Red Hump Cichlid 3.5cm

Red Hump Cichlid aka Eartheater

A fascinating fish that is known for "eating" the substrate of its aquarium.

Geophagus means "earth eater" so fish like the Redhump Eartheater, like to find food by grabbing mouthfuls of sand and gravel and sifting it to find food. They then spit/ expel the leftover substrate through their gills or mouth.

They are avid diggers and use their digging skills to create holes or pits for hiding or spawning, a much smaller number of them literally eat what they find in the substrate. The Redhump Eartheater is one of the latter and displays a trait that is uncommon in the cichlid family. 

A very unique and subtle beauty though can be found with them. The most distinctive feature is the Red nuchal hump on mature males along with a metallic bluish-green speckling along the back half of its body which stands out but looks great with the red on its forehead.

The common names all come from this feature, the Humped or Redhump.

They are the only South American mouthbrooder where the female will immediately retrieve the eggs into her mouth before they are even fertilized, if you take note of the orange spot on the corner of the mouth, These spots are used as dummy eggs by this species. So similar to the Haplochromis mouthbrooders, the female will be lured towards the male and will mouth the spots, attempting to take the "eggs" into her mouth and while the female is engaged, the male will release a cloud of sperm and ensure the eggs in the female's mouth are fertilized.

A rather undemanding fish that's considered a good beginner's cichlid in the industry.

It stays fairly small in the aquarium at around 15cm in size, they can grow to 25cm in the wild. The females though usually around 12 to 13cm on average.

Generally, it will get along with other non-aggressive tank mates, just ensure plenty of room.

It's a very peaceful cichlid that can be kept with tetras and other non-cichlids. However, like most other cichlids it will become territorial, especially toward conspecifics, during spawning.