Loaches Online Forum

Got these from Harold Slater the other day, two days after they arrived from the Czech Republic. These pics were taken less than an hour after they were in the tank. They settled right in.

Pelvicachromis taeniatus "Bandawouri"

Male





Female





Apistogramma agassizi "Fire Red"

Male





Female (she's tiny, but fiesty as hell!)





Got a beautiful pair of German Blue Rams too, but haven't got any half decent pics yet.

Martin.

Some more from tonight.











Martin.

Great looking fish Martin, excellent photography as usual. Are these fine specimens in your rivertank or another aquarium?

great fish and pic's Martin.

friends keep pushing me towards cichlids too, and they do have intensive personality (the cichlids ), so I wonder ... , but by no means they fit my collection though.

They look great! Can they be kept with Botias?

Rubix wrote:Great looking fish Martin, excellent photography as usual. Are these fine specimens in your rivertank or another aquarium?

No, they're in a 6-foot primarily South-American community tank. There is actually a River-Tank manifold in the tank, but it's run by small powerheads, not the 2 "Hot-rodded" Aquaclear 802's that powered it when it was my Clown-Loach tank.

Martin.

I'm afraid to ask, but, how many tanks do you have?

Gorgeous!!

I can't look any longer, or I'll be changing all my tanks to dwarf cichlid tanks!

Katy wrote:I'm afraid to ask, but, how many tanks do you have?

Just 3

Martin.

There may be some territorial disputes if there are too many bottom fish in a small tank with the dwarf Cichlids. Most of them will claim a small rock, or cave and defend the area around it. If the tank is too small there is not enough room for other bottom fish such as Cories, Loaches or other Cichlids.

In larger tanks they can be combined.

If you are breeding the Cichlids, though, I would not add Loaches, Cories or other cats. These fish are good at stealing the eggs, and the Cichlids are good at protecting the eggs. The other fish might get hurt, and eventually all the eggs will get eaten.

I would combine the Dwarf Cichlids with small Tetras, Barbs, Rasboras, Hatchets, Pencils, Honey Gouramis and similar fish. Research for optimum temperature and water parameters. Good algae eaters in a tank like this would be Otocinclus and their close relatives.

Those are beautiful!!
After having been to several Cichlid club meetings, I have always thought that if I had more room, I would try some of these species.

A cute duo.



Martin.

WOW!

as you can see, I'm starting to get the hang of this camera. Trouble with this 6-foot tank is it was badly scratched by a previous owner and that causes issues with focus and clarity at times.

One thing to consider is these fish are only about half an inch SL. It's not a dedicated macro lens either, so I'm quite happy with the results.

Martin.

Hey MArtin,
Who all is in that tank with the dwarfs? I would LOVE to have a pair someday and really like a number of the different dwarf cichlid types. I have read and researched a bit, but there is a bit of conflicting info out there. So often, the issue is in choosing appropriate tank mates so that no one ends up without eyes at the end of the day (I had a fish once, who ended up with the name "blindie". He actually did just fine, but I imagine he missed his eyes). Could a pair be housed with angels?
I did not even notice any scratches in that tank until you mentioned it...enthralled by the beautiful fish!
thanks, gg