Go Back   Brooklyn Aquarium Society - Public Forum > Freshwater > Fish

Fish Ask All Of Your Fish Related Questions Here.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old July 3rd, 2013, 01:50 PM   #1
robertprice
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Chelsea
Posts: 412
Rep Power: 31 robertprice is an unknown quantity at this point
Default Cichlid Profiles - Black or Little Midas Cichlid

Amphilophus astorquii, a recent offshoot species of the Midas Complex was discovered in Lake Apoyo, Nicaragua in 2008. It is a very recently evolved species. The 23,000 year old crater lake is only a bit over 8 square miles. Black Midas only live there, and makes up 3/4 of all the cichlids in the lake, which has 6 other Amphilophus species. This grey to grey green cichlid with 7 middorsal black blotches undergoes one of the most remarkable color changes in the December to February breeding season, when its head and caudal penduncle turn black, and the blotches enlarge into 7 very thick, pitch black vertical stripes which can nealry obscure the grey-green ground color. The males get nuchal humps. They are rapid breeders who reach sexual maturity in a year at 7 inches length for males and 6 for females. They dig holes near large rocks and lay up to 600 eggs which take 3 days to hatch. The parents guard the fry for about 40 days, as in Lake Apoyo, anything little and unprotected gets eaten. They are bottom dwellers who are carnivores that have a strong preference for snails. They are extremely aggressive, as are their Midas ancestors.

In captivity they like pH 6.5-7.5 and temperatures of 80 to 85 degrees. They need at least a 55 to 70 gallon tank, and are rather poor tankmakes for anything else. See Images of A. astorquii for pictures.
__________________
Dr. Robert Price

Last edited by robertprice; July 3rd, 2013 at 01:55 PM. Reason: omission
robertprice is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Bookmarks


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump



Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.2
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Page generated in 0.04002 seconds with 13 queries