Herichthys carpintis “Escondido”, also known as the Pearl-scaled Cichlid, is often confused with the Texas Cichlid (Herichthys cyanoguttatum). The carpintis is, by nature, a territorial and aggressive fish. Do not expect to keep it in a community tank without casualties. I purchased six F1 fry from a club auction at some un-godly sum thanks to Carol Terceira’s overly active right arm (although we both let Howard believe, for a short time, that he had a chance).

I put them in a 20-gallon tank with a sponge filter. Some rocks were added to keep them from killing each other. Carpintis are not fussy eaters and seem to tolerate whatever conditions you put them in (as opposed to killifish, which I seem quite good at killing).

After about 6 months of steady progress, some subtle changes started to occur in the tank. These included murder and general nastiness. The tank population quickly went from six to four and I was getting quite concerned. Driftwood and more hiding places were added. The following day I was surprised to see the second largest specimen undergo a dramatic color change (see photo). If you haven’t seen a female H. carpintis in breeding colors, it is quite a sight. Having finally figured out what was going on, I ran out and purchased a tank divider, which most certainly saved the other two fish from the aggressive attention of the breeding pair. Within 24 hours of coloring up, a large number of small off-white eggs were deposited on the side of the driftwood. Like most substrate breeders, carpintis are very attentive, and seemed to alternate between policing the newly installed DMZ formed by the tank divider and cleaning debris from the area around the eggs.

The eggs hatched in four days, with all the typical fanfare of a cichlid spawn. The female spent much of the first day herding and moving the fry around by mouth. It is
remarkable to watch such a normally aggressive fish handling fry so delicately! I fed the fry baby brine shrimp for the first several weeks, at which point the fry started to accept ground-up flake food. True to form, some seven weeks after the spawn, the dominant male carpintis killed his mate.

To summarize, Herichthys carpintis “Escondido” is a beautiful and relatively easy cichlid to breed. If you get a chance to purchase these fine fish with the intent of breeding them, I would recommend the following: Start with a sufficient number of fish. I recommend a minimum of four, since they are not easily sexed. As soon as you get a pairing, separate them from the others. Driftwood makes an excellent substrate for breeding and should be in the tank in anticipation of a pairing.

Editor’s Note:
The adult size of Herichthys carpintis is about 10 inches so, as they grow, they would obviously need something significantly larger than a 20-gallon tank. However, as experienced by Eric, Central American cichlids such as the carpintis are known to begin breeding at a young age (small size). Whilst they can be maintained, and spawned, in a small tank the cramped conditions will tightly restrict their movement and may prevent them escaping the aggressive attentions of their tank-mates. I would therefore recommend that a group of young carpintis be kept in a tank of about 65 gallons, where they could be mixed with other species of a similar size. An even larger tank would be required for a group of adults. Keeping this species in a larger tank would significantly improve the chances of keeping the fish alive. Craig Morfitt.

Author’s rebuttal:

I am looking forward to my brand new 65 gallon tank. Now I just have to get Craig as a secret Santa!