Hypsophrys nicaraguensis

[Verdict78]

Hi all! first of all please sorry for my English in advance.
i am a newebe here )
i have bought one pair of this beautiful fishes.. they are 10-13 centimeters i guess it is 3-5 inches.)
my boy is really colorful but the girl is like a grey mouth without color at all... they are closer 1 year old ..
Please tell me will she take a color or not? if not there is another question... in Russia it is a very rare fish, so could you please recommend or tell how i can buy it abroad or probably somebody sent it to Russia and know the way.
thank you very much in advance.

 

[duanes]

Females take a little longer than males to color up, at least mine did.

male in the background above.
female below

male

 

[Verdict78]

[/QUOTE]
Ah thank you very much for the clarification.. I just read that girls should be more colorful than boys and this is why I was confused. So I should wait.
And one more question if you don't mind.
What I can do with that he allways follows her and tries to hit her... I bought them like a pair. I wait a new than for them 200 litters probably not enough space for them ? Thank you in advance

 

[Verdict78]

by the way my team)
Female now
Full view of my tank it is 75 litters and i am waiting for 200 litters
and Male)!

 

[Gourami Swami]

The bigger the better, I'd say a 200 liter would be okay but tankmates would be limited. The aggression is probably bad right now because they are in such a small tank, not much room to run and hide for her.

 

[duanes]

75 L is a very small tank, and if they came from a larger tank (as a mated pair) the lack of space may be the problem causing aggression. There is probably no where for her to rest, unseen.
They may also need dither, or target fish to re-solidify the pair bond.
Some other smaller cichlids could take focus away from, and distract the male from attacking the female. But in such a small tank yo will need to be very selective.
No convicts, or JDs, or other readily available, but aggressive species, they would overwhelm the NIcs.
I sometimes use small shoaling Tilapia for this purpose, mostly non-territorial if not spawning, and because they tend to stay mid water, distract a male Nic.
I have used them as target fish, in Malagasy my tanks.

when small they would pose no threat

and after they grow too big for the tank, you eat them

 

[FriedFlowerHornFillet]

Just make sure you're not feeding them color enhancing pellets if you plan on making a meal out of them in.

 

[Verdict78]

Wow ))I just want 200 only for this pair !))Thank you very much for this detailed answer !!I appreciate it so much !

 

[Verdict78]

The bigger the better, I'd say a 200 liter would be okay but tankmates would be limited. The aggression is probably bad right now because they are in such a small tank, not much room to run and hide for her.

Thank youvery much!! Probably I would add a few Dempsi or just them and that is all

 

[Gourami Swami]

Thank youvery much!! Probably I would add a few Dempsi or just them and that is all

If you go with a 200l tank your other stock is going to be very limited, dempseys can get pretty large and are aggressive, you would be better off with rainbow cichlids