Jaguar cichlid
A large, fast, spotted piscivore that reaches thirty-five centimetres and hunts by pursuit rather than ambush. It is sold at three or four centimetres as a patterned silver juvenile, and it is among the least suitable fish in general circulation for an ordinary aquarium.
Quick profile
- Scientific name
- Parachromis managuensis
- Adult size
- 30–40 cm (11.8–15.7 in)
- Lifespan
- 10–15 years
- Temperature
- 24–30 °C (75–86 °F)
- pH
- 7–8.5
- Hardness
- 8–22 °dGH
- Minimum tank
- 900 L (238 US gal)
- Minimum length
- 200 cm
- Swimming zone
- All levels
- Social
- Pair
- Diet
- Piscivore
- Overall confidence
- moderate confidence
What keeping this species involves
Hardy to the point of being difficult to harm, and requiring a tank on a scale that is closer to a public aquarium exhibit than to a living-room aquarium.
Warm lakes and slow river reaches with turbid water and soft bottoms, often in low-oxygen conditions other cichlids avoid.
Identity and names
- Common name
- Jaguar cichlid
- Scientific name
- Parachromis managuensis
- Family
- Cichlidae
- Order
- Cichliformes
- Class
- Actinopterygii
- Also sold as
- Parachromis managuensis, Cichlasoma managuense, managuense, guapote tigre
- Former or synonymous names
- Cichlasoma managuense, Nandopsis managuensis
Adult size and growth
30–40 cm (11.8–15.7 in)
Typical lifespan in an aquarium: 10–15 years. Almost every animal sold in a shop is a juvenile, so the tank has to suit the size in the first line rather than the size in the bag.
Shape, which is what the compatibility engine reads instead of length alone: deep-bodied with a large — a piscivore's mouth. A piscivorous Central American.
Water and tank requirements
A pursuit predator approaching forty centimetres. The requirement is a run long enough to swim in rather than a volume large enough to sit in, and that is the figure most rarely met.
Temperature (°C)
Scale: 0 to 36 °C.
pH (pH)
Scale: 4 to 9.5 pH.
Hardness (°dGH)
Scale: 0 to 30 °dGH.
Why these ranges: Warm Central American lowland lakes, hard and alkaline. This species is exceptionally tolerant of poor water and low oxygen, which is a fact about its physiology rather than a licence to provide either.
Where these figures come from
Habitat class
Hard alkaline water
Water draining limestone, gypsum or volcanic mineral — Central American rivers, karst springs, hard-water lakes.
These species are usually easy in hard tap water and difficult in the soft, acidic water the hobby treats as the default. The commonest failure is the keeper softening water that did not need softening.
- Conductivity
- 300–900 µS/cm
- Flow
- moderate
- Dissolved oxygen
- moderate
- Seasonality
- moderate
These are figures for the KIND of water body, not measurements of this species. They are AquariumHQ’s summary of the general limnology and are given wide because the water is.
- TemperatureReasoned on this record
- This record states its own reason for this band. See the water section.
- pHReasoned on this record
- This record states its own reason for this band. See the water section.
- General hardnessReasoned on this record
- This record states its own reason for this band. See the water section.
| Requirement | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Temperature | 24–30 °C (75–86 °F) | Stability matters more than hitting an exact figure. |
| pH | 7–8.5 | A stable pH outside the ideal band is usually better than an unstable one inside it. |
| General hardness | 8–22 °dGH | Check your supplier's published figure before choosing species. |
| Minimum volume | 900 L (238 US gal) | A floor, not a recommendation. |
| Minimum footprint | 200 cm long × 60 cm deep | A pursuit predator approaching forty centimetres. The requirement is a run long enough to swim in rather than a volume large enough to sit in, and that is the figure most rarely met. |
| Water flow | moderate | Match the outflow to this rather than to the filter's rating. |
| Lid required | Yes | This species jumps. |
| Structure | Open sand with heavy rock and wood at the ends. Cover is for the fish's tankmates rather than for it, and in practice most tanks hold no tankmates. |
Behaviour
- Patrols the tank continuously at speed and accelerates hard from a standing start, which is what makes tank length rather than volume the constraint.
- Follows movement outside the glass and reacts to it, more visibly than most cichlids of comparable size.
Telling males from females
Males are markedly larger with more elongated dorsal and anal fins. Females are stockier and often more strongly marked.
Feeding
Takes fish and large invertebrates in the wild. Live feeder fish add disease risk without nutritional benefit and are unnecessary for a fish that takes prepared food eagerly.
- Diet type
- Piscivore
- Staples
- Large sinking pellets, Whole frozen fish, Prawn, Mussel
- Avoid
- Live feeder fish, Mammalian meat
Breeding
- Strategy
- Adhesive eggs on a cleaned surface, guarded by both parents
- Difficulty
- straightforward
- Parental care
- guarding
Spawns readily and in numbers. Finding homes for several hundred juveniles of a fish this size is the part that is not straightforward.
Tankmates and compatibility
Assessments are derived from stored traits by the compatibility engine, with the reasoning shown. A verdict is a statement about probability, not a guarantee — individual temperament can override it.
| Towards | Risk | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Small fish | near-certain | Anything that fits in the mouth is at risk once this species reaches adult size. |
| Adult dwarf shrimp | near-certain | Cover reduces losses but rarely prevents them where the risk is high. |
| Shrimplets | near-certain | Determines whether a shrimp colony can grow rather than merely persist. |
| Snails | moderate | Applies to snails you wanted as well as snails you did not. |
| Long or trailing fins | none | Fin damage is an entry point for secondary infection. |
| Plants | uproots | Tough species such as Anubias and Java fern survive most grazers. |
Any pair in the catalogue can be assessed with the compatibility checker.
Welfare considerations
Points where the way this species is commonly sold or kept differs from what it actually needs.
- Established outside its native range in several warm regions including parts of Asia and the United States, where it is treated as a problem species in some fresh waters.
- Sold cheaply and in numbers at a size that gives no indication of the adult. Rehoming a thirty-five-centimetre predator is close to impossible, and this is one of the fish most often euthanised for want of anywhere to go.
Problems to watch for
Most problems in a tank containing this species are general rather than species-specific. Start with the troubleshooting index and work from the observation rather than from a guess at the cause.
What AquariumHQ does not yet hold
Species-level disease susceptibility is modelled in the graph and is not yet populated. Health pages will not be published until each condition has veterinary sourcing, because health content written without evidence is the most harmful thing this product could publish. The gap is recorded in the coverage report.
Where it comes from
- Native range
- Atlantic slope of Central America — Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica
- Habitat
- Warm lakes and slow river reaches with turbid water and soft bottoms, often in low-oxygen conditions other cichlids avoid.
What the checklists say
23 distribution statements retrieved from GBIF checklists. Establishment means is reproduced from the source where it states one, and left unstated where it does not — a record of presence is not a record of origin.
| Status | Places | What this means |
|---|---|---|
| Introduced | 17 | A checklist states the species arrived here with human help. That is not a statement that it is established, harmful or illegal. |
| Recorded as present, establishment means not stated | 6 | The source records the species as present and does not say whether it is native or introduced. AquariumHQ does not fill that in. |
No checklist AquariumHQ holds positively calls this species native anywhere, so the native range above rests on AquariumHQ’s own reading of the literature rather than on a cited checklist.
Legal status and responsible practice
Restriction note
Recorded as established outside its native range in several warm regions and regulated in some of them. Possession, sale and release rules differ by jurisdiction; check the specific rules that apply rather than generalising from one country's position.
Never release aquarium life into the wild
Aquarium animals, plants, and aquarium water must never be released into ponds, rivers, canals, drains or the sea — not even in a country where the species is sold freely. Released fish and invertebrates establish populations that displace native species, and released plants and water carry pathogens, parasites and fragments capable of spreading without any animal at all. If you can no longer keep an animal, rehome it through an aquarium society, a retailer that accepts returns, or another keeper.
- Rehome through a local aquarium society, a specialist retailer or another keeper.
- Unwanted plants go in household waste or a hot compost heap, never in a watercourse or a garden pond.
- Never empty a bucket of tank water into a drain that discharges to open water.
- If an animal is beyond rehoming, ask an aquatic veterinarian about humane euthanasia rather than releasing it.
Legal status is recorded from the sources named and was correct on the verification date shown. Rules change, and sub-national rules often differ from national ones. Check the current position with the relevant authority before acquiring, selling or moving any animal or plant.
Evidence
Every stored value with the kind of support behind it and where to check it. Evidence type and confidence are separate axes: an editorial position held confidently and a measurement held tentatively are different things.
| Claim | Value | Evidence type | Confidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| scientific name | Parachromis managuensis | Observed / measured | high confidence | Catalogue of Life; GBIF — Global Biodiversity Information Facility |
| native range | Atlantic slope of Central America — Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica | Observed / measured | moderate confidence | GBIF — Global Biodiversity Information Facility |
| adult size | 30–40 cm | Aquarium-literature consensus | moderate confidence | AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis |
| lifespan | 10–15 years | Aquarium-literature consensus | moderate confidence | AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis |
| temperature | 24–30 °C | Aquarium-literature consensus | moderate confidence | AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis |
| ph | 7–8.5 pH | Aquarium-literature consensus | moderate confidence | AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis |
| general hardness | 8–22 °dGH | Aquarium-literature consensus | moderate confidence | AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis |
| minimum tank volume | ≥ 900 L | AquariumHQ editorial position | moderate confidence | AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis |
| minimum tank length | ≥ 200 cm | AquariumHQ editorial position | moderate confidence | AquariumHQ husbandry synthesis |
Last reviewed 2026-08-10. Values labelled as an aquarium-literature consensus are AquariumHQ editorial positions rather than measurements — see how evidence is handled.
Why we say this
What each figure on this page rests on, and how far that is from being independently established.
Every figure on this page has a provenance. Open any claim to see what AquariumHQ holds for it, which sources say what, and what a claim of that kind actually needs. Different claims need different evidence: an accepted scientific name is settled by one authority, while a legal restriction needs a current primary instrument. A single source is often the right answer rather than a thin one.
scientific nameAquariumHQ's own position, externally checkableBased on a verified authoritative source.
AquariumHQ's own position on a claim an external source could support.
What this kind of claim needs: accepted scientific name and classification — 1 authoritative source in an appropriate context. Checked against gbif on 2026-08-29. One authoritative backbone is what this class requires.
What would improve this: Go and read a source. This is reachable and has not been reached.
native rangeAquariumHQ's own position, externally checkableBased on a verified authoritative source.
AquariumHQ's own position on a claim an external source could support.
What this kind of claim needs: where the species occurs — 1 authoritative source in an appropriate context. 23 distribution statements held from GBIF checklists — introduced in 16 country. Establishment means is reproduced from the source, never inferred from occurrence.
What would improve this: Go and read a source. This is reachable and has not been reached.
adult sizeOne sourceAquariumHQ's own position, derived from evidenced inputs.1 citation, 1 independent origin
A single source: clofsca-2003.
- 22 cm — USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species database · Maximum recorded · Observed in the wild · checked 2026-08-29
What this kind of claim needs: size a well-kept specimen reaches — no external source is required, provided AquariumHQ shows its reasoning. A documented maximum is held and the catalogue's typical adult range is stated separately, with the relationship between them recorded rather than collapsed. The catalogue's typical adult range already reaches the largest recorded specimen. The recorded figure is a standard length, so the whole fish including its tail is longer still.
What would improve this: Corroborate against a second, independent source.
lifespanAquariumHQ's own position, externally checkableAquariumHQ's own position, derived from evidenced inputs.
AquariumHQ's own position on a claim an external source could support.
What this kind of claim needs: what aquariumhq advises for keeping — no external source is required, provided AquariumHQ shows its reasoning. No external source is required for this class. AquariumHQ's position stands on its stated reasoning.
What would improve this: Go and read a source. This is reachable and has not been reached.
temperatureAquariumHQ's own position, externally checkableAquariumHQ's own position, derived from evidenced inputs.
AquariumHQ's own position on a claim an external source could support.
What this kind of claim needs: what aquariumhq advises for keeping — no external source is required, provided AquariumHQ shows its reasoning. No external source is required for this class. AquariumHQ's position stands on its stated reasoning.
What would improve this: Go and read a source. This is reachable and has not been reached.
phAquariumHQ's own position, externally checkableAquariumHQ's own position, derived from evidenced inputs.
AquariumHQ's own position on a claim an external source could support.
What this kind of claim needs: what aquariumhq advises for keeping — no external source is required, provided AquariumHQ shows its reasoning. No external source is required for this class. AquariumHQ's position stands on its stated reasoning.
What would improve this: Go and read a source. This is reachable and has not been reached.
general hardnessAquariumHQ's own position, externally checkableAquariumHQ's own position, derived from evidenced inputs.
AquariumHQ's own position on a claim an external source could support.
What this kind of claim needs: what aquariumhq advises for keeping — no external source is required, provided AquariumHQ shows its reasoning. No external source is required for this class. AquariumHQ's position stands on its stated reasoning.
What would improve this: Go and read a source. This is reachable and has not been reached.
minimum tank volumeAquariumHQ's judgement — no authority publishes thisAquariumHQ's own position, derived from evidenced inputs.
No external authority publishes this. The rationale carries the reasoning.
What this kind of claim needs: minimum tank size — no external source is required, provided AquariumHQ shows its reasoning. No authority publishes this. AquariumHQ derives it, and the derivation is recorded with its inputs and assumptions.
What would improve this: Keep the rationale current. There is no source to find.
minimum tank lengthAquariumHQ's judgement — no authority publishes thisAquariumHQ's own position, derived from evidenced inputs.
No external authority publishes this. The rationale carries the reasoning.
What this kind of claim needs: minimum tank size — no external source is required, provided AquariumHQ shows its reasoning. No authority publishes this. AquariumHQ derives it, and the derivation is recorded with its inputs and assumptions.
What would improve this: Keep the rationale current. There is no source to find.
Guides relevant to this species
Chosen from this record's own traits rather than listed on every page.
- Predator and prey sizeIt takes fish that fit in its mouth, and its mouth grows with it.
- Territorial behaviourIt defends ground, and the shape of what it defends decides the tank more than the volume does.
- Native, introduced and invasiveThis record carries an invasive or legal note, and those are five separate claims that are easy to read as one.
- Scientific and trade namesThis species has been published under more than one accepted name.
- Wild conditions and aquarium recommendationsThe water band on this page is an AquariumHQ position with a stated reason, not a measurement of a river.
- Rehoming an animal you can no longer keepThis animal reaches 40 cm. Most of the difficult rehoming cases are fish sold small that were always going to become impossible.
Group size and social behaviour
Kept singly or as an established pair. It is a predator that treats anything it can catch as food and anything it cannot as a rival.