That Fish Blog – Aquarium Advice and Information

Cryptoheros sajica, formerly known as Archocentrus sajica, hails from Central America and belongs in the same family as the popular Convict Cichlid. I first came across this particular species of fish at an auction in Cleveland, where I picked up a bag for about five bucks. In the bag were 8 fish, each about a half inch in length.  At the time I was living in Cleveland, and they all went into a 30 gallon tank. They shared the tank with a 5 inch royal pleco and some neon tetras and rummynoses. I kept the water chemistry stable with a ph of around 7.6 and a general hardness of 6 degrees. The temperature was set at 78 degrees (F). The tank was furnished with live plants, driftwood and clay flower pots. I also added some flat stones, in hopes the new additions would eventually spawn on them.

They grew pretty quickly.  I fed them twice a day, and feeding was very easy. They pretty much ate anything that fell in front of their face. Every other day I performed water changes of about ten percent to keep the chemistry up to par.  By the end of the first year they were each about 3 inches long.

Finally, one day I had noticed that two had paired off.  They had all the others pinned in corners and fearing for their lives, so the following day I baged up the dominated fish, and traded them in for some baby brine and earthworm flakes before they met an untimely death by the newly territorial and greedy pair. Within days I noticed the couple cleaning one of the flat stones. I also noticed that the female’s breeding tube was visible, a sign that eggs are soon to come. She laid about 100 small. tan-colored eggs the following day. It happened to be my day off, and I was excited that she had laid her first batch of eggs, Little did I know that the pleco decided he had an appetite for caviar. The inexperienced soon-to-be parents tried to keep the intruder away, but the pleco was determined to have his fancy meal. The damage done, I relocated the pleco to my African cichlid tank.

She had another batch of eggs 3 weeks later. This time they were better prepared, and with no armored, sucker-mouthed egg eaters in their tank, they were on the road to success. These fish are very good parents once they get the hang of it! They guarded their offspring ferociously, even attacking the gravel tube as I tried to clean the substrate. When they were big enough, I moved the fry I could catch to a seperate 20 high. About 50 fry made it to be traded and sold from that batch.

I don’t consider sajicas a very vibrant species, though they are attractive in their own way. They remind me a lot of the A. spilurus, with their shimmering blue eyes. Maybe their most striking feature is the blue throat developed by both males and females as they mature. Males attain an adult size of 5 inches and females about 3.5 to 4 inches. With caution they may be kept with community fish, but they are almost always aggressive towards others of their own kind. I would say the minimum tank size for an adult pair would be a 29 gallon. I would highly recommend this species to someone who would like to try something other than a Convict Cichlid. They breed easily and are really fun to watch as they spawn and raise their fry. If you have any questions about them, please let me know in the comments section!

Jose

Many other blogs have discussed (and will continue to discuss, I’m sure) the importance of testing various levels in your water and its effects on the overall health of your aquarium. But, how can you actually test it? For anyone who isn’t able to bring a water sample into That Fish Place or their local fish store for testing or who wants monitor their water quality at home, there are lots of options for what tests to use. While what to actually test for is for another blog, there are lots of options when it comes to how the tests are actually done. Here we’ll look at the pro’s and con’s of the three most common aquarium testing methods: Test Strips, Liquid Test Kits, and Electronic Testing Equipment. Read More »

There are many specific groups of cichlids that develop fanatics and devotees in the hobby. Some species of cichlids just have something special that keeps bringing hobbyists back for more. Certainly one of those groups are the pike cichlids. The pike cichlid genus, Crenicichla, contains more than 100 species ranging in size from dwarf species of around 3 inches long to large predators that can easily exceed 16 inches in total length. These fish are found throughout South America from Colombia to Argentina. Pike cichlids have long, cylindrical bodies with large, wide mouths made for eating large prey. Even the dwarf species boast a healthy appetite for things that you would swear are too large for them to eat! Read More »

So since my last blog, my male Wolf Cichlid has done it again. Another disasterous fit of rage or passion, but this time though he decided to kill his mate. The female that produced more than a couple thousand babies in the short three years that she was mine is dead. I wish I knew what was going through his fishy mind, because he was as brutal as OJ during his jealous tirade (ooops, just kidding, we all know OJ is innocent). Like OJ, my mean male has managed to avoid capital punishment, banished to a holding tank at TFP before he can be re-homed to some other lucky (or unlucky) cichlid enthusiast.

So, now I have to figure what I should try to breed next! Several things came to mind immediately; Grammodes I’ve already bred, Argentia I’ve kept but never bred, and then there were the  the Cuban Cichlids (Nandopsis tetracanthus). These medium-sized, powerhouse fish attain lenghts of up to 14 inches. They are very striking fish, both male and female are monochromatic, that is, they both sport a black and white pattern.

I was able to trade my rotten male dovii on 4 1.5 inch fish. They all went into the 40 breeder and have so far adapted really well, they were already eating an hour after being put into their new home. The following day I did a head count and was glad to see all four fish still kicking, as everything I’ve read says they are highly aggressive towards each other. Let me tell you it is so true!
They have set up the pecking order already, though they haven’t inflicted too much damage on each other yet. To break up the tension in the tank, I also introduced a Chromidotilapia sp. individual from West Africa. The little Cubans quickly went over to check out the new fish, but the dominant male was smart not to attack, since it was 2.5 times
his size. By the looks of things (if I go by size) I may have two pairs!

They feed very well. The dominant male will pig out so much his belly distends, almost to the point that I have to be careful to limit his intake…he sometimes looks as if he’s about to explode. My bet is that he will grow very quickly. These guys take everything from flakes to sinking pellets, as they get larger I will also feed them nightcrawlers and red worms. I wish that Dovii hadn’t killed his mate…he is a beautiful boy, but I couldn’t stand to look at hm after that carnage. It happens when you keep these crazy fish. So I’m hoping to have my first batch of Cuban Cichlid eggs in about 6 months from now…until then wish me luck!

Look forward to updating you on the situation!

Jose

In my last blog I talked about schooling fish, their interesting behaviors and some schooling species for your marine aquarium. If you have a freshwater aquarium, the list of schooling fish species is pretty long. Dozens of tetras, barbs, danios, and rasboras are available and new species are being introduced regularly. There are also several other types of schooling fish that you may not see in the average pet store. These colorful and interesting fish can really contribute something special to a home aquarium. Read More »