A Blackthroat father guarding his fry

Hắc Hầu — Blackthroat — Astatheros macracanthus.

American cichlids are at their most beautiful during spawning. The photo shows a Blackthroat father in the guarding-fry phase. Someone once asked me, “So you only see it looking gorgeous once in a while, huh?” Yeah… pretty much. People say: better one glorious minute and then go dark, than a flickering half-life that drags on forever. Put more broadly, every animal puts on its finest shape and color during breeding. A mother-of-one is a sight that wears down your eyes (as the saying goes). Birds are most beautiful when they’ve found a mate and a brood.

Besides, anything beautiful gets boring if you stare at it long enough. With American cichlids, they only have two states: beautiful, and stunning.

This F1 specimen of mine was imported from Florida, US.