Nanacara taenia

[JG]

Hi all,

I received four wild caught Nanacara taenia (1m/3f) from Below Water yesterday. Not the fish I initially was looking for but the Nanacara anomala wasn't available and the taenia was substituted.

Does anyone have any information on the taenia or has anyone kept them before? Is there anything in Romer's book on them? There's hardly any info on them in Linke's book so I'm a bit in the dark about a fish I hadn't prepared for. Any help would be more than welcome.

Thanks,

J

 

[fishboy20]

I have kept Nannacara taenia before. A pretty fish indeed and very colorful when in breeding dress. I kept mine in a 5 1/2 gallon at a temperature of 78 F, pH of 7.2 and a softness of 40 ppm. They grew and eventually spawned. The little females act much like Apistogramma females.

Uwe Romer's Dwarf Cichlid Atlas states that N. taenia will accept a variety of coniditions. Softer water seems beneficial to breeding. It is also stated that reproduction is moderately difficult. IME however, they seem to need to settle in and act much like N. anomala.

Females will lay between 30-150 eggs which hatch in 30 hours (Romer 2000). The fry are dark in color and I would feed the usual fry foods: microworms, baby brine shrimp and vinegar eels. Hope that helps. There is more info. in the book and I'd recommend picking it up if you have not yet.

~Jeremy

 

[JG]

Thanks for the information Jeremy. If anyone else has anything to add that would also be welcome.

I've ordered it from BA's in the US and am having it sent to my friend in Houston who will in turn ship it to me in Canada. The book price here is at least double the price even with the shipping. Looking forward to perusing the book.

J

 

[JG]

Just thought I would add that I have one male and three females in a 20G (long) planted tank. Did the taenia spawn in caves or are they an open substrate spawner?