Feb 6, 2018
Added some cut terra cotta pots to try and create caves for these little guys. Hope they like em. Will probably have to move them around some but for right now they’ll do.
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Added some cut terra cotta pots to try and create caves for these little guys. Hope they like em. Will probably have to move them around some but for right now they’ll do.
All right so I’m 99.9% certain my two apistogrammas are males, especially because the dominant male chases the non-dominant male(?) 24/7 and nips at him, but my LFS thinks it’s a male/female pair. What do you think, two males?
Starting up a new 40g, my biggest planted tank yet! This’ll be my first soft water tank, and my first black water tank. Got some hot leaf juice leaching right now, I’m so pumped! I’m shooting for some dwarf cichlids with this one, another first. If anyone with experience has hot tips for me or know of tankmates that jive real well, I’m all ears.
40g is stocked and happy! As of now it’s got a pair of macmasteri dwarf cichlids, 7 red pencil fish, and a chocolate whiptail catfish- all juveniles. +scuds, red ramshorns, the 3 endlers that started the cycle, and 16 species/varieties of plants.
This tank has a lot of growing to do, and I reckon I’ll leave it to it ‘cept for maybe hunting down some red root floater. I’ll try to get some fish pics after everyone settles down a bit!
More pics of the 40g! (brought to you by my cellphone rip)
Now with 14 beckford’s red pencil fish, 7 pygmy cory cats, one chocolate whiptail cat, and a pair of macmasteri dwarf cichlids (+ one guppy i cant catch, oi). Also added some red root floater, which has lil white flowers awwwww... Everyone is still baby, but there’s pencil fish sparing and cichlid flirting happening already. I expected the cichlids to get a bit bigger before they matured, but the female is already putting on some bulk so maybe not. Can’t wait to see how it all fills in!
Most people's first pet cichlid, is a domesticated angelfish, or maybe a ram; the South American Apistogramma and African Pelviachromis (or kribensis) are also popular with novices. Although these are not the only cichlids, with a potential place in our community tanks, and in our hearts. For a number of other cichlids are peaceful and small, do not require unusual water parameters, and are perfectly suitable to be cared for by novice fishkeepers.
One of these is Anomalochromis thomasi, the African butterfly cichlid from the lowland river basins of Upper Guinea in West Africa, between Guinea and Liberia. This is a small cichlid growing to over 5 centimeters or 2 inches at the most; thus it this belongs to the arbitrary category of 'dwarf cichlids', which is not a natural phylogenetic grouping - some small cichlids are closer kin of some larger cichlids, than of other dwarf cichlids. Anomalochromis is a close relative of the jewel cichlids, and among the African cichlids it is notable for being compact bodied.
In its native range A. thomasi inhabits tea hued streams stained by tannins. These waters may be as warm as 30 degrees centigrade, during the dry season. The water in their aquarium should thusly be tropical, and indeed leaning a little higher than usual, as in an aquarium for South American discus cichlids. It is likely that 21 to 31 degrees centigrade is an appropriate aquarium temperature, whereas the pH of the water ought to be on the acidic side, based upon dissolved tannins in their natural habitat
Anomalochromis in the aquarium are unfussy feeders, and although they are reputed to dive into muddy substrates, they do not forage and root in the substrate in such a manner, that they would destroy plantings. These are gentle cichlids, and they are gregarious with their conspecifics, thus they should be accommodated in small groups; in a community aquarium, they are easily compatible with dissimilar fishes, such as schooling dither fishes. Of course, they do defend their nests, and they will become more territorial when they are breeding.
Not to play favorites, but… Goldie and Ruth are totally my favorites.
Some kind of Apisto and Hemiodus gracilis