went to the LFS today. They were there and looked like Emperor Cichlids to me. So I got 4 of them. Size is about 2.5" - 3". They are currently in a bare 65 gallon tank. Will post pictures soon for verification.
 
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