# Dicrossus filamentosus



## Mol_PMB (Mar 4, 2015)

About a year ago I bought six young wild-caught Dicrossus filamentosus, the smallest was just 17mm long:









It took them at least 6 months to mature and it turned out I had 5 males and one female, the smallest. The males are now about 50mm and the female 40mm: 









In the past 6 months they've laid eggs quite a few times, but they didn't survive long enough to hatch: 









I was away last weekend and was delighted to come home to find Mum herding a group of tiny fry, smaller than daphnia. 
They're now about a week old and maybe 5mm long. There were some losses in the first couple of days but number seem to have stabilised at about a dozen. I managed to get a nice picture of Mum and babies this afternoon, so thought I would write this post to share it:









These are great little fish - even with several males in the tank their challenges are largely non-contact but showy. And the female, so passive for a long time, is now quite vigorously attacking catfish 5 times her own length and chasing them away from her babies. Her mate just gets a gentle touch to keep him out of the way. But with the babies she is tender and caring, bringing stragglers back to the brood and leading them around the tank to find food. It's fascinating to watch.

Anyone else keep Dicrossus?

Cheers
Paul


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## notho2000 (Dec 8, 2012)

Well done Paul. This is not an easy fish to raise and spawn successfully. Kudos to you. You are certainly doing a whole lot right. BTW great pics too.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Congrats, Paul!! Nice looking pics of the fish.


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## Mol_PMB (Mar 4, 2015)

Thanks  Kudos to the little fishes!

These are the first cichlids I have ever tried to breed. The babies are still doing well today and I'm just setting up a brine shrimp hatchery to give them more food variety (currently I have micro-worms, banana worms and decapsulated brine shrimp eggs to offer, but I suspect there is a lot of microscopic fauna in the tank too.)

I think the tank they're in is lucky somehow as the only other occupants (3 Farlowella vittata) are also spawning frequently and I've got the hang of raising their fry too (which is also notoriously difficult). I run it as a blackwater acidic tank which seems to suit both species. I have naturally very soft water.

Cheers,
Paul


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Congrats Paul. I know you posted about this in the 'who spawned' thread but it's nice to see some photos. Any pics of the full tank?


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## Mol_PMB (Mar 4, 2015)

Thanks!

Here's a picture of the tank I've just taken; it's a 120L Juwel Lido with external filter. Internal dimensions 580mm L x 380mm D x 500mm H.

You can just make out one of each species: Dicrossus filamentosus and Farlowella vittata. Sorry for the extra powerhead and hose feeding the breeder box which has the latest batch of twiglets in - together with the excess of bubbles from the flow it rather spoils the look.









I don't pretend it's the prettiest tank but the fish seem to enjoy it, and both species use the full height of the tank. In fact at the moment while Mrs Dicrossus is boss of the substrate with her babies, the twig cats are mostly to be found on the branches nearer the surface, well out of fin-nipping range.

Plants are Hydrocotyle leucocephala, Amazon frogbit and a few tendrils of Java moss, plus rather a lot of algae. Branches are mostly collected from the wild and well dried out with bark removed. Over the past year, the Twig cats ate their way right through one of the softwood branches!

Cheers,
Paul

P.S. While I've been writing this sitting next to my big tank, I couldn't resist taking this picture of another cichlid and another catfish who came out to say hello


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## Mol_PMB (Mar 4, 2015)

A couple more recent pictures of my Dicrossus fry:



















The numbers have dwindled to 8 babies but that number has been stable for 4-5 days and they're approaching 10mm long.


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## Mol_PMB (Mar 4, 2015)

Growing up nicely:


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

:thumb: 
Tank looks nice Paul


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## exasperatus2002 (Jul 5, 2003)

Great job! I am planning a Dwarf cichlid tank for the fall, they are on my wish list.


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## Mol_PMB (Mar 4, 2015)

exasperatus2002 said:


> Great job! I am planning a Dwarf cichlid tank for the fall, they are on my wish list.


I'd really recommend them. Not aggressive, their challenges are all for show so you can keep half a dozen in a 2-foot tank. 
My fry are well over half an inch long now, and nearly as big as their mother was when I first got her. They're independent now, and the adults are flirting and may lay again soon.


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## jamntoast3 (May 15, 2015)

i didnt realize they had such nice colour, very nice.


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