Key features

• •✅ Salvini Cichlids originate from the Rio Papaloapan in southeastern Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize, inhabiting moderate to fast-flowing waters. They thrive in aquariums with efficient filtration, good oxygenation, and a mix of strong currents and quieter resting areas.
• •✅ A minimum 4ft long tank is needed for a single pair, but a larger 6ft+ tank is recommended for multiple specimens or mixed communities. Provide plenty of hiding spots using driftwood, rocky caves, and large flower pots laid on their side.
• •✅ If you plan to include plants, opt for tough species like Java Fern or Anubias, tied to wood or rocks, as Salvini Cichlids will dig up substrate-rooted plants.
• •✅ Salvini Cichlids are very aggressive, especially during breeding. Best maintained as a compatible pair, they can be housed with other robust Central/South American cichlids and medium-sized catfish in spacious tanks.
• •✅ Omnivorous with a preference for meaty foods. Offer a diet of bloodworm, white mosquito larvae, vitamin-enriched brineshrimp, Mysis shrimp, chopped krill/prawns, supplemented with flake, cichlid pellets, and occasional vegetable matter like lettuce, kale, or spinach.
• •✅ Salvini Cichlids are substrate spawners, laying 500-600 eggs in a carefully chosen spawning site. The female tends to the eggs while the male fiercely guards the territory, with the fry hatching in 3-4 days and becoming free-swimming after another 4-5 days.