Chromis handsome: features, content and compatibility

Chromis-handsome - a fish from the genus Hemichromis of the cichlid family. In European aquariums, it became widespread at the beginning of the 20th century as a red cichlid or pearl cichlid.

Hemichromis are inhabitants of a vast range in Central, North and West Africa. Scattered populations are represented in the basins of the largest African rivers Niger, Nile, Congo. Ichthyologists distinguish several varieties of handsome chromis, differing in color intensity, body height and shape of fins. However, these differences do not allow the identification of subspecies.

Like many cichlids, the handsome chromis is a predator. The entire genus chemichromis is characterized by a relatively large head and body, which, in comparison with many cichlids, can be considered elongated, the dorsal and anal fins are long, in males they are pointed.

For handsome men, a red color is characteristic, its intensity may differ slightly. There are varieties with an orange tint. The back is usually darker. The sides may have a greenish tint. On the body are scattered bluish-white spots, effectively glowing even in weak reflected light, they become brightest during the spawning period. In the middle, on the sides, there are clearly defined paired dark spots. Some forms have paired spots on the operculums and at the base of the tail. Despite the average size for aquarium fish - up to 12 cm - in natural reservoirs it grows up to 27 cm, the fish is very aggressive, which greatly complicates its maintenance.

However, the unusual behavior for fish, characteristic of most cichlids, despite their quarrelsome nature, makes them popular inhabitants of aquariums. Fish are territorial and can attack any fish that invade their territory, even if it is larger. The handsome men placed in the aquarium, having examined their new home, immediately begin to divide it. To reduce stress, the fish have to help in this, delimiting the bottom of the aquarium into sectors and zones with the help of driftwood and stones. So it is easier for them to mark the boundaries of their site.

Among aquarists, the opinion about several types of handsome chromis has been established, with which not all ichthyologists agree, explaining such a variety of the influence of living conditions on representatives of one species. Indeed, all known species of these fish easily and successfully interbreed with other species, giving rise to even more varieties.

Three forms of handsome chromis are most widespread in aquarium hobby.

• A real handsome chromis. The name is, of course, conditional. This form was described first. Differs in the absence of a dark spot near the tail.
• Two-spotted is characterized by two distinct dark spots.
• High-bodied. It has a taller body and taller fins. The spots are less pronounced.

A relatively new form - neon chromis - is gaining more and more popularity. In this variety, the light spots are somewhat larger and are often combined into a kind of individual pattern. There are no dark spots at all, in their place the light spots become smaller, sometimes they are absent, and then these areas remain orange-red. Another new, rapidly spreading variety, a hybrid form that has a very bright red color, is called handsome red chromis.

The blue-green chromis, which were distributed in the last quarter of the 20th century, have nothing to do with chemichromis, and indeed with cichlids. They got their name only for their external resemblance. These are the inhabitants of the tropical seas of the Indian and western Pacific oceans. These schooling fish are great for a saltwater aquarium that mimics a coral reef, but absolutely not suitable for keeping in fresh water.

The compatibility of handsome chromis is very low. If, out of inexperience, you put this fish in a reservoir where various peaceful fish coexist for a long time, the calm will end. Even young chromis actively hunt, including smaller representatives of their species. It is categorically impossible to keep fish of smaller sizes in the same reservoir with them, except as live food.

Some other cichlids, active large barbs and chain mail catfish can get along with them of the same size. Even large, but sluggish scalars or golden fish will soon be left without fins and die. Chromis will eat almost all small snails, and kill large ones by biting their tentacles. Shrimps will be an excellent food for handsome men, crayfish run the risk of being left without limbs during molting. Even amphibians (frogs, axolotls and some others) can be killed by chromis.

Territorial behavior makes fish very quarrelsome, even to individuals of the opposite sex of their own species, so a reservoir of less than 100 liters can be a comfortable home for only one handsome man. You can try to form a pair during the spawning period, but the juveniles that appear, when they begin to feed on their own, will have to be separated from their parents, otherwise all of them may be destroyed.

Plants will not grow in an aquarium with chemichromis - although these fish are predators, they also need plant food, and they gladly eat young shoots. But most importantly, the chemichromis are actively digging up the soil.Even floating plants run the risk of being bitten and torn off from the hooligan motives and curiosity inherent in these fish. Only the hard-leaved anubias with powerful rhizomes is able to adequately resist the onslaught of the chromis.

Taking care of handsome chromis is easy. They have no special requirements for the composition of water. At home, they feel great both in rivers and in stagnant bodies of water, including swamps. For life, they choose a site that has a natural shelter - driftwood, reed thickets, rocky ledges, etc.

In the aquarium where these fish will live, it is necessary to create several different shelters. The creation of shelters is a necessary condition for keeping handsome men, if there are several of them. Otherwise, sacrifices are inevitable. If the fish cannot find a suitable house for itself, it will try to "build" it, digging in stones and driftwood, changing the landscape created by the aquarist. This work can completely destroy any rooting vegetation, and the slides of stones laid by the aquarist will be destroyed. It is important not to place structures made of large stones on the sand: falling, they can damage the side windows of the aquarium.

The most comfortable temperature for chromis is + 24–26 ° C. In an aquarium where handsome men are supposed to spawn, the temperature will have to be raised to + 28-30 ° C. Lowering to + 20 ° C is undesirable, and below + 18 ° C is unacceptable. The reservoir with chromis will have to be constantly heated.

Fish cannot stand fresh water. This makes caring for them even easier. It is only necessary to top up the water evaporated from the aquarium as necessary. Since these are fish actively digging in the aquarium, a powerful filter is needed, preferably an external one. Due to the lack of plants, constant aeration will be required.

A healthy handsome man has an enviable appetite. There is no particular discernment in food. If food is not limited, chromis usually overeats, as it will try to eat all the food that was given to him. Digestive problems often lead to the death of completely healthy fish. Usually, to calculate a single portion for one chromis, the volume of food eaten by it in 20 seconds is taken.

The most preferred are live food: bloodworms, earthworms, tubifex, fish fry. Often, guppies specially bred in a large spawning aquarium are used as live food. It is advisable to alternate live food. As a protein supplement, you can give chopped lean beef, finely chopped fresh shrimp, and a boiled egg.

From time to time, for example, once a week, it is recommended to give plant foods: slices of cucumber or zucchini, chopped lettuce leaves, oatmeal ground into flour. It eats well chromis and special food produced for cichlids of various sizes and ages. However, dry food is still necessary and as often as possible to diversify with live food. It is recommended to feed fish once a day; spawning or spawning producers can be fed twice a day. The diet of the growing fry can be 4 meals a day.

In all cichlids, sexual dimorphism is rather weak. With sufficient experience, you can more confidently distinguish between fish of different sexes. With handsome chromis, everything is exactly the same. It is believed that a male of the same age is somewhat larger than a female. However, this rule does not always work. A more reliable sign is the shape of the unpaired fins, dorsal and anal. In males, they are more pointed at the end. This feature will work when fish of the same species of beauties are compared. If there are several different varieties of chromis in front of the aquarist, it can be easy to get confused.In this case, even a brighter color will not be able to become an unambiguous distinguishing feature of males.

If you need to deal with the offspring of one pair, then all of these traits may be useful.

Obtaining handsome chromis fry is usually not a problem. The problem is creating a pair of producers. Aggressiveness of fish towards individuals of their own species often becomes the main obstacle on the way to successful breeding of cichlids. The creation of a pair is complicated by the intolerance of fish to any neighborhood. Chromis males engage in duels with any fish that invade their territory, even if it is a female. Often, in the process of creating a pair, several fish die, more often females, since they are still smaller and, accordingly, somewhat weaker than males. The death of males is also possible.

It is recommended to gradually accustom future producers to each other. For this, the spawning aquarium is separated by a glass partition. A male is placed in one half, and a female in the second. If there are no signs of aggression, the glass is removed after a day. This is the most crucial moment, requiring the closest attention of the aquarist. If aggression nevertheless manifests itself, the female must be deposited immediately, since she will most likely die. Once you split the tank again, you can try pairing with another female. If there is no aggression, then a couple can be created forever, chromis, like many cichlids, are monogamous.

Successful pairing can be observed by the color change of the male. It will become brighter, and the light spots seem to increase in size. To stimulate spawning, it is necessary to increase the temperature in the spawning box to + 28 ° C (+ 27-29 ° C). There should be large flat rocks at the bottom of the aquarium to serve as a spawning substrate. The male actively cleans these stones from any debris, and builds shelters in the sand in the form of furrows and holes.

Both parents tend to guard the clutch, attacking any approaching fish, even larger ones. After hatching of the larvae, on days 2–4, the female hides them in one of the shelters built by the male. The next day, she drives the children to another hole. The fry begin to feed on their own at about 3 days. On about 10 days, with a body length of about 1 cm, it is better to move the babies from adult fish to another aquarium. Parents stop caring for them and perceive them as prey. Cannibalism also begins among the young.

For information on how to properly maintain and breed handsome chromis, see the next video.