The Cichlid Room Companion

I would not do this. `G´ brasiliensis come from the coastal areas of south Brasil, where the water is considerably colder than in the Amazon area. Further their behaviour is said to reflect central American cichlids. Combining 5 ´G´ brasiliensis with say 6 or 8 G species would therefore result in 2 ...

The `Gophagus` redhead group consists of 3 species, crassilabris, pellegrini and steindachneri. The latter is rather hard to describe, as it has many different variants.

I would expect the fish from the Rio Alto Sinu to be one of these species, and no, in that case it does not need its own entry.

They lack sufficient oxygen. Now I don´t know what water you used, but osmosis water is completely free of oxygen, and needs to be bubbled with air for 24 hours before using it. However, in that case you will do better next time and for now± it will pass It could also be - in the Netherlands our tap...

Both have a spot in their dorsal

I'm not 100 % certain, but I thought L dorsiogeria females are the only ones with such spots. Thast is - I'd swap one for a male

Assuming I understand it correctly, yes

Through my brother I received a box with 10 120cm LED tubes. 6 of them replace TL tubes over planted tanks, the rest is ab ove unplanted ones.


Frankly I don´t see any difference in plantgrowth. Unfortunately they are unbranded and so on, so I will have a hard time finding more.

There´s Vieja in it, but most certainly more than one species. A red head is seen in V synspilus (now melanurus, but melanurus look differently), or in V bifasciatum, but the firs has a shorl bas lengthwise, the second has aon alng it´s belly and a second (bi) higher, with is more a black area. The ...

There are tropical ponds, but these are not made in the garden. I've heard about people creating such in the floor of their basement, complete with heaters and so on. Basically, they created a large tank, but only seen from above. What we are aiminig at, is something completely different. If you hav...

I agree with what Nike wrote, but be very carefull to avoidwater softeners. What your average softener does, is replace Mg++ and Ca++ for Na+. due to its lesser charge, each of the replaced Mg or Ca ions is replaced by 2 Na ions. The result is a higer count on a condutivity or TDS measurement - and ...

Most likely you will need 2 tanks, as the odds of having only one seks are 1 in 8. I think a 2 * 1 * 1 foot tank might possibly suffice for 1 fish, but not for 2 or 3.

They can grow to 15 cm or more, and if the are not breeding, growing is what they will do.

The problems will arise when they start breeding. Virtually all tanks will then be too small for more than the breeding pair. As far as I know, 10 footers have been tried. But, on the other hand a 80 * 40 cm footprint - that is 2 feet 4 * 1 foot 4 tank will suffice for a pair. I'm afraid breeding wi...

Adaptable, but at what cost for the fish? Yes, if you keep a Vieja melanurus in a Rio Negro tank, it will not die immediately. But it will lack calcium, and it will have far too short life. However, if you put a discus in water for Vieja, I'm afraid it will last a week or so. I got a 13 footer, and ...

I would most certainly not suggest combining south and central american cichlids. That being said, swordtails (CA) are a very good combination for Southern SA fishes. The reason not to combine the cichlids is due to watervalues (CA is warm, the cichlids mostly need the warmth, the only exception bei...

An oscar will grow, if kept decently to 18 cm in a year. It wil lreach 30 cm in 3 years, and your tank is far, far too small for that kind of monsters.


So please, don't do that

Thanks Ingo, I remember that many years ago (30, 35 ???) "loiselei" was allready called friedrichsthalii. In that time, P loisellei and P fridrichsthalli were considered the same species. Only in 1989, that is, 29 years ago, the species were recognized as two species. Too bad the wrong gr...

Vibrations could also be the key to solving problems with othe Paretroplus species. As fas as I know (not heving experience with any of them) they are all rather hard to breed

I would keep them a bit more warmly. For adults the stated temperature is perhaps just acceptable, young fishes generally need it a bit warmer. Better 27 to 28 for adults an 1 degree more for young ones (untill they reach 15 cm). While it is not exactly food, I would suggest adding a few sticks of s...

Cr chelidoculus was, when recentlydescriberd very popular indeed among aquarists. Perhaps it still is,

I wonder what will happen to Cr Yihui, which is most likely easier to keep in winter due to its more northern origen

A pair all by themselves is Always a risk. Were there any other fishes in the tank, dithers, other cichlids whatever, the pair would never fight amongst themselves. 56 gallon, US gallon most likely, is some 200 liters of water. That is, your tank will most likely be around a meter length, or 3 feet....

The introduction is very interesting indeed. Alas, I don't have any subscription