King fish

There are many people who are interested in knowing different aspects of the king fish Midas. It is a fish that is known as a false demon and whose name is Amphilophus citrinellus. It is a quite striking fish with a very peculiar shape. This is the reason why many people want to add this exotic specimen to their home fish tanks. It needs a lot of care so that it can thrive well, which is why it is considered a fish for advanced people with more experience in care. de peces.

If you want to know more about its characteristics and care that the king midas needs, this is your post 🙂

Key features

It has a body that is not too long, but it is not wide either. Although their appearance may be deceiving to the eye, they seem fat due to their peculiar head. Having such a large forehead a not so elongated body, it has the appearance of being a big fish.

The jaw is rounded and the dorsal and anal fins are long enough to be able to swim with greater speed. There is sexual dimorphism, so we can differentiate between males and females in a simple way. We must note that males have a kind of hump on the head called a hump. The color of the body varies with different shades ranging from white, black, yellow or even orange. These are the most common that attract people who want a specimen in their aquariums.

Another difference between males and females is size. The male, having more front, can reach up to 30 centimeters, while the females are smaller. If for whatever reason you see a king fish with a large size, you can easily tell that it is male. There are other fish that are more difficult to distinguish between male and female, such as the Angel fish, whose differentiation can only be made at the time of reproduction.

Although they tend to live in the rockier areas of rivers, it is not uncommon to see them in places with marine plants.

Care needed for kingfish in captivity

These fish need a very exclusive care if we want to keep them healthy and in our aquarium for as long as possible. First of all is to have a fairly large aquarium (greater than 300 liters) where I can swim freely. Since a large space is needed in the house to house such an aquarium, few people have this fish in their homes.

If you cannot have an aquarium of these dimensions, it is better to adapt to the species de peces to your fish tank and guarantee them a good life. Remember that you are not playing, but dealing with living beings.

Once you have a minimum tank of 300 liters, we will need a rocky decoration. We have to try to make sure that the aquarium is as close to its natural habitat as possible. As it usually lives in the rocky areas of the rivers, we must place aquarium plants and rocks to make it look like it. Just making sure their captive habitat is as close to natural as possible We will be guaranteeing that you will not have stress or depression due to the change of place.

To have females of this aquarium, we will need a cave so that she can take care of her young and feel protected. The aquarium temperature should be between 24 and 28 degrees, never above or below.

It is not difficult to maintain feeding on this type of fish. You can give them smaller fish, plant foods, or store-bought food. de peces. From time to time it is advisable to give it live food so that it does not lose its natural predatory abilities.

Reproduction

Kingfish reach sexual maturity in just 9 months. In the mating ritual, the male becomes completely aggressive against the female to demonstrate his reproductive capacity. Given this, it is possible that the male can damage her. If you have male and female in captivity, it is better to be aware of the mating season.

In the mating ritual, the female shows the ovipositor tube and the male adds to it. For each egg laying they are capable of laying up to 200 eggs. The females are separated from the male once they have laid the eggs and they are cared for. This species takes special care with its eggs unlike other species such as the needle fish that leaves them without any care.

If we want to avoid the problems mentioned above with the aggressiveness of the male, it is advisable to separate them into two different aquariums. In this way, the male can see the female but not have contact with her. This makes it even more difficult for the owner to have kingfish in the home. If in itself it is difficult to have a 300-liter aquarium, imagine having several for when they are in the breeding season.

The eggs hatch on the second day after they are laid, so you don't have to wait too long to see the young. To protect the larvae it is better to put them in another container like a farrowing pen for fish. The fry will begin to free-swim and give you brine shrimp to feed. They can also eat the food that is given to the parents, but it will have to be broken into very small pieces, as if it were dust.

Compatibility with other species

Due to the aggressiveness of this fish, it is necessary to know well the companions that it will have in the tank. There are fish with which you can live without any restrictions such as the common pleco fish and the galaxy pleco fish. However, there are other species that they cannot live with if you put them in as an adult, but they are perfectly treated if they have been raised together since they were young. It does not work in all cases, but it has a greater margin of confidence. We meet species such as Oscar fish and the green horror fish.

I hope that with this information you can take good care of the king midas fish and do not give too many problems due to its aggressiveness and difficulty in its care. If you have doubts, just ask in the comments 🙂