Nannacara aureocephalus

[Tom C]

A while ago Mark (Microman) gently gave me a not so often seen dwarfcichlid from French Guiana.

In my peat-filtered water they thrive well, and now it soon might be some more of them:


We see here hints of the gold color in the head region that is the basis for the fish's name:

In other moods he looks almost pink:

The female with not yet freeswimming fry:

 

[fishme.]

very nice to see species that do not come up too often

are they as easy to breed and thrive as the nannacara anomala are ?

 

[Tom C]

Well, actually I don't know. But immediately after I moved them to a bigger tank (160 liter - 100cm x 40cm x 40 cm) and lowered the pH from 6 to just over 5, they spawned.

 

[lab]

Wow, what beautiful specimens Tom!

Do you know who got the fish to Europe?

 

[Tom C]

....Do you know who got the fish to Europe?

No, I'm sorry. Let's hope Mark reads this, he probably knows the answer to that .....


Today, the fry started to move up from the sandy bottom:

 

[afra]

Make sure the male has a lot of room and places to hide after the female brings out the fry. When mine bred the female was totally dominant about the 30 gallon breeder tank for about the first two weeks and then the male was allowed to take half the brood and they split the care. This went on for about two more weeks and then the male took over the care completely and the female was not allowed anywhere near the fry. After about two more weeks all were able to live compatibly with both parents.
I got my breeders from Anubias Design from a Glaser order and they came in as Nannacara sp. "Sourourou" and found out later that the were a variant of Nannacara Aurocephalus.

 

[Tom C]

Thank you very much for the information, afra!

I've seen him trying to approach the fry twice; To put it simple: I do not think he will try that again!
I have never seen female aggression like that; she really beat him up!

Fortunately for him, there are lots of hiding places and plants in the tank. I don't think he would have survived without.....

 

[Tom C]

I have been breeding Apistogramma for 20 years, but these quite different looking fry really fascinate me:

First day as free swimming:

And hunting for BBS for the first time:
â€I think I’ll try an ambush from below!â€:

 

[dfea]

Nice pictures man...keep them coming.

Best of Luck to you.

- Dan

 

[Mike Wise]

Wow, what beautiful specimens Tom!

Do you know who got the fish to Europe?

Since Mark hasn't replied, I'll only say that several members on the French apisto forum have this species. It is more common in France. It should be. It comes from France - the French department/province of French Guiana!:wink:

 

[Ruki]

Few people in Poland have them too. :wink: Fishes are, if I'm not mistaken, from one of german breeders. One of my friends from polish Apistogramma forum is breeding them:
http://www.apisto.pl/fa/viewtopic.php?t=5387 (unfortunately in polish only)

 

[lab]

Thank you for the pointers, Mike and Ruki

Well, if they are bred in Germany, it shouldn't be that hard to get them to Denmark.

Lars

 

[Microman]

Toms fish were imported into the UK as wild N sp."Sourourou"(Aureocephalus) quite some time ago, a good 12-18 months ago now...
I have noted that Glasers have more recently had a very similar tank bred fish that they are calling N sp."Sourourou".
Are these different species??? I seem to recall Rolo speaking of N sp.Sourourou?

Cracking pics Tom...Excellent.
I have found this species to be relatively easily bred and i have had them lay clutches of eggs
on both hard substrates as well as on the roof of a very small spawning cave in typical Apisto fashion. Is this the norm?
Mark...

 

[Mike Wise]

In his 2003 book, Staeck lists Tom & Mark's color form as a Nannacara sp. "Sourourou" - a separate species. Most other authors believe it is just a color form of N. aureocephalus. Other than colorful spotting on the flanks and face, everything is identical to N. aureocephalus. The "Sourourou" population is found within the distributional range of N. aureocephalus.

 

[Hudson Ensz]

Tom C, this is a very special fish!!! LOok at those colours!

 

[Tom C]

Update

The fry are now ca. 3 weeks old, and the father

is now allowed to approach the fry a little bit more, without risking his life.

The fry are growing, but not so fast. As you see, they don't suffer from lack of appetite!

 

[RAF]

They're looking great with their orange bellies full of artemia, and the father is gorgeous.

Congrats

 

[afra]

Tom, the fry are looking great! If the pair does like mine did then the male should start to help tend the fry really soon. Those first couple weeks is when he needs to stay away. They are a really nice fish and hopefully more people will get interested in keeping them as well as other species of Nannacara.

Bill

 

[Tom C]

The father is not yet allowed to tend for the fry. He is closer than before, but still has to stay in the background when all the fry are gathered close to the mother.
But as some of the fry more and more frequently are swimming away from the mother and explore the surroundings on their own, they individually often get quite close to the father.

Yes, they really are nice fish. Of the Nannacara, I only had experiences with N. anomala and N. taenia before I got these.

 

[Tom C]

Update

The young ones are now 6 weeks, and parts of them are still swimming with their mother:

while others now swim with the father:

They fry now show patterns more like the adults: