Dicrossus

[con-man-dan]

I am going to be receiving several D. Filamentosus next week, and am wondering if anyone has kept these guys with success? I plan on keeping them just like I would an apisto...soft acid water, low lights, plants, driftwood and lots of hidey-holes. I've been wanting to keep these guys for a while, now I'm quite stoked i'm getting the chance

 

[a.d.wood]

Here's my experience (from 2005):

Started with 6 juveniles, eventually selected 1 pair and put them into 1 of my breeding tanks (18"L x 18"W x 15"T). Tank decorated with silica sand, bog wood, 2 amazon sword plants (in clay pots) and floating amazon frogbit. The only other inhabitants are 2 whiptail cats (I had them in with all of my spawning Apisto's and have never shown interest in any of the fry).

Standard feeding regime for adult dwarves, fresh baby brine shrimp in the morning with an evening feed of frozen food (cycling through bloodworm, daphnia, artemia, white worm, black worm, mysis)

All of my water is 100% RO filtered through Irish moss peat, pH ~5.6, GH ~1, KH 0. Thanks to the planting NO3 etc not detectable. Tank temperature is maintained at 26 degrees C. Weekly 10% water change with water warmed up to ~20 degrees C (I have a 200L water drum in the fish house, this is not heated but left circulating for at least 24 hours to equilibrate to the ambient temperature of the fish house).

I would say that the key for these guy's is water quality, if you can match my stats then you should be in luck.

I had heard that they spawn in pits that they dig in the sand, however this female spawned on the topside of an amazon sword leaf. The female moved the eggs from 1 leaf to another about once per day over 4 to 5 days (she only used 2 leaves). Eggs become wigglers at about 3 days and free swimming at about 7 days.

Once we had free swimming fry, continue with the baby brine shrimp but also supplement with frozen cyclops (a small portion of the other frozen foods is still added for the parents).

It appears the female is solely responsible for the fry raising, the males job is to defend the territory.

And just to show these guys off!! (3 months old and about 15mm SL)

Andrew

 

[Mike Wise]

Just to add to Andrew's comments. I had them spawn in my Denver tap water, adjusting the pH to the pH 5.5 range. I know that the Denver area has very different water values, depending on where you live. My tap water comes out very soft (NW Denver). Believe Andrew when he says the key to success is water quality. Weekly water changes are needed to assure the health of the fish. Also my experience it that the fish are not especially protective of their eggs or fry. I once had a female happily fanning eggs while another female was eating them!

 

[Apistomaster]

Mike,
I'll second that. Dicross filamentosus has long been one of my favorite SA Dwarf Cichlids and I have had many spawns but I have never had the pleasure of watching a female care for her young. I have only watched them eat their eggs.

Artificial hatching doesn't happen for me unless the water is extremely clean, soft and acid.

Then there is the survival of the larvae. To be more exact, the lack thereof.
I revisit them every so often over the years trying to improve on my technique but I still have not had satisfactory outcomes.

I just bought 12 young checkerboards and will try again. I am just hoping to succeed someday when everything somehow comes together and I end up with my own home grown checkerboards.

 

[Apistomaster]

I have had my new group of 12 D. filamentosus abou a month now and they have grown considerably which is good but what I found interesting is that since they were so young when they came in they behaved more like the juveniles in Andrew's photos. They remained more or less in loose schools.

As they are already beginning to sex out they are beginning to form subterritories of their own. They are open spawners unlike Apistogramma and tend to be more outgoing. It has been nice to work with such young ones as it fills in, in some ways, stages of their life cycle I han't seen before.
It is one of the nice aspects of Dicrossus behavor that they aren't hiders.

Soon they will begin spawning and the real challenges will begin, hatching and raising fry.
Larry W, Dicrossus Anonymous, fallen off the wagon.

 

[Apistomaster]

My dozen D. filamentosus have really grown out fast and it is a good thing I bought 12 because it's shaping out that I may have only 2 or 3 females.
I am getting ready to remove all but two of the males because it is getting stressful for the few females.

On another note, I have always had mine spawn off the bottom. Most commonly they will choose a Hygrophila leaf, a smooth peak on a piece of driftwood or occassionally, on top of a smooth rock. Always in an open location and usually in the mid third of the water column in a 12 inch high aquarium.