Wild Caught Hypselecara Temporalis - Ucayali River

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All I know, is that is where Linke and Staeck collected at that moment in time.
And it looks to be during the dry season, according to the date.
Here in Panama, the pH and mineral content rise sightly during the dry season, as water bodies evaporate and shrink, although tannins accumulate.
During the rainy season with influx of soft water from rain, pH drops somewhat, and minerals are diluted.
Notice in their data, the water color was "brown" indicating (to me) lots of tannins, from fallen leaf litter.
The tint in your pics looks slightly brown, added tannins?
If so, sounds like a good idea to me.
Their water hardness test is quite low, in US terms 4dH is equivalent to 40 ppm.
In Milwaukee, my average tap water hardness was 250 ppm.

On a side note, from their data,
the number of anal fin spines for H. temporalis, is 7 to 8.
In coryphanoides, there are only 6.
 
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duanes said:
All I know, is that is where Linke and Staeck collected at that moment in time.
And it looks to be during the dry season, according to the date.
Here in Panama, the pH and mineral content rise sightly during the dry season, as water bodies evaporate and shrink, although tannins accumulate.
During the rainy season with influx of soft water from rain, pH drops somewhat, and minerals are diluted.
Notice in their data, the water color was "brown" indicating (to me) lots of tannins, from fallen leaf litter.
The tint in your pics looks slightly brown, added tannins?
If so, sounds like a good idea to me.
Their water hardness test is quite low, in US terms 4dH is equivalent to 40 ppm.
In Milwaukee, my average tap water hardness was 250 ppm.

On a side note, from their data,
the number of anal fin spines for H. temporalis, is 7 to 8.
In coryphanoides, there are only 6.
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Temperature was also less then I expected tbh given what most websites give for H. Temporalis. When I add new Cattapa leaves as they break down I keep the tannin rich water I boil them in to use for water changes later on to keep the Blackwater colour. When I run out though I use Rooibos tea for the colour.
My tap water is actually quite nice for Blackwater species settling at ph: 6.5, kh: 1-2 and gh: 3-4 after 24 hours.

In terms of the whole H. Temporalis and H. Coryphanoides thing, I know that H. Coryphanoides does not occur in Peru. With this group I believe what has thrown others off to say that they could possibly be H. Coryphanoides (maybe a yet to be discovered population in this location, as they stated) is due to their body shape. When I look at these side by side with a captive bred H. Temporalis of the same size, the captive bred clearly has a different head shape which is more curved, whereas this group has more elongated and pointed mouthes. I also know that this may just be cause they are wild caught and eventually their head structure can change as they grow. Personally I believe that they are H. Temporalis
 
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ryansmith83 said:
Small temporalis always have pointed snouts. The head will round off as they grow.
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Agree with Ryan, and your tap water does sound like the perfect match.
Glad you've found, and are keeping a species you like, that also matches the water you have.
So often I see posts of those fighting the water they are dealt with, when there are always interesting species to match every situation among the 3000 or more cichlids in the world.
Makes the lobby so much more enjoyable when fish don't get sick from the stress of trying to force soft water fish into liquid rock, or vice versa.
 
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duanes said:
Agree with Ryan, and your tap water does sound like the perfect match.
Glad you've found, and are keeping a species you like, that also matches the water you have.
So often I see posts of those fighting the water they are dealt with, when there are always interesting species to match every situation among the 3000 or more cichlids in the world.
Makes the lobby so much more enjoyable when fish don't get sick from the stress of trying to force soft water fish into liquid rock, or vice versa.
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I agree with you.
Even so now a days if you do have liquid rock for tap water the much greater availability of systems like RO/DI makes it possible for people to keep species that come from softer, more acidic water parameters. Personally with all the species I have kept I matched the water parameters I kept them at to what the are found in their natural habitat, even if the species was captive bred
 
I thought I would update this thread after having the 5 wild caught Rio Ucayali H. Temporalis for about 1.5 months now. By eye balling I will say the largest are 4-4.5inches, with the largest two pairing up and spawning for the first time recently. They display great parental control defending the eggs/ wrigglers/ fry from all other species in the tank. With this being their first spawn I did not expect it to make it this far and although I would love to pull some of the fry to grow out I don’t and to mess with their first spawn as I want them to practice raising them.
Please excuse the particles in the videos, I have a love hate relationship with the IAL


 
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stiker said:
I thought I would update this thread after having the 5 wild caught Rio Ucayali H. Temporalis for about 1.5 months now. By eye balling I will say the largest are 4-4.5inches, with the largest two pairing up and spawning for the first time recently. They display great parental control defending the eggs/ wrigglers/ fry from all other species in the tank. With this being their first spawn I did not expect it to make it this far and although I would love to pull some of the fry to grow out I don’t and to mess with their first spawn as I want them to practice raising them.
Please excuse the particles in the videos, I have a love hate relationship with the IAL


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Apologises, I am not sure why the same video posted twice and I’m not seeing a way to edit the post. This was meant to be the other video

 
Every time I see chocolate cichlid posts it makes me want them again. Thanks for sharing!
 
mrrobxc said:
Every time I see chocolate cichlid posts it makes me want them again. Thanks for sharing!
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They are quickly becoming my favourite fish. I have noticed wild caught species are much more aggressive then domestic bred species especially when it comes to con-species
 
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