Uaru Cichlid – Species Profile & Facts
Fish are a great pet to keep if you don’t want to deal with pet hair or you have some allergy.
Uaru Cichlids is a beautiful fish species you can have in your aquarium, but it requires some extra attention and care.
It is also known as Triangle Cichlid. It is originally found in the Amazon basin of South America. This fish is famous for its beautiful coloration and shape.
The coloration of these fish at maturity is mostly brown with a prominent horizontal black stripe. It is difficult to differentiate between males and females.
Uaru Cichlid is also commonly known as chocolate Cichlid. A bit like numerous other decently sized cichlids, the Uaru is a brilliant and curious animal and it can learn to recognize and react to its keeper. It spends most of its time within the center to foot levels of the aquarium.
Uarus are delicate, large, peaceful with plenty of character, which makes them interesting to watch.
The fish loves to be kept in groups and will need some plant matter in its food occasional supplements of live or frozen foods are also beneficial.
Uaru fish needs a lot of care, for as they do require a larger tank with good water quality.
Uaru Cichlid Natural Habitat
Uaru Cichlid is present in South America. To be more precise, you’ll find this fish in the rivers of Amazon, especially the Japura river and the Tapajos river.
However, they are also present in other parts of the Amazon area.
This fish is not endangered, and is fairly common in their habitat. As they are so widespread, they are commonly used as food by the natives.
The natural habitat of these fish is clear water streams, where it will feed on other live foods, such as crustaceans. Sometimes, when there is no other food around, they will feed on plant matter and fruits.
These fish are somewhat rare in the aquarium trade. But you’ll still find some vendors who do sell these fish online – in that case, be very careful where you buy them from, you want to get them from a reputable source.
Uaru Cichlid doesn’t like to be in the aquarium as they move in a group. If you want to have this fish you will need a big aquarium to feel like home.
Uaru Cichlids Tank Requirements
Uaru Cichlid is a difficult fish to keep for beginners. Only those who have much experience of having fishes are good to keep them otherwise it will be really difficult for normal people. Uaru Cichlid always moves in groups.
Uaru Cichlid is a very common fish species from the Cichlid family. Often, you will find them swimming in groups or at least, pairs.
I recommend you that you keep them in pairs in your home aquarium.
However, you must take note of the size of your tank when you’re choosing Uaru Cichlids. You must keep them in groups or pairs, but take notice of the size of the tank.
It will increase depending on how many fish you decide to keep.
It’s crucial to keep a good level of care for this fish. They can be particularly fussy about the water changes and conditions, soy you’ll need to handle them with care.
But always make sure there are no sudden or huge swings of water condition changes – to make sure of this, keep a strict and continuous cleaning schedule in check.
Make sure you give them ample swimming open space, but also provide them with hiding spots in the form of rocks and fake plants.
For the aquarium, warm soft water environments having a pH of around 5.5 and water temperatures between 80° and 84°.
In short, these requirements must be met to keep this fish:
- Always keep the water clean and cycle it often.
- Make sure the temperatures are between 80° and 84° Fahrenheit.
- The PH levels should be neutral – between 6 and 7.5.
- Make sure you use a powerful filtration system.
- The substrate should be sand or pebbles.
- As the Uaru cichlid is a vegetable lover, they might consume the plants in your tank. Place some plants with hard leaves in the plant.
Uaru Cichlid Water Conditions
Whenever we decide to have fish as a pet. One of the most important and major things we have to focus on is the water condition of the fish.
If it is not according to the fish natural habitat it will eventually die or get sick.
Similarly, there is some water condition for Uaru Cichlid too which you have to keep in your mind before buying it.
For the pH level, the water should have a pH of 5.5 to 7.0. For temperature, an ideal temperature for this fish will be 79-83 °F.
Uaru Cichlid is open breeders and the female will drop from 100 to 1000 eggs so it requires a large aquarium having lots of water. The water hardness should be 0-12 dH.
The female will circulate water over the eggs by fanning them with her fins. You should prefer warm, soft acidic water.
You have to keep a very strict check and balance on the water changing routine. These fish become very fussy about its water condition. For such type of fish 100 gallons or more of water is required. As mentioned above it moves in groups.
Uaru Cichlid Diet and feeding
The Uaru Cichlid eat almost every food offered to them. They will most likely feed on plant foods, but you can also consider live or frozen foods.
When kept in the tank it is better to feed them with plant-based foods. But also give them protein feed every 7 to 10 days.
Make sure you process the vegetables before feeding them. Not only will this make the veggies softer, but you’ll also kill parasites and potential harmful bacteria.
As Uaru Cichlid is originally from the Amazon basin of South America so they can feed on almost everything offered to them.
When we talk about plant feed for Uaru Cichlid following are best for them:
- cabbage
- lettuce leaves
- finely chopped zucchini
- dandelion flowers
- slices of fresh cucumbers
The best way to feed these fish is two times a day. However, a common problem that Uaru owners endure is that they leave the plant matter and leftovers in the water, which can worsen the quality of the water and eventually, make the fish ill.
Uaru Cichlid Tank Mates
Uaru Cichlid is considered as non-social fish primarily. However, many owners have been successful in keeping this fish with other cichlids.
Whenever you think of having other fishes with them you must have a large volume of the tank as Uaru Cichlid loves to swim in a group and require a lot of space.
Uaru Cichlid is not an aggressive fish and many owners have had success in keeping it with other Cichlids, but you cannot put fish smaller than their size.
Moreover, you have to keep these fishes in at least a group of two not single fish. These are the fish species that will go well together with the Uaru cichlid:
- Discus fish,
- Blue acara
- Pearl cichlids
- Angelfish
- Other cichlids.
Uaru Cichlid Breeding
A big problem when breeding these fish is that the males are very similar to the females. A major problem fish owners encounter is making sure which fish are males and which are females, making breeding almost impossible.
The male and female look so much the same. I recommend that you get a separate breeding tank for breeding these fish.
When spawning is done successfully, I recommend that you keep the parents in the same tank for 2 weeks and then remove them.
That’s because the fry will initially feed on the slime on their parents’ bodies, but then they are perfectly capable of caring for themselves – feed them baby shrimp when they grow up. When breeding these points must be kept in mind:
When you’re breeding these fish, you’ll need to keep temperatures high – at least 82 degrees Fahrenheit if not even higher.
As I’ve already mentioned, make sure you give them ample space, but also provide them with hiding places and materials for making a shelter – this can be pebbles, twigs, or driftwood.
The female will usually hide in a darker spot of the tank when they’re spawning.
Breeding Uaru cichlids can be done, although it is fairly complicated. It’s recommended that only expert fish owners do this.
That’s because it’s hard to separate males from females to start with. It’s also recommended to keep temperatures high and keep a close eye on the fish constantly.
Conclusion
Uaru Cichlid is a very intelligent fish and they will soon recognize their owner. They grow large up to 10 inches in length so it is better to be kept in a larger aquarium.
To buy Uaru Cichlid, it is occasionally available online but is rarely found in fish stores. If you order from any fish store many stores will specially order a Uaru. The Uaru cichlids usually feed on plants.