robertprice |
September 3rd, 2013 06:17 AM |
Cichlid Profiles - Apistogramma alacrina
This attractive gold-yellow dwarf cichlid was recently named by Kullander in 2004. It is found in Colombia and North Central Brazil. Aside from its bright yellow predominant color, its most prominent features are a black eye with a thick black stripe that may continue from the front of the dorsal fin or originate on the side of the head and passes through the eye pointing to bottom of the gill cover. There are also preorbital, supraorbital, subororbital and postorbital smaller head markings. There is a broken line of 6 midbody dorsal dark spots (there may be vague vertical bars as well), and a smaller row of six spots at the juncture of the dorsal fin and body. They have pointy mouths very good for bottom feeding. The tail is rounded and has a large black anterior dot. The fins are also yellow-gold. The dorsal fin has a small lappet streamer and the **** fin is rounded, making males and females difficult to distinguish except by size. Males get 2.2 inches long, females only 1.3 inches. Captive females get a bit larger. They like water temperature of 76-80 degrees and pH of 5.5 to 6.5.
These fish prefer to live in pairs or a harem. They have been bred in tanks as small as 5 gallons, but twice that size is suggested. Like many Apistogramma, they can be tricked into breeding by feeding them live worms for 2 weeks followed by 30% water change which simulates the spring rain. They are cave spawners who like a small tight enclosure. They are excellent parents and great community fish. Pictures available at 'Images of Apistogramma alacrina."
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