daninstereo
New Member
Hello CCA,
I used to keep cichlids in my early 20s when I used to work at a PetSmart in NC. Mostly the mellow species such as (non-electric) Blue Acara, Gold Severum, etc. When I moved to the DMV I actually got rid of my 75 Gallon and was fish-free for several years because I was always moving and just never made the time to get back into it. I can't remember why but some years ago I became obsessed with Port Acara so I actually got a CCA membership but again never really made the time for cichlids; I just got a 20 gallon (long) and kept some Betta and Gourami and never used my account. Then recently I discovered some site selling Port Acara online... Never ordered fish through the mail before, struck me as a weird idea but at PetSmart we got our fish in styrofoam coolers so why wouldn't it work? I ended up getting a male Port (and a new 40 gallon home) I'm really happy with.
Since then I got a female at a huge fish store in Baltimore, it was labeled something like "Cichlasoma maronii" which I searched for on the net but I'm pretty sure the name got mangled with that of a Keyhole cichlid (Cleithracara maronii) and it appeared to me to be a Port Acara/Cichlasoma portalegrense. They never paired up. Then I found a Cichlasoma dimerus online which looks a lot like a Port Acara so I figured why not add one and make my tank more of a community tank. Well I received a female and it paired up with my original male Port seemingly overnight! I gave away the other female Port as she was eating the fry and causing some drama in the tank and now I have my male Port, female Cichlasoma dimerus, common Pleco and a whole gaggle of their hybrid fry.
I decided to renew my CCA membership and get active in the forum as I'll need to re-home these fry (marketplace post coming soon). I wanted to let them grow out more but I just moved to a new apartment and I think the subsequent 100% water change got the parents in the spawning mood again so they laid eggs last night... I went from no Ports to "all of them" 😅
- Dan
I used to keep cichlids in my early 20s when I used to work at a PetSmart in NC. Mostly the mellow species such as (non-electric) Blue Acara, Gold Severum, etc. When I moved to the DMV I actually got rid of my 75 Gallon and was fish-free for several years because I was always moving and just never made the time to get back into it. I can't remember why but some years ago I became obsessed with Port Acara so I actually got a CCA membership but again never really made the time for cichlids; I just got a 20 gallon (long) and kept some Betta and Gourami and never used my account. Then recently I discovered some site selling Port Acara online... Never ordered fish through the mail before, struck me as a weird idea but at PetSmart we got our fish in styrofoam coolers so why wouldn't it work? I ended up getting a male Port (and a new 40 gallon home) I'm really happy with.
Since then I got a female at a huge fish store in Baltimore, it was labeled something like "Cichlasoma maronii" which I searched for on the net but I'm pretty sure the name got mangled with that of a Keyhole cichlid (Cleithracara maronii) and it appeared to me to be a Port Acara/Cichlasoma portalegrense. They never paired up. Then I found a Cichlasoma dimerus online which looks a lot like a Port Acara so I figured why not add one and make my tank more of a community tank. Well I received a female and it paired up with my original male Port seemingly overnight! I gave away the other female Port as she was eating the fry and causing some drama in the tank and now I have my male Port, female Cichlasoma dimerus, common Pleco and a whole gaggle of their hybrid fry.
I decided to renew my CCA membership and get active in the forum as I'll need to re-home these fry (marketplace post coming soon). I wanted to let them grow out more but I just moved to a new apartment and I think the subsequent 100% water change got the parents in the spawning mood again so they laid eggs last night... I went from no Ports to "all of them" 😅
- Dan
