robertprice
May 29th, 2013, 09:34 AM
The Umbee is by far the biggest and nastiest cichlid in South America, living primarily in Colombia. Also called the Blue Freckled Monster, Caquetaia umbriferus is a true river monster, males getting up to 2 feet long and very thick, and females half that. The are active swimmers and intense hunters that prefer large crustaceans and fish, and seem to enjoy killing them before they eat. Umbees have a brown base, a red blush on the head , and iridescent blue freckles on their face and operculum. Their dorsal, **** and tail fins are vibrant blue.
Unlike large Central American cichlids, males do not grow a sizeable hump. Pound for pound, they are the strongest cichlid in the world, capable of moving large rocks.
In captivity they need a 200 gallon tank for males, 100 for a single female. They like 72-80 degrees and pH 6-7. They are hard to breed as they hate everything - each other, plants, and anything they can see through the glass. In captivity they should have open water with heavy filtration, lots of water changes and a big cave. They like to eat big shrimp, crabs, and feeder fish but can be conidtioned to eat high protein pellets. They will charge their food and charge the tank glass if you get too close. See "Images of Umbee Cichlids" for pics.
Unlike large Central American cichlids, males do not grow a sizeable hump. Pound for pound, they are the strongest cichlid in the world, capable of moving large rocks.
In captivity they need a 200 gallon tank for males, 100 for a single female. They like 72-80 degrees and pH 6-7. They are hard to breed as they hate everything - each other, plants, and anything they can see through the glass. In captivity they should have open water with heavy filtration, lots of water changes and a big cave. They like to eat big shrimp, crabs, and feeder fish but can be conidtioned to eat high protein pellets. They will charge their food and charge the tank glass if you get too close. See "Images of Umbee Cichlids" for pics.