Biotoecus dicentrarchus and some questions

[aquaeric13]

Hello,

tomorrow I will get a pair of these nice dwarf cichlids,so I still have some questions about the tank.
I prepared a 54 gallon tank for them,in this tank I want to breed them.
I also have a 450 gallon south-america tank in which I can put them later.
They are between 2,5 and 3 cm so still very small.
But now to my questions:

1.One of my "breeding-friend" has B. opercularis and breeds them successfully.
He said they need sand without any oak leafs but if I read the Wikipedia-page of Biotoecus I can read they live over leafs and mud. So honestly that´s the opposite of clean sand?!

2.I have two roots an some Vesicularia dubyana in the tank, caves and coconut shell in the 54 gallon tank.Do they need special things to breed?

3. Should I prefer a special food for them,I have living black mosquito larvae,daphnia and artemia as well.

4. The values are:
pH:5,8
ch:>1
th>1
Temp: 27°C

Can I use alder cones to make the water a little bit brown or do the B. dicentrarchus like just clear water?

5. I read that B.dicentrarchus spawns in small sand heaps,do I need caves or are they just useless for them?

 

[Mike Wise]

Your water values, food and decor should be fine for B. opercularis, especially if it is the population from around Santarém. Are there other fish in the tank? As for B. dicentrarchus, the same should work, too. I've never heard of D. dicentrarchus being collected commercially. How did you friend get them???

 

[aquaeric13]

Mike,my friend has just the B.opercularis but I don´t know where he got them.
I just have some Paracheirodon axelrodi and Ancistrus spec. in the big tank,in the 54 gallon there are no other fish inside.
I get the B.dicentrarchus from"tropicwater", they have them from Aquarium Glaser you can get more information trough this link:

There you can read: "Biotoecus dicentrarchus originates from the Orinoco drainage in Venezuela"

http://www.aquariumglaser.de/de/archiv.php?news_id=732

 

[Mike Wise]

Thanks for the information. Looks like another interesting species is coming into the hobby.

As for your tank, I don't know how successful you will be with these dwarf cichlids. Ancistrus will probably eat any eggs/larvae they find (mostly at night). The female will have little possibility of protecting them from these little armored tanks. Paracheirodon axelrodi is infamous as a fry predator. A school of Cardinals/Red Neons will destroy a school of freeswimming fry quickly. Again there is little chance the female can protect the fry. Something to think about.

 

[aquaeric13]

Yes Mike, I want to breed them in the small (54 gallon) tank so that the Neons or Ancistrus can´t catch the fry.
If the fry will be maybe 2 cm tall I want to put them in the big tank.
But first the two wild caughts have to grow up.

I have two less beautiful pics two hours after arrival but more and better pics will follow.