Haven’t posted this Setup here in a while
- Thread starter mrrobxc
- Start date
Yessir! Have had these for a while now and couldn’t be happier
Do you have any advice or tips on caring for them? I fancy them myself an wouldn't mind getting one in the future.
Also they look so small compared to the peacock bass and arowana.
They can be touchy. This is my third or fourth time with them, having lost them to some weird form of vertigo, or a bacterial disease that only they seemed to get when it happened with the other tankmates doing fine.
Here are some things that I learned.
1. they are hard on their conspecifics. Very aggro with eachother.
2. Keep the water clean. Don’t be lax on water changes and don’t crowd. They seem more pone to bacterial skin issues than most others. The group right before this one got it and it was impossible to cure. This group which started with 6 before I sold two off were fine but one of these got it. I cured it but he is scarred up and now looks like he fought a bout of HITH when it was in fact, a bacterial disease that looked like columnaris but wasn’t....
3. Provide plenty of cover and space for them. They hate eachother. Visual barriers go a long way.
4. Don’t mix them with robust aggressive cichlasomines from CA or western SA. Their jaws are very fragile and they can become dislocated easily if they jaw lock. Keep them as the only fish of it’s type and shape in a tank. I had a hoplarchus that jaw locked a large male caquetaia Spectabilis in the past and learned my lesson. Would never mix them with Festae or your common tank buster glass banging gangster cichlids. That said, D Decker504 seems to mix them and have no issue.
5. They get along fine with other fish. I had these with altums for a year without issue. They may be pushover with similar looking fish but again, I wouldn’t mix them with other Cichlasomines due to their jaws being fragile so I wouldn’t know.
6. Make sure their water is well oxygenated. Have your filter return break the water surface and/or add a pump. They’re more prone to hypoxia in still water than most.
7. pH isn’t a big issue but ensure the water is stable. I have them currently at 7.8 with 539PPM. In the past I had them at 6.8 with 137 PPM TDS. No issues.
8. Most people lose there’s as they grow to one of the above issues. Even the “greats” have had challenges long term to either disease, conspecific aggression, or sudden death. That’s why you always see young for sale every year during the collecting season but rarely see pictures,threads, or posts on social media of them as adults.
These aren’t easy but there are dudes who’ve done well with them.
lunsforj
has them and bred them in what appeared to be a species tank. He’s the only other guy beside
D
Decker504
I have seen who has raised them successfully long term. Probably are others as well but they don’t frequent the forums or the groups on FB and IG. These are currently around 8” and are about two years old. I’ve found them to be on the slower side for growth rate. I believe they’re the most beautiful of the Caquetaia species and have always coveted them as among my favorites. They have such a vibrant yellow and blue sheens in their unpaired fins. The bright red eyes are literally the cherries on top and give them a look similar to marine Hamlets.
If you get some and follow the tips above, you’ll be happy. By all means get some!
