NEWS113
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suitable for the long-termmaintenance of
most species. Some species will also
toleratehardwater (<20°dGH)andapHup
toaround8.5withoutanynoticeableeffect
on theirhealth.
Appropriate feeding
SouthAmericandwarf cichlidsare "pickers"
and sand-sifters. In otherwise they target
individual largermorsels of foodor sift the
surfaceof theexpansesof sand,pickingup
amouthful of sand, "chewing" it, and then
spitting it out. Any edible particles of food
are retained and swallowed. South
Americandwarf cichlidsarenot specialised
feeders and can be fed on all the usual
sinking foods (flake, granules, frozen and
live foods). It is, however, important to
ensure that part of the aquarium substrate
consists of fine sand (if necessary place a
shallowdishof sand in theaquarium). If the
fishes are unable to chew sand then they
maydevelop infectionsof themouthcavity
and thegill area.
Correctmaintenance
SouthAmericandwarf cichlidsaresensitive
to a high germ count in the water and to
high levels of nitrogenous compounds.For
this reason regular large partial water
changesare themost importantelementof
maintenance. Ideally 1/3 - 2/3 of thewater
should be changed every week, refilling
with conditioned, freshwater of the same
chemistry; at the same time the difference
intemperaturebetweenthenewwaterand
the aquariumwater should be as small as
possible and never more than 2-3 °C. In
aquaria with a low fish density, minimal
germ population, and good biological
filtration,water changes canbe reduced to
1/5of the total volumeevery14days.
Longer intervalsshouldnotbeemployed in
the long term.
In linewith thenatural habitat, these fishes
should always have access to secondary
plantmaterial.Dead leaves (of SeaAlmond,
Beech,Oak,orWalnut),Alder cones,or peat
can be utilised, or special liquid
preparationsaddedateverywater change.
Aquariumand tankmates
South American dwarf cichlids are not
particularly active swimmers and the
aquarium size required is governedmainly
by their social behaviour.
Apistogramma,
Apistogrammoides, Dicrossus
and
Crenicara
are polygamous, i.e. in the wild a male
maintains a harem of several females. The
females guard the spawning sites and the
brood,
the
males
the
territory.
Apistogramma
and
Apistogrammoides
spawn in caves,
Dicrossus
and
Crenicara
on
leaves, wood, etc. In the aquarium these
species can be kept in pairs or with an
excess of females.A suitable spawning site
must be available for each female. In
standard-size aquaria only one male of a
species should be kept, but in a suitably
decorated aquarium it is possible to keep
males of different species together as long
as their requirements (temperature!) are
similar.
Amale
Apistogrammabaenschi
(= Inca) inhis territory.
Cultivated red formof
Apistogrammahoignei.
