Cryptoheros Sp "honduran Red Point" - Now With Pics

[Wills]

Hi, just got back from an extremely good local fish shop I found through a recommendation on an other site that specializes in dwarf cichlids. On my first visit I got talking to the owner who is an extremely accomplished fish keeper in this area. I told him about our set up plans and he recommended me these fish.

Cryptoheros sp "honduran red point" - From what I have read I can not get an equal opinion on how they should be kept. As far as I know these are the true strain of the red points and are absolutely amazing in the store tank. The shop owner (who once again I can not praise highly enough - and believe me I have met all types of fish store owners to which I'm sure you can all relate) The shop owner recomended that I get 2 pairs for the 33 gallon 36 inch tank how ever I think I would prefer just one pair.

From my own reading and research - the true strain to which I believe these are they attain around 4 inches and the females stay much smaller. And they have a very good reputation of being very placid (often comparable to keyholes)

Main question is will one pair do well in my tank, ideally we want to keep some small plecs with them and preferably a school of some kind.

In the past I have kept and bred angels, rams and keyholes and these were in a general community

Please help me guys I have initially reserved 2 pairs but am fairly certain I will ring him in the morning to just have 1 pair on hold. But please I really appreciate all help.

 

[Davo86]

Hi, For any cichlid pair of this size you are looking at around 30G per pair with dithers, I would say both genders have the ability to get to 4-5", although if they start to breed then most of their energy will be transferred to this and therefore their growth will be limited

Personally I would go with 2 HRP, 7 Colombian Tetra and 2 Spotted Bulldog plecos.

HRPs are closely related to Convicts but generally lack the aggression except when breeding, IME they are a fair bit different to Keyholes but should still be fine housed with a shoal of hardy tetras or smaller barbs and bottom feeders

 

[Wills]

fantastic thankyou so much for the quick reply

We have been looking around for different types of plecs and we both like the starlight BN's would these be suitable?
Also for the dither fish can you think of any other suitable fish? Before we went to the shop today and fell in love with these we wanted platinum tetras (h.armstrongi) do you think these would be suitable in a larger school? I think no as they are quite small but I have heard people using cardinals and neons as dithers and these are quite similar so not sure?

 

[Davo86]

I'd say that the platinum tetras would be mincemeat to be honest, as would neons and cardinals,

The above three would be suitable dithers for rams, apistos and even keyholes but with any Cryptoheros species you are looking at the bigger somewhat more hardy species like Colombians, Buenos Aries, Larger Phantoms or Serpae tetras, or Gold, Tiger or black Ruby barbs, You could also go for Danios, but IMO these are highly active and would be better in a bigger tank, or Praecox Rainbows but again i'm not 100% how these would fair if the HRPs bred.

 

[Wills]

Do you think any of the other rainbows would fare well with them?
Getting quite interested in the black ruby barbs have been for a while and they are on the "if I ever got a tank again I would have..." but I don't actually think I have seen them around here for quite a while.

Also one last to ask about but I'm fairly certain it will be a no - but headstanders? Spotted or Striped/Marbled would these be any good as tank mates?

*quick edit - emperor tetra? tough enough quite large and rotund but not kept them before so not sure of hardyness

At the moment I'm just throwing ideas around so please dont take these ideas too seriously its a bit like me thinking out loud ^^''

 

[Davo86]

Do you think any of the other rainbows would fare well with them?
Getting quite interested in the black ruby barbs have been for a while and they are on the "if I ever got a tank again I would have..." but I don't actually think I have seen them around here for quite a while.

Also one last to ask about but I'm fairly certain it will be a no - but headstanders? Spotted or Striped/Marbled would these be any good as tank mates?

All of the other rainbow species i can think of would require a tank of at least 50-60G as they get 2-3 times bigger than the praecox

As for headstanders i do happen to have one 3spot in with my cichlids (sajica and ellioti which are similar sized and temperament) and find it to be quite aggressive and capable of standing up for itself. Marbled headstanders would be too big

 

[Wills]

Have to say thankyou very much for all the help tonight been fantastic

The headstanders I had in mind were the regular spotted ones - I used to have a trio in a 90g which could hold off angels didnt know if 2 would be good in this tank? Think we will go with some kind of phantom tetra for the school but this could change when I next go to an LFS because shoaling fish are never done justice on photos. Still quite like the emperor as well but still unsure what you think?

Thanks again
Wills

just found out they are now classed as Amatitlania siquia. - these are the true fish as opposed to the rumors of the cross bred convicts - though I have to say I do like the name EBCV for them (electric blue convicts) like EBJD

 

[Wills]

Just got them they are in the tank now had to get them today as this was the last reserve day. They are still floating atm but look to be doing well and want out of the bag.

Just noticed that the males dorsal fin has torn on the way home it was fine in the shop so a bit gutted/worried but hoping it will heal but will keep an eye on it. Is there anything I can do to help him apart from keeping water quality up?

will post pics tomorrow when i get the lights on

Thanks Wills

 

[Davo86]

Adding some melafix will help to repair the fins, but clean water will also do the job, (tank has been cycled i take it ?)

 

[Wills]

yeah its been done fishless have to admit ive added a little early so Im staying extra extra vigilant over the next 2-3 weeks. I got the double 00 on saturday/sunday - got a bit of a spike yesterday after I added plants and rocks but that settled down over night and had 2 good readings since but like I say I am keeping a strong eye on them im off uni atm so any issues and im on it. Will melafix bump the cycle at all? Thanks again mate. Ooo also how long should I leave the light off? They seem pretty settled now but dont want to stress them.

Oh and the other thing i am fighting here is a tap water of 40 Nitrate which I know sucks to the max but ive got a good whack of plants in there so hoping they will soak it up.

Wills

 

[Davo86]

melafix shouldn't effect the cycle,
lights can go on anytime really, tbh i don't even turn them off when i add fish as they then instantly become used to the lighting, and aren't eventually stressed when the light does come on, once they have become used to the dark.

plants should help with the high nitrate, be sure to ask in the plant section, which plants are faster growers which will use up the most nutrients,

 

[Wills]

In my previous tanks I used giant valis to combat this which kept nitrate at 15-20 but I will head over there thanks mate Also Ive got a Co2 kit in here with "easy grow plants" and good lights so hoping they will suck up quite a lot when they use the extra things available. Will pop lights on now have to admit I allways did in the past as well but thought I would stick to advice on the bag this time

Once again thankyou for the help

 

[Wills]

here they are

Male

Pair

female

pair

I am so happy with them and they seem to be doing great

*edit - theyve got their red bellys as well but not showing on photos

 

[AdAndrews]

they are beautiful mate, i was considering getting a new world pair to breed ina 30gal, but in the end decided against it

 

[Wills]

thanks male is getting a bit funny today so just put some coconut shells in for her and its kind of working but hes managed to burrow into one of them so far. -.-