[AddMeONLeagueOfLegends]

I’ve sourced a pair of supposed Bimaculata.
i understand they’re extremely rare, this man said that he traveled to Guyana and captured the parents himself.

anyone aware of care requirements? Any special treatment? I understand they prefer very soft water but there’s not much info online

 

[AddMeONLeagueOfLegends]

 

[Aussieman57]

Found this info. Nice fish.

Ivanacara bimaculata

Genus: Ivanacara
Species: bimaculata
Group: Dwarf cichlids
Description: Eigenmann
Year: 1912
Previous scientific name: Nannacara bimaculata
Geographical area: South America
Type locality: Erukin, Guyana.
Distribution: The Potaro River and its vicinity in the Essequibo River area.
NCS Species description: David Rejdemyhr, 2015-01-03


Temp for water
24-29 ° C

Grows to 6 cm & 80 l tank

pH 4-7

Natural biotope
Occurs mainly stagnant water with a lot of plants. In the biotope you will also find many decaying plant parts such as leaves and branches.

Food
Eats small invertebrates that it finds in the bottom sediment. Also eats plant parts and other things it finds. In aquariums, it is unpretentious and eats most of the sinking such as pellets and flake feed. Feel free to feed with live food or frozen food from time to time.

Gender difference
The female is smaller than the male. The male has clearer colors and markings on the gill caps as well as longer anal and breast fins.

Aquarium environment
Prefers a well-decorated aquarium with many plants and other hiding places in the form of roots and stones. As it is cave-playing, it is favorable to provide it with a cave of some shape.

Behavior & play
The species is a substrate grape that prefers a cave as a playground. For lack of it, it also likes to play on a smooth part of a rock or root. The eggs, which can be up to 300, hatch after 2-3 days and the fry are free-swimming after another 8-10 days. In brood care, the female is also very aggressive towards the male and it is usually possible to raise fry even in an aquarium with many species.

 

[Auballagh]

Hmmmm....

i understand they’re extremely rare

Yep.
And so, like a few of us have done in these situations where there are few to none who have kept the species before... you should look into the natural habitat of these Cichlids. That is, where they were collected from. What are the aquatic conditions in Guyana in the Potaro River and nearby in the Essequibo River basin? And fortunately for you, you have an outstanding resource available in the man that collected the parents of the fish you are looking at purchasing.
Some things this guy should be able to provide you,

• PH of the water they were collected from. Current PH of the water they are are now in. Does he know if the PH of the aquatic environment varies due to seasonality changes in the geographic area? (Whitewater/High PH conditions during times of heavy rainfall followed by near blackwater conditions when things dry out?).
• Temperature. What was the water temp in the locality these Cichlids were collected from? Hot (78 degrees plus) or something else. And once again.. the water temp they are being kept in now.
• And how are these Cichlids spawning? Do the males act like 'rage machines', needing multiple females to spawn with to more safely spread aggression? Pair bonds? Is the female hyper-protective of the spawning site after fertilization? That is, in smaller tank will she potentially kill the male (or others of the same species) in protecting the eggs or free-swimming fry?

-
GREAT INFO put up by @Aussieman57!
These little guys look and sound like they are pretty amazing. You are getting something unique and potentially valuable ($$$). Ensuring success at the source will definitely help to reassure you at least, that you are on the right track. And definitely, having a plan going in to this thing, always helps.
Good luck!

 

[Aussieman57]

From what I read even the females are aggressive when spawning and will aggressively guard eggs that hatch in 2-3 days and fend off "most" interlopers in a community tank. Sound like an interesting species.

 

[Auballagh]

A bit like these little beasts?

Aggressive Female Checkerboard

hi all, new to the forum but not fish keeping, kept marine for many years and various planted tanks. about 4 months ago decided to venture into biotope and decided on a rio n egro black water scape in a 15g, 2 pieces of wood,lots of sticks, branches, botanicals, oak leave litter, substrate is...

www.cichlid-forum.com

People get these tiny little (Harmless?) Cichlids and place them in 10 gallon-sized (or even smaller) tanks. Then the females go on a rampage after spawning - and ALL the males die! (kinda like a Roberto Rodriguez movie?!!).
So, in attempting anything with a species that might behave anything in the aquarium like Checkerboard Cichlid females do? I would stock those in nothing smaller in size than a 20 gallon 'long' sized aquarium, with a 30" X 12" bottom footprint.

 

[Mazan]

Good luck, this will be very interesting if you really can get them.

 

[AddMeONLeagueOfLegends]

Thanks everyone. They have been shipped my direction, eager to give it a shot.
They’re going into a 125 gallon darkwater setup. I’ve got driftwood and a ton of almond leaves in there.
thank you for the suggested questions @Auballagh

 

[Mazan]

Thanks everyone. They have been shipped my direction, eager to give it a shot.
They’re going into a 125 gallon darkwater setup. I’ve got driftwood and a ton of almond leaves in there.
thank you for the suggested questions @Auballagh

Lucky you! The setup sounds great, keep us posted.....

 

[AddMeONLeagueOfLegends]

Lucky you! The setup sounds great, keep us posted.....

Thanks. The opportunity kind of fell into my lap and it’s something that may never come up again. they Will be my main priority in this aquarium so I’m hoping they will eventually breed so I can spread the love. They are both juvies so we shall see what becomes of it

 

[The Fish Lady]

View attachment 143064

Hi!😃😃
Omg! What a beautiful baby!!😃😃
What a blessing; ey?
I'd look on Google for this is what I'd do!😃

 

[AddMeONLeagueOfLegends]

Hi!😃😃
Omg! What a beautiful baby!!😃😃
What a blessing; ey?
I'd look on Google for this is what I'd do!😃

Thanks! I could only find the bare minimum on google, I was looking in case anyone has had the chance to work with them before. Here’s the 125 they’re going into. There are some angels and Cacatuoides but I’ll remove anything that becomes a problem for the newbies. I don’t foresee any issues though. May add some pottery but don’t want to detract from the natural look. I only used 1/4th of my almond leaves, may add twice this amount since there are shrimp in there too. I dont expect the shrimp to last forever

 

[smitty]

Thanks! I could only find the bare minimum on google, I was looking in case anyone has had the chance to work with them before. Here’s the 125 they’re going into. There are some angels and Cacatuoides but I’ll remove anything that becomes a problem for the newbies. I don’t foresee any issues though. May add some pottery but don’t want to detract from the natural look. I only used 1/4th of my almond leaves, may add twice this amount since there are shrimp in there too. I dont expect the shrimp to last forever
View attachment 143070
View attachment 143071

I love that tank.

 

[AddMeONLeagueOfLegends]

I love that tank.

Thank you! The apistos add a lot of character and the angels are like puppies. I’ve been enjoying it more than my reef tank lately, who knew!?

 

[The Fish Lady]

Thank you! The apistos add a lot of character and the angels are like puppies. I’ve been enjoying it more than my reef tank lately, who knew!?
View attachment 143072

Hi!😃
If you have Angels then the shrimp won't last long, you are correct, but it'll be nutritious for them though.
I love the tank!!! Omg! It's actually amazing, fish buddy; wow!!😃
I have 1 of our tanks with 5 Angelfish and 2 aquatic African Dwarf frogs and a tiny Black Kuhli that we're trying to get grown out so that he can be transferred to our Community tank right now. Hmmm....😃

 

[The Fish Lady]

 

[Mazan]

Thanks! I could only find the bare minimum on google, I was looking in case anyone has had the chance to work with them before. Here’s the 125 they’re going into. There are some angels and Cacatuoides but I’ll remove anything that becomes a problem for the newbies. I don’t foresee any issues though. May add some pottery but don’t want to detract from the natural look. I only used 1/4th of my almond leaves, may add twice this amount since there are shrimp in there too. I dont expect the shrimp to last forever
View attachment 143070


View attachment 143071

It looks good, and will be even better when the plants grow more. I would consider adding more wood to provide more structure at the higher parts of the tank. Make plenty of natural caves and crevices rather than adding pottery, and maybe add some floating plants?. Something like this one of mine that I would put Ivanacara in if I could get them...

On that subject, a while back my local fish shop owner told me he might be able to get Ivanacara bimaculata, and, like you, I tried to do some research on them and found very little, except that they are very rare in the hobby, come from a remote location in Guayana and are practically impossible to get unless someone goes there to collect them. At this point I became dubious and asked the guy again, he said they were coming from Indonesia! And conceded they might have been I. adoketa after all, but in any case it was too late to order them as they had sold out. All very strange! Here is the tank I would have put them in, and it normally has more leaf litter, need to get some more...

 

[The Fish Lady]

It looks good, and will be even better when the plants grow more. I would consider adding more wood to provide more structure at the higher parts of the tank. Make plenty of natural caves and crevices rather than adding pottery, and maybe add some floating plants?. Something like this one of mine that I would put Ivanacara in if I could get them...

On that subject, a while back my local fish shop owner told me he might be able to get Ivanacara bimaculata, and, like you, I tried to do some research on them and found very little, except that they are very rare in the hobby, come from a remote location in Guayana and are practically impossible to get unless someone goes there to collect them. At this point I became dubious and asked the guy again, he said they were coming from Indonesia! And conceded they might have been I. adoketa after all, but in any case it was too late to order them as they had sold out. All very strange! Here is the tank I would have put them in, and it normally has more leaf litter, need to get some more...

View attachment 143076

Hi!😃
Omg! Be still my heart! I love your aquarium! How awesome!😃 wow! You definitely have a flair for this hobby and I'm applauding you, our fish buddy!😃
Any type of babies would love living in this blessed habitat; wow!!😃 it takes me breath away!!😃😃😃😃😀

 

[AddMeONLeagueOfLegends]

Hi!😃
If you have Angels then the shrimp won't last long, you are correct, but it'll be nutritious for them though.
I love the tank!!! Omg! It's actually amazing, fish buddy; wow!!😃
I have 1 of our tanks with 5 Angelfish and 2 aquatic African Dwarf frogs and a tiny Black Kuhli that we're trying to get grown out so that he can be transferred to our Community tank right now. Hmmm....😃

i love your tank! I’m sure I’ll lose most of the shrimp but it’s for the good of the colony

It looks good, and will be even better when the plants grow more. I would consider adding more wood to provide more structure at the higher parts of the tank. Make plenty of natural caves and crevices rather than adding pottery, and maybe add some floating plants?. Something like this one of mine that I would put Ivanacara in if I could get them...

On that subject, a while back my local fish shop owner told me he might be able to get Ivanacara bimaculata, and, like you, I tried to do some research on them and found very little, except that they are very rare in the hobby, come from a remote location in Guayana and are practically impossible to get unless someone goes there to collect them. At this point I became dubious and asked the guy again, he said they were coming from Indonesia! And conceded they might have been I. adoketa after all, but in any case it was too late to order them as they had sold out. All very strange! Here is the tank I would have put them in, and it normally has more leaf litter, need to get some more...

View attachment 143076

Thank you for your feedback, I will definitely be looking to get mine looking more like yours. What do you keep in there? It looks like a slice off a riverbank!
I just added some water lettuce, hopefully that brings more natural vibes. I want to avoid pottery after seeing your example. Looks like I need some more wood! Does the decaying organic matter on your substrate affect your parameters? I’ve been wondering if itaffects our tanks like overfeeding, it was the main reason I held off on adding more almond leaves. It looks so nice and natural

 

[Mazan]

In that tank at the moment I just have some Copella and a few Otocinclus. I started with 6 Copella but now there are more than 20! I have been waiting for some interesting dwarf cichlids to become available, but here (in Ecuador, surprisingly maybe), they are very rarely available, just keeping my eyes open until something interesting turns up. I have other tanks with bigger cichlids.

Regarding the almond leaves and wood, I have never had a problem with them, even though I have soft water with low KH, the pH doesn't seem to drop below 6.6-6.8. Perhaps because I do regular weekly water changes (tap water is 6.8). Without the water changes maybe the pH would gradually decrease, but that would probably not be a problem for your fish.