South American Cichlids • Biotodoma Cupido

[everlast]

Short video to show how group are feeding, also noticing more colour coming out on em everyday
And getting fatter, even the little one who was struggling a little is eating better and hanging comfortably with group

Im going to be doing a complete rescape over next few weeks...Ill keep u guys posted

[everlast]

I was looking at my photos of the young I took when I first got em in September and they are growing as fast as any other cichlid I have had....if anything faster, I was expecting alot less growth from what I had read tbh.

I took out alot of the vallisneria tonight .....wasnt growing very well after I replanted it (think it got a shock from when I took tank apart in the middle of the years..never really recovered). So yeah I took out alot but did leave some , dont want to cause any drastic change in water chemistry.
Yeah so I have some perspex I got from a friend and I am going to make some kinda background as well as introduce more wood, beech/oak leaves) a few smaller rocks ...get rid of the large boulders....(taking up valuable territory space) and yes it seems anubias is the way to go if Im introducing some plants.
Also have applied some black tape to light shield which works well and is completely adjustable.

You guys have inspired me no end so thanku

With regards my fish they really are grouping up more ....really got the feeling of a little colony now...can have a little spat but then hang out together afterwards. The little one who was being picked on is a real little meanie..lol....takes no nonsense

[RobertCupido]

Awesome vid, good to see they're doing fine! What are you feeding them? Is that artemia? If so, you might consider another brand because they look really pale. Go foor the red ones. In Germany, we have artemia farms who collect and freeze them in themselves. They look like still alive.

Maybe I interpreted size of the fry to be small because they looked so very vulnerable after hatching. Right now my Apisto blue steel couple is steeling one or another but they might be big enough to not be anyones prey very soon. Havent seen Apistogramma fry that young because they all spent their first days in a coconut or some other cave. Now at night I noticed, the father is guarding above them. Also over the day, he has a huge share in taking care of the young.

Right now Im setting up a new 400L tank for my father in law, he will get the group of 4 cupidos that dont really fit in with the rest. A lot of work! Ill post the pictures.

Cheers Robert

[joemc]

Great video, I love to see other peoples fish tanks!! thanks for the update
it looks like the fish are really settling in and becoming a community, I see they are now heading upwards and not waiting for the food to hit the bottom, it looks like frozen mysis shrimp that is being fed?
Robert, on the size of the fry, in the greater scheme of things I think all fish fry are small! my youngest child was on his hands and knees the other night with a magnifying glass looking at fry in one of my small tanks and he said
'' to think something that small has a brain, heart and all those other organs, I wonder how small their scales are'' .........
it does make you appreciate nature and how amazing the living world is.

[everlast]

yes it is indeed frozen mysis shrimp ....next up is the rescape.......more shade...more territory
Cheers guys

Peter

[joemc]

looking forward to it Peter
Robert, how are the fry doing now, they must be filling out now, I would guess that you can see the florescence green/blue markings now on them
joe

[RobertCupido]

Sad news guys, somehow I poisoned almost all the fry

The morning some days ago they already were reduced to half of the 60, the remaining were either not moving or suddenly spiraling irradically in all directions and a welcome breakfast for the tankmates. Around 10 survived , I blamed it on the food but it was the same thing next morning with different diet (cyclops instead of decap Artemia). Now there are Only 2 left, I tried to save the victims from being eaten into another tank but most of them didn't make it.

Now I am still clueless what happened. I changed some of the filter media a while ago. Right before the accident I installed a powerhead with floss to clear the water.

Maybe I interrupted the biological filtration and the fry died because of h2s? No other losses in the tank.

It was a sad Christmas.

[joemc]

dam! that's disappointing, but chin up, there is no reason why the adults will not spawn again in the next 7 to 14 days, any time I saw a pair lose their fry or eggs for whatever reason I noticed they spawned again very soon after, feed them well and keep an eye on them, I will be surprised if you do not post again very soon with news of another spawn

[everlast]

Ah ...sorry to hear Robert...but yeah as Joe said they will be in about it very soon no doubt

I am still soaking a load of oak branches and have a load of oak leaves and other twigs etc ...all waiting for big rescape, been removing my vallis bit by bit so I wasnt removing everything in one go, dont want to affect water chem too much. Gonna make corners almost pitch black with patchy light in the front centre. Dont think I am going to bother with any plants in the new rescape......been gradually upgrading my filter media too over the last few months

Oh I have a little query guys, I have one of my larger more dominant fish who seems quite stressed at times , colouring is blotchy about 50% of the time and seems to be a little lethargic. When it jumps back into normal activity its colouring changes instantly back to normal and it seems fine, it is feeding fine and otherwise seems strong.
Could it be simply stress and fatigue due to territorial conquest?? (alleviated with my new rescape idea??)

Oh and happy new year guys:)

Peter

[joemc]

hi Peter,
if the fish is not showing signs of an injury, not feeding or excreting poorly coloured / formed stools I would not stress about its behaviour, cupido individulals will often settle down during daylight hours and take on that mottled colouring, it is nothing to worry about, they may look like they are ill but to my mind are only taking a break, in a sort of resting state, it is interesting to watch, individuals in a group may do this at any time of the day, looking at them reminds me of other cichlids when the lights in the tank go on, still in their resting 'sleeping' state. if you get what i am saying?
As cichlids go I think this species is special, the whole group intereraction is amazing to watch, the different posturing and posing in the group, the way they interact with each other, there seems to be a whole series of behaviours that the fish go through, males and females showing different behaviour in the way they interact with each other, and different again depending on the age or whether in spawning mode. It reminds me of the well documented behaviour of bearded dragons, the head bobbing, arm waving circling etc
joe

[everlast]

So I got lighting and aquascape changed up........did it gradual as I said, I also added some more sand as it was getting sparse in the corners and these little guys constantly dig around as we know .

I simply used insulation tape on inside shade of my light to completely alter the whole feel of the tank.......corners and very back of the tank are almost pitch black

Its looking a whole lot different , I just used the old beech branches as it was taking so long to waterlog the oak. I did however use some large oak leaves for litter and some twiggy oak brush that was growing out of huge dead oak tree I found. Im over the moon with it and the cupido seem to already be relishing the shade and playing around with the leafs......removing those two large boulders has freed up so much space for all of them.

.....Ill post photo tomorrow once it all settles down

Thanks for inspiration guys

[everlast]

There we go guys...there are some stones hidden in the back...might add a few more...the overall footprint is substantially bigger , more yellow coming out on fish already
Any pointers always appreciated guys

[everlast]

I may add more leaves...and some boiled extract from leafs....also might cut a little more light out from sides??

What you guys reckon??...........is the three stones in the back enough for any future spawning??

I have two batches of angel fry so when time comes i was gonna choose five of the best and let em go in as a little group of juvies ........if that doesnt work out Ill go with original idea of another "top level" fish such as hatchets or similar.

But ofc its all about the cupido ....if they are happy, Im happy.

[Iggy Newcastle]

Tank looks beautiful!

[joemc]

hi peter
that is a transformation, it looks fantastic, I'd guess you are staring into it endlessly !
I would not stress about adding more boulders, you can add more at any time down the line, chill out and enjoy that beautiful tank you have created but feel free to post a little video!