# Lyretail Checkerboard Cichlids



## Dennis Giovinazzo (Oct 12, 2010)

Hello guys!

Its my first post here! As I want to post some photos in this topic, and I received an advise that I must have 1 post before I can post URL/Links, my question is down below.

tks,


----------



## Dennis Giovinazzo (Oct 12, 2010)

Hello!

I put a group of 4 of these fellas in a 15G tank. They complete one week in the new tank, and I have some doubts.

First, some photos of them:




























*1* By these pics, are they REAL Lyretail Checkerboards? They're yet pretty small (less than 1 inch), and I'm not sure they are _D. filamentosus_. Can anyone confirm this information?

*2* After one week in the new tank, two of them become more agressive, and start to show some dark color in the ventral fins. It's a sign that the two are young males? Here are some pics, for a little comparison (the red arrow is for the darker ones):



















*3* My intention is to breed them in this 15G. A group of four in this tank is a good setup for this?

Any advice about keeping and breeding them will be also appreciated.

tks,


----------



## Chromedome52 (Jul 25, 2009)

First, at one inch they are going to still be juveniles. The key here is patience, you have a few months before you will even know what sexes you have. The females will eventually develop orange ventral fins between 1.5 and 2 inches, and the males will get their classic lyretails and extended finnage around 2-2.5 inches. Males will grow a bit faster, and be slightly larger than the females, though not the huge differences one sees in Apistos.

As for the size of the tank, it should be large enough for four of these fish. Bear in mind that they do not cave spawn like apistos, but prefer to lay the eggs on broad leaf plants. One of the keys to keeping _Dicrossus _is water quality. I like your use of almond leaves for keeping the water acid. From what I see, all you really need to add is a couple of Crypts or _Anubias_; best would be a stem plant with wider leaves, such as a _Hygrophila_. They like to spawn on the leaves up high, away from the substrate.


----------



## Dennis Giovinazzo (Oct 12, 2010)

tks man for the great advices! I'Ã„Âºl need to control the impatience lol

The parameters today:

PH 6.5
Gh 3
Kh 2
NO3 5 MG/l
NH3 NO2: 0 MG/L

I added the almond leaves 3 days ago. Hope the ph goes down with them with the time. Im also using peat moss in my filter. The fishes seems to love it.

In this tank. I have some java moss and cabombas. But it seems they arenÃ‚Â´t going so well with low light. The broad leaf plants are really necessary to breed them? Im afraid that i cant keep plants with success in this setup.

Tks again


----------



## Chromedome52 (Jul 25, 2009)

Cabomba is a plant that needs a lot of light. Some crypts will do well in low light conditions, as will the more common Anubias species.

I've also seen them spawn on wood, and on the top of a tall flowerpot, so the plants aren't an absolute necessity. The important thing is that the available spawn sites are well away from the bottom.


----------



## Dennis Giovinazzo (Oct 12, 2010)

Thanks again, man!

I'll give a try with some Anubias or Hygrophilas

I'm using some driftwood in the hardscape too. Here's a pic:










I have another question: I read something about _D. filamentosus_ being protogynous hermaphrodite. This is a fact? Here's the text: http://www.cichlidae.com/article.php?id=91


----------



## Dennis Giovinazzo (Oct 12, 2010)

Hey man!

Thanks again for the great advices! Let's share the results after all these months 8)




























At least 35 babies Checkerboard! 

I'm feeding them with brine shrimp nauplii and micro worms.

Here's the dominant male of the group










kind regards,


----------



## Chromedome52 (Jul 25, 2009)

That is great! I love to see Dicrossus with fry! That male looks pretty nice, too. I'm surprised the female's ventral fins aren't more orange, though.Did you ever see the eggs? They can be very good at hiding them, and the female tends to stand away from the spawn, guarding from a slight distance rather than sitting on them like most cichlids.

Very glad things worked for you. Congratulations!


----------



## mlancaster (Jul 24, 2009)

Hi *Dennis Giovinazzo*,

Well done, congratulations. The male looks great. What sex ratio did you end up with? 2 male/ 2 female?

Thanks,
Matt


----------



## edburress (Jun 9, 2007)

Impressive, congratulations!

Ed


----------



## Dennis Giovinazzo (Oct 12, 2010)

Thanks, fellas!



Chromedome52 said:


> I'm surprised the female's ventral fins aren't more orange, though.Did you ever see the eggs?


The female's fin are slightly red/orange. I think the blackwater doesn't contribute with the red tones in the pic.

About the eggs, yes, I saw them before they hatch. The female laid them on one of the almond leaves. Here's the pic of the eggs












mlancaster said:


> What sex ratio did you end up with? 2 male/ 2 female?


I added one more to the group. I ended, as far as I noticed, with 2 males and 3 females, although the beta male didn't show the same colors and development of the alpha male.

I made a poor quality video of the female and the fry. Enjoy!


----------



## adam79 (Jun 27, 2007)

Dennis Giovinazzo said:


> tks man for the great advices! I'Ã„Âºl need to control the impatience lol
> 
> The parameters today:
> 
> ...


Are these the perameters they spawned in? Are they wild or tank raised?


----------



## Dennis Giovinazzo (Oct 12, 2010)

adam79 said:


> Dennis Giovinazzo said:
> 
> 
> > tks man for the great advices! I'Ã„Âºl need to control the impatience lol
> ...


No man!

They spawned in these parameters:

pH 5.5
gH 2
kH 1
NH3, NO2, NO3 0 mg/l

I didn't know for sure, but I think mine are F0. In Brazil, checkerboards are usually caught in the wild, at Manaus, and sold at LFS all over the country.


----------

