Salvini (Nandopsis salvini)

Common Name:

Salvini.

Other Name:

mojarra pico de gallo.

Scientific Name:

Nandopsis salvini.

Family:

Cichlidae.

Class:

Central American Cichlid.

Distribution:

Central America: Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Belize.

Size:

Males tend to reach about 7inches but I have heard reports of larger, while females are more around 5inches.

Diet:

In the wild they feed on aquatic organism's and insects that fall into the water as well as a lot of vegetable matter. In the aquarium a good pellet food like Hikari, and spirulina tablets or flakes, krill will suffice. Just try to stay away from high fat content as it leads to digestive problems in most cases.

Water Temperature:

Approx 75-86 degrees Fahrenheit (24-30 degrees Celcius).

Water Chemistry:

Medium hard water.

pH:

7.5-8.0.

Life Span:

10+ years.

Minimum recommended tank size:

Breeding pair or single specimen could be kept alone in a 55g, but with company I'd say no less than a 75g.

Sexing:

Males are usually larger and have less intense red on the belly and blue highlights above the lateral line with blue streaks close to the face. Females can be easily distinguished by a black blotch outlined in blue in the centre of the dorsal fin and her intense red on the belly.

Description:

Males tend to reach about 7" but have heard reports of larger, while females are more around 5". Many consider them a "mini" guapote and its attitude can show. They are considered to be shy most of the time and actually supposedly docile, but I've heard of little 4" male's dispatching 10" dominant male texas just for an example. They tend to act as ambush predators some of the time hiding in caves waiting for a fish small to pass by before it lashes out at its prey. Potential tank mates would be only kept in a tank 75g and larger and should consist of similar sized cichlids or larger e.g. convicts, texas, or larger dithers like silver dollars, giant danios etc. Keeping them with other cichlids should be done with caution.

Breeding:

Spawning takes about a couple of hours from start to finish. They often will spawn in caves made from rocks, or flowerpots, sometimes they will spawn out in the open on flat pieces of slate. They will clean the area around it and the female will begin to lay her eggs. A fully mature female lays over 500 eggs. The female will make a pass laying roughly 10 eggs while the male follows up with a sperm cloud. This process will repeat itself until there have been over 500 eggs laid. Once the spawning is finished the female will begin fanning the eggs to oxygenate them, while the male guards from above the slate or at the entrance to the cave depending where the spawning took place. The female will eat any unfertilised eggs that have turned white or any that have been damaged. The female and male will give a display of gill flaring and vertical dancing to signal egg care shift change and the female will quickly go scavenge for food. After a few days the eggs will hatch and they will then be wigglers that the female moves into a pit she had dug for them. Now the common cichlid parental care process takes place. The pair will defend the brood very aggressively. Once the brood have reached 3/4" they will need to be removed if not before because the pair will probably already be ready to spawn again and may turn on them.

Photo Credit:

Photos supplied courtesy and ^© Aquamojo