Cichlasoma Robertsoni (Emerald Cichlids)

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LIGNARI

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jan 12, 2006
36
5
38
63
Sydney, Australia
Hi

Does anyone keep Cichlasoma Robertsoni as I managed to pick up about 12 from lfs a few months ago. These are very rare in Sydney and no one around here knows much about them.

Could you could share your experiences about this fish, especially in the following areas:
- Water Conditions.
- Tank size
- Landscaping in the tank (substrate, plants, etc.)
- Best Lighting to use.
- Rate of Growth.
- Tankmates, expecially conspecifics.
- Conditions for breeding.
and anything else would be appreciated.

Cheers.
 
if they are comercialy bred you local water if prob fine
more water changes = more growth
males will fight with each other unless in a really big tank
but not as agressive as some big cichlids alteast the ones i know of but that doesnt always hold true
good luck these guys have great colors
 
Here's a profile I wrote on this cichlid for another site


they are not very aggressive to other cichlids but they can be very aggressive with their own kind. robertsoni are not a very easy cichlid to breed because of conspecific aggression. I'd recommend the largest tank you can get to house them in and if possible keep them with another type of cichlid such as a Cryptoheros of some kind (cons, honduran red points, sajica, cutteri etc). I had no problem keeping 5 of them together but that was in a 150 gallon with several other cichlids. once moved to a smaller tank to try to get a pair to form, the largest female killed off the others very quickly. growing them up together will surely help but I still recommend the largest tank you can afford to give them.

as for growth, they grow very slowly for a CA. I'll have to go through my old pics but I'm pretty sure that when I got a group of juveniles at around 1", the 2 males of the group were only about 3" after 6 months or so. they are a beautiful cichlid though and are very rewarding to keep. I still have my adult female which is actually my oldest fish. :D
 
Thanks to the both of you - great info. :thumbsup:

I was told by my supplier that all 12 are F0.
They are about 8 months old, with the 2 dominant/largest about 4" (I assume both males).

I've got them in two 125g tanks, each with a dominant fish and 5 others (only).

Cheers.
 
Good luck with them! I have 1 remaining Rebertsoni out of 5. Mines about 6 inches and is by far the slowest growing cichlid i have. Hope you're able to keep them together even in a 125 gallon cause they hate each other with a passion. Pretty mellow with other cichlids. Mines just starting to show some pretty cool colors so i should post pics of him sometime.
 
Thanks for the advice.

Until now they all seem in harmony, but I'll take heed and watch out for any problems, and hopefully act on it beforehand.

Sorry Blackghost - I've no access to a camera, but click on Jason_S's link on the earlier thread. As well as a great profile, there's a beautiful photo of an adult fish.


Cheers.
 
Here's the profile Lignari is talking about . the fish in the pic is my 4 year old female.

Lignari, in that size tank they may be fine. I'd just make sure there are plenty (and I mean plenty) of hiding places for the smaller ones to hide in case they start getting bullied.

personally I'd keep another species with them. something that won't grow too large or aggressive as to overpower them should be fine with them. the robertsoni I've kept weren't aggressive to any other cichlids. I think a great match for them would be the nicaraguan cichlid or a type of Cryptoheros. good luck with them and hopefully you can get your hands on a digi cam to post some pics up of them. :thumbsup:

ah what the heck...here's a pic of the same adult female and one of the smaller 3-3.5" males that she eventually killed. :(

2005-03-08 robertsoni 2.jpg
 
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