Small to Medium SA/CA Cichlid species

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Just a heads up about bartoni, even though they are small, they can be very aggressive. I had a pair in a 100 gal tank, where they comfortably lived together, spawned 3 times, and raise many fry. After that I gave them to a fellow club member who put them in heavily cave filled 55 gal, the female was dead the next morning.


 

females have a dark blotch in the dorsal, they are good with plants, and will live in a shoal, or colony. And although not aggressive, will hold there own with fish of equal size or larger. Surface dwelling live bearers would be good companions. They come from streams and rivers here in Panama, where I live.

 
  • Like
Reactions: Frank Castle
I am also gradually replacing the inhabitants of my 125 and 75 with medium size CA/SA. The replacement will be Cryptoheros species: panamensis, sajica and nanoleutus, Geophagus iporengensis and Red Ceibal, all max out at about 6 inch for male. They are all in my grow out tanks, approaching sexable size. The trick is to introduce them to my established tanks all at once to avoid aggression by larger tankmates, or tear one another one up in the future when they become sexually mature. Having kept mouth brooding Africans for a while, I am interested in pair bonding CA/SA for a change. By crowding a mixed group of similar size fish, I hope that balance of power and peace can be sustained. I'll provide pics or videos when it's done.
 
Just a heads up, red ceibals are Uruguayan cichlids, which I find, do best will a cooling period. Without it they seem to be susceptible to fungal infections or other stress related aliments if kept at tropical tanks year round. Mine always did best when I put them in unheated tanks in the basement where temps dropped into the ow 50s in winter. Then in spring they'd color up and spawn when temps rose.


Even iporanguensis are from southern Brazil and Uruguay where temps are not as high year round, or even diurnally as in southern Central America nearer to the equator.
 
I realize that Red Ceibal and Iporanguensis are subtropical fish and will likely do better kept in their natural temperature range. But I don't have a fish room with tanks dedicated to different biotope so I have been mixing fish from different continents which, to purists, is just crazy. In my 75 and 125 show tanks, I mix Africans with CA/SA as long as they get along and adaptable to my medium hard tap water. I keep my tank temperature between 74 to 80 throughout the seasons. I have success and failure. I failed terribly with soft water Geos which all came up with HITH. I also failed terribly with Thorichthys species which all died from bloat or bacterial infection, probably because they prefer cooler temperature. Many don't realize that CAs from northern Mexico are subtropical and need cooler temperature similar to Uruguay fish. Yet, I have been successful in mixing Malawian peacocks, Frontosa and small Tanganyikan species along with large Vieja species, Green Terror and medium size Cryptoheros species with no health or compatibility issues. My Iporengensis and Red Ceibal have been healthy except losing a female Red CEibal from continuous breeding for 2 year to death.
 
Just sourced 6 cryptoheros nanoluteus from Batfish aquatics a local supplier around my area. I'll pick them up this week and post some pictures. Thanks for the suggestions.

So should I consider having all 6 live in a 36x12 footprint or should I move some out once a pair forms?
 
Six in that size tank sounds reasonable to me. But I also agree if spawning occurs and you want fry, moving the pair to its own tank would be wise.
I acquired panamense thru a club swap with the Milwaukee Club, and Capital Club with a link thru Batfish, they were excellent specimens.
 
Thanks for the wealth of info. I'm going to see how they do as a shoal and go from there. If there is interest in the fish club in some fry, I'll put a pair in another tank and let them spawn separate from the group. This thread has really sparked my interest in sm/med american cichlids. I think once I move my GT from the livingroom 55 I may replace him with a few species of smaller fish with more plants. Nothing beats the personality of a wet pet but there's some great species listed in this thread for display tanks.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Frank Castle
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom