Lyretail Checkerboard Cichlid

[Onoma1]

I am considering keeping a pair of these in my new planted tank (very acidic soft water) and wondered if anyone on the forum had any experience of keeping these or knew of any UK breeders?

They seem to be quite rare, however, spectacularly beautiful.

 

[MichaelJ]

They are beautiful fish and rare in the trade! Post pics when you get them!

 

[Conort2]

I’ve got quite a fair sized group, males can be very hard on each other and are always displaying to the females. Beautiful fish that do well with smaller tetras, corydoras etc. I try and add some vegetable matter like seaweed sheets as some people complain about bloat with them.

What size tank are you thinking of keeping them in?

Cheers

 

[Onoma1]

@Conort2 they will go into a 240 litre tank which will losely based on a Brazilian biotope ( Rio Jufaris). Other fish will be green neons and, if I can locate a few, Copella nattereri (spotted tetra).

@MichaelJ I will post a few pics if I can locate any!

 

[Conort2]

they will go into a 240 litre tank which will losely based on a Brazilian biotope ( Rio Jufaris). Other fish will be green neons and, if I can locate a few, Copella nattereri (spotted tetra).

Sounds good, My type of tank! I would recommend getting a few more females. They’re not really pair forming and it brings out the best in the male trying to keep his harem together and displaying all the time. They also seem to stick in a loose group a lot of the time. Very interesting fish, they’re now one of my favourites.

Cheers

 

[Onoma1]

I was able to source three juvenile Lyretail Checkerboard Cichlids. They are currently residing in a small isolation tank with 10 green neons bought at the same time. Given their diminutive size I think I will leave them there for a few months to grow on.

@MichaelJ I have attached a photo below of one. They are quite shy and were 'photo bombed' by the neons.

Any tips on how to keep these in perfect condition would be very welcome!

 

[Conort2]

Any tips on how to keep these in perfect condition would be very welcome!

Soft water with a low tds but apart from that they’re pretty easy to keep. They grow fast too so it won’t be too long until the males develop those lovely lyre tails.

Cheers

 

[Courtneybst]

I just got an adult male yesterday! I'm on the hunt for some females.

 

[PremierFantasy88]

I know an old thread but had to comment as these are one of my favourite dwarfs

I assume you've got D.Filamentosus?

I have kept D.Foirni previously and managed to breed them but it was a challenge to get the required conditions for them to firstly breed and the eggs to then develop as they should (very low TDS/hardness, sub 5.5 pH etc)

One thing that I used to enjoy was watching them (once big enough) use their mouth to drive up almond leaves in the tank and flip it over so that they graze the underneath side of the leaves

I've attached a pic of the female I had guarding the eggs + a pic of the male and female together (neither pic quality is great but it was a blackwater tank)

Hope you enjoy your D.Filamentosus 🐟

 

[Onoma1]

They were sold to me as D.Filamentosus, however, have darker markings than @PremierFantasy88 's female! I have three, two of which seem to stick together as a pair. Does anyone else have a view?

 

[PremierFantasy88]

I found with Dicrossus that 'sneaker' males were quite common

However if you have two that stick together that's always a good sign but you will probably need to wait until they are sexually mature to know if you have a male/female