In France, fish are popular on the table with a subtle garnish, and chocolate is an art form. Chocolate Cichlids (Hypselecara temporalis), the common name reference to their color aside, will never be confused with their namesake confection. And, after a look at their innocent, rounded, I-walked-into-a-door faces, I can’t imaging putting these meal-sized cichlids on a plate.

Early in my MAS experience, I discovered that members of the club were particularly adept at disposing of fish that everyone had or no one wanted to buy. Live food, bait, fertilizer--no fish was wasted. Tom Wojtech, blessed with a large hatch of Chocolates, had a new idea and the 1999 MAS Fish Growing Contest was hatched. Two bucks a bag got you five tiny, two-month-old, eating machines, and a March 2000 deadline to grow the beefiest Chocolate.

I’ve got lots of tanks, most dedicated to African cichlids. I hadn’t grown anything approaching the size of an adult Chocolate since the family’s pet Jack Dempseys (there’s a reason they were named for a pugilist). Nonetheless, I found a home for the little Chocolates, and even remembered to feed them -almost daily.

The Chocolates began to grow. When they reached about 2", my grandson, Dominic, expressed an interest in them. I gave him two. He must have had more time on his hands. His pair quickly doubled in size compared to the three that stayed with me. I missed the contest meeting, but Dominic’s fish would have given the winners a run for the money.

Time waits for no man, and doesn’t wait for grandchildren either. Dominic’s interests soon turned to saltwater fish. With no room for his ‘cows-with-fins’, they were returned to me. With a quick patch job on a 45, an under gravel filter, (and the gravel to cover it), a Whisper 3 filter, heater, upright slate (and slate under the gravel around the spots I thought they’d spawn so they could dig without exposing the undergravel filter), and clay drain-tile, the boudoir was ready. In went Pierre and Gidget, along with my three smaller Chocolates, and I sat back waiting for sparks to fly.

A short time later disaster struck. A 55 gallon with a herd of Africans sprung a leak and some hasty decisions had to be made about where to go with its inhabitants. The Chocolates gained some tankmates and suddenly their fishy Sybaris was more like a Holiday Inn. A few days later, the Whisper 3 sucked up a grain of gravel jamming the impeller and further interrupting the goings-on in their love-pool. A morning walkthrough with a cup of coffee found many of the Africans floating on their sides. The few survivors were gasping, and the five Chocolates lolled at the top like carp groping for air. Needless to say, the mood was ruined.

Moving swiftly into action, and with a few carefully chosen words, I did a major water change and fixed the impeller problem. Casualties were buried in the garden and a Powerhead and bubble wand were added to the tank. The surviving Africans were returned to their home-away-from-Africa and a half dozen albino cats were added to help with tank maintenance.

I favor a varied diet—and give my fish the same treatment. The Chocolates get flake food, shrimp pellets, Hikari cichlid pellets, frozen brine, and red worms. Water temperature is kept at about 75F.

A few months passed and I noticed two fish on one side of the tank. Pierre had forsaken Gidget and run off with one of the smaller females (cad!). Even more curious, the other three Chocolates, all the snails, and the Corys (who says you can’t herd cats) were being kept on the half of the tank away from the drain tile. Foregoing the slate, the pair began cleaning the cylinder. The lumbering, eight-inch male (stop the snickering) tried to attract his mate with lethargic, seemingly half-hearted, slow-motion twitching. The female, now coming around after recovering from the African invasion, responded in a similarly passionless manner and, after priming their pumps with red worms, a water change, and a passing weather system that lowered barometric pressure, they spawned (much like albino Corydoras catfish which are easily bred, if you pay attention to the weather).

It was July of 2001 when the pair spawned for the first time. Hoping they would care for their own young, I pulled the jilted Gidget and the remaining Chocolates to give the family-to-be some privacy. The fry hatched—and promptly disappeared. I watched and waited; no sign of life anywhere. The unhatched eggs were cleaned from the tile (ain’t Nature grand?).

About a month later I had another spawn with the same result. Another month, another spawn. This time I was taking no chances. I pulled the drain tile (still the spawn site of choice) and found a free tank. Twelve fry survived. Finally, BAP points!

The young -small for such a large fish - were housed in a bare 10 gallon tank with a heater, sponge filter and floating java moss. A few days later I needed a place to put an albino cat spawn so I put them in with the little Chocolates. The fry were fed microworms and algae scraped from the sides of another tank for the first week. After that I included ground flake food and shrimp pellets. Everything began to grow—and the catfish began to disappear.

BAP time. The fry were in a bank of 10’s on a cabinet placed so that the short sides faced front. I took out the java moss and found only about two dozen cats left and…only three Chocolates—two short of the required number for points.

By now Pierre and his little tart were tired. There was no action from them until December, when they went back to housecleaning. Early in December the side of the drain tile was plastered with about 600 eggs pasted close together in an irregular three inch patch. Four days later the eggs hatched and the fry dropped to the spaces between the coarse gravel. About 24 were observed free-swimming a week or so after hatching. I left them with the parents to allow them some nurturing time, and because I enjoy watching and comparing the parenting behaviors of my fish.

Because I thought the 45-day BAP rearing requirement started when the fry were free swimming, I didn’t bring them in (at 42 days from free swimming) to the January 2002 meeting. Then I read the rules. It’s 45 days from hatching. Five healthy little fry made it to the February meeting. BAP points? No. Had to write an article.

Adding insult to injury, no one wanted the fish at auction time. Had the handler used Hypselecara temporalis and left it alone, they’d have had a chance. As soon as he said "Chocolates," it was over. They were forced on a successful bidder for another fish and who knows what will happen to them.

Despite the rejection they encounter at club meetings, Chocolates are quite attractive. Although the fry are surprisingly slow growers, once they meet a certain critical mass, they take off. Adults have great finnage to go along with their deep, bulky bodies. Color is somewhat variable, but in good examples is a beautiful red-brown. An intelligent eye is central to their bumpy heads and they give the impression of being potential "pet" fish in an interactive, hand-feeding sort of way.

Chocolate anyone?

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