Care
Herichthys carpinitis is known from drainage channels, pools, and streams of the Panuco River basin and from the Rio Soto La Marina just to the north.
The aquarium should be large and furnished with a soft sand substrate, as these cichlids like to dig. Provide hiding places/visual barriers in the form of driftwood tangles and rocky caves, ensuring that the decor cannot be easily undermined. Robust plants such as Anubias sp. or Java Fern may be cultivated on pieces of wood, providing additional shady spots. Filtration should be efficient with areas of moderate water movement, and small frequent water changes will help keep nitrate to a minimum. It may be possible to house a Texas Cichlid with other large Central American cichlids of similar size and temperament in a voluminous tank with plenty of visual barriers amongst the décor (and introduced simultaneously when all fish are juvenile), but more often than not, these fish do best on their own. Other options for tankmates could include large armoured catfish or shoals of sizeable barbs, such as Tinfoils. If you are fortunate enough to obtain a compatible pair of H. carpintis, it is best to house them in a species-only tank, as extreme aggression would be shown towards outsiders if breeding occurs in an aquarium containing other fish - and this could all too quickly result in fatalities. And always have a sturdy tank-divider to hand, in case they start to behave too pugnaciously towards one another.
The common name is often applied to two different species, and this fish should not be confused with the similar-looking True Texas Cichlid (H. cyanoguttatus). May also be seen on sale as the Green Texas Cichlid, Lowland Cichlid, or Pearlscale Cichlid.
Feeding
Omnivorous and will accept most aquarium foods offered. Try to keep it varied with good quality carnivore and herbivore flakes, sinking pellets/sticks, and a mixture of frozen foods such as white mosquito larvae, bloodworm, vitamin-enriched brineshrimp, Mysis, krill, and chopped prawns, along with some fresh vegetable matter.
Breeding
This species has been bred in the home aquarium. Following a showy courtship ritual, a suitable spawning site will be cleaned, and both fish will intensify in colour (black ventrally to white dorsally). The female will deposit her eggs, which the male then moves in and fertilises. The eggs may number several hundred and will take approximately 3-5 days to hatch. Both fish take on parental care and will guard their eggs/young vigorously. The fry will become free-swimming in a further 3 or 4 days, and can be offered baby brineshrimp (Artemia nauplii) and crushed flake.
