Laetacara thayeri.

[jfp]

Hi,anybody with some good information on L.Thayeri,bought 5 and they soon cleaned my tank for the cardinaltetras, so i put them in my big tank ,they are wild caugth and very guarrelsome but very nice,i like them but there is not very much information on them.They are now in a 570l tank with Hoplarcus Psittacus and are doing great now.The tank is filled with floating plants,lot of wood that gives hiding places.

 

[jfp]

And the tank is also filled with cattappa leaves.

 

[anewbie]

I had a group of 6 in my 600 community tank - they never bicker much and just generally chilled. They are starting to age out now - for whatever reason none of the Laetacara have been as long lived as other species i've kept.

They didn't require any special care - mine were full adults when purchased unseen so no clue of actual age but probably well over a year and they lived about 3 years in the aquarium - about 3 of them are still alive but obviously advanced age with very little time left. I won't replace them.

I can't really say anything negative or positive about them - kind of a boring fish - never caused much of an issue - never did anything exciting. Breeding was never really an option in this aquarium - though the chocolate and angels have bred - as they say even in a large glass box a community tank isn't very optimal for breeding. Well i will note if you catch them in a good mood their pattern is a bit more eye catching but still I think in all department there are better options - the only good thing i can say is they never caused a raukus among themselves or other fishes. Very peaceful. More peaceful then my group of araguaiae not that they were particularly bad they did bicker now and then.

I will note esp the male were substantially larger than the l. araguaiae and as such require more space. Not sure i would keep 2 much less a group in a 29 (usa 29 is 30 inch long and 12 inch wide); probably 40 min and perhaps a 65 better - larger fish. Not just long but bulky as they get older. I did not keep them in blackwater but rather soft water with ec around 120. I do have a group of laetcara dors in blackwater conditions.

In truth in that size range i prefer both the b. cupido and the m. egregius i have (different aquarium).

 

[MacZ]

and they soon cleaned my tank for the cardinaltetras

Wait, they ate them all? Were the tetras still small or the Laetacara especially big? I know they will go for smaller species like P. simulans or A. riesei, but P. axelrodi can be quite big.

 

[anewbie]

Wait, they ate them all? Were the tetras still small or the Laetacara especially big? I know they will go for smaller species like P. simulans or A. riesei, but P. axelrodi can be quite big.

Thayeri can easily eat cardinals but they have left my serpae tetra alone.

Of course there are also hiding places for the serpae. In truth while I really like the 30 or 40 serpae tetra i have the star are the Anostomus ternetzi; but then again i have a 600 gallon aquarium so lots of room.