Bella Union Tank

[FishKing5]

Added a group of F1 cichlasoma dimerus to the tank a few weeks back. They've probably doubled in size since ive gotten them. They were tiny tiny when I got them. Eating like pigs and doing well. Tough to get good shots of these fish, super skittish like the balzanii

 

[Alexxxxsv14]

Just seen some videos on YouTube of full size dimerus they look really nice should look cool with your geos
Love that piece of wood in your tank

 

[FishKing5]

Just seen some videos on YouTube of full size dimerus they look really nice should look cool with your geos
Love that piece of wood in your tank

Ya they're beautiful as adults. Looking forward to it.

 

[FishKing5]

Anyone know the growth rate on these cichlasoma dimerus? Mine seem to be growing pretty fast. They were tiny little fry when I got them a few weeks ago and are now over double the size. I tried looking up growth rates for this fish but couldn't find much except for an article that scientists were testing and recording growth rates on these fish in the wild I believe but couldn't tell if they were speaking of natural growth or if they were supplementing them with stuff. duanes

 

[duanes]

The above pic is when I first got mine in June of 2014, where they were maybe 1/2".
below , 10 months later, the largest malein April of 2015 at 5" give or take

and another a little smaller

 

[FishKing5]

The above pic is when I first got mine in June of 2014, where they were maybe 1/2".
below , 10 months later, the largest malein April of 2015 at 5" give or take

and another a little smaller

Thanks so much. Very beautiful. How was your experience with these fish with breeding and having other tank mates such as gymnogeophagus balzanii bella union

 

[duanes]

Had them with the balzani, and used Xenatoca eiseni as dithers, in a 75 gal without incident.
When they spawned, I removed all other fish except the pair.
In May I put the rest of the group in my pond and added the mated pair when the fry were old enough, in the pond a pair spawned, my last pic is from when I removed them from the pond in Sept. Besides the adults, a number of fry were also removed.
Temps in the pond easily dropped into the low 50s F.

 

[RyanM]

Anyone know the growth rate on these cichlasoma dimerus? Mine seem to be growing pretty fast. They were tiny little fry when I got them a few weeks ago and are now over double the size. I tried looking up growth rates for this fish but couldn't find much except for an article that scientists were testing and recording growth rates on these fish in the wild I believe but couldn't tell if they were speaking of natural growth or if they were supplementing them with stuff. duanes

Love this thread since I bought a group of the Balzani, Dimerus and Astraloheros from the same place I am assuming you did (Aquabid collector from Georgia). My Dimerus has grown like crazy (tripled or quadrupled in size) and the larger two are aggressive enough that I had rearrange the tank to break up their territories. All three groups are in a 92g corner (temporary) with 7-8 Lemon tetras and a royal pleco. Long-term I am either going to split them into a rack setup to try and breed each type, or setup a 120-180g biotope (if I can find some tetras/cory/others that will handle the cooler temps).

 

[FishKing5]

A little update on the cichlasoma dimerus. Here's a pic or one of the larger ones. Growing quite well so far.

 

[FishKing5]

Update on the F1 Gymnogeophagus Balzanii from the Bella Union location. The dominant male is now getting to develop a nuchal hump and is starting to color up nicely. These guys have grown quite a bit faster then I expected. I look forward to giving them and the cichlasoma dimerus their own tank by this summer.