Wolf Cichlid – Parachromis Dovii

Common Name: Dovii, Wolf Cichlid

Scientific Name: Parachromis Dovii

Average Adult Fish Size: Males around 28-30 inches /  71 – 76 cm ;  Females around 15-18 inches  /  38 – 46 cm

Place of Origin: Central America, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua

Typical Tank Setup: Areas of rock work with a lot of open space.

Recommended Minimum Aquarium Capacity: 165 gallon / 660 litre for one, 220 gallon / 880 litre or larger for a pair. Successful breeding pairs are often kept in 600 gallon / 2400 litre aquariums!

Compatibility: Extremely aggressive. A lot of rock work combined with open space in a very large aquarium is needed if you want to keep Dovii with other tank mates.

Temperature:  23 – 29 Deg C  /  74 – 84 Deg F

Water Chemistry: pH 7.0 – 8.2

Feeding: Small specimens do great on a mixed diet of flakes, pellets and frozen foods. As they grow the size and quantity of their food needs to increase proportionally. Earthworms, crickets, cockroaches, and live feeder fish are all readily consumed by large Dovii. If using feeders always quarantine them and only feed them to the Dovii after no disease is apparent.

Sexing: Males are usually dramatically larger and more colorful, but when small venting is the only sure way to determine gender.

Breeding: Eggs are most often laid on a large flat rock such as slate. The breeding process of Dovii is very brutal at times. The fish will often jaw lock for hours and if one backs down it is usually killed. They will charge each other and flare out their gills to prove dominance and compatibility. They lay 500-1000 eggs per spawning and will hatch in 3 days or so. By the first week the fry are usually free swimming. At this point it is best to try and remove the fry and reestablish them in another tank. The male will become violent towards anything and possibly you if the fry remain in the tank.

Additional Information: This fish gets extremely large so a large aquarium is a must! Each Dovii has it’s own personality, combine this with it’s large size and aggressiveness, and you can see what keeps some fish keepers interested in them.