An awesome cichlid which is very powerful but somewhat shy at times.
The males are better colored, but the colors seem to be fading out in Aussie bred fish.
When in full color they are blood red over the face, whitish/grey through the body with a black stripe from the dorsal to the under body.
Like most Vieja, they will grow large around 30cm and will destroy plants. They do benefit from some vegetables in their diet as they are a plant eater.
A good vegetable based food will suffice.
They will need a large aquarium to be housed properly and don't put with large agro species like Dovii etc.
Not fussy about water perimeters.
pH - 7 - 7.5
GH - 100 - 200ppm
Temp - 23 - 28c
At higher temps they will become more active and aggressive.
Make sure to have a darker substrate.
