Laetacara Dorsigerus

[NinjaSmurf]

I'm restocking my 30g tank and Wills suggested these. I'm not finding much on them however. So far it seems the are bottom to mid dwellers, pretty community safe and smaller sized. However, not so sure on how they are while breeding (as I want them in with other fish) or if they are a hardier type. This last part is where I'm getting conflicting statements, some say they are more fragile and need frozen foods, other things saying they are hardy and accept commercial food just fine. Also finding that they can be shy, which I do not want. Not sure what to go on, so I was hoping to talk to anyone whose actually kept them.

Thanks.

 

[Wills]

Yeah They are one of my favs so I tend to suggest them quite a bit. When people say they are fragile it basically means they are quite timid so get stressed quite easily and so if people dont keep up with water changes they can drop of easily. However I think they will work particularly well in your tank as you are planning to have "dithers" by this I mean upper water fish like tetras or rasboras (in the wild it would be some kind of tetra). By having the activity in the upper water the laetacaras feel more comfortable in the fact there is no danger in the tank, but when there are no small fish present it is an indicator to them that there is danger around hence they start to hide, get stressed and become susceptible to disease or other stress related issues. Also using the schooling fish in this way will counter their shyness.

With regards food I would recommend a varied diet but they will forage the bottom for food as in the wild they will hang around in leaf litter and close to the edges or caves. I imagine it will depend on the blood line of the fish you get, the wild and F1s will prefer live or frozen live rather than flake but these along with curviceps are becoming more commercially bred now so they will just need decent flake and freeze dried food etc.

With breeding, they dont breed prolifically but they do form pairs. Though if you got 2 males or 2 females in that tank it wouldnt matter too much. On average the measured footprint they seem to need is around 8-10 inches. Even in spawning times I believe they would be subordinate to your angel as well.

Wills

 

[NinjaSmurf]

I'm still not sure, I was hoping for a more gregarious cichlid if I got one, and these don't quite sound like that, but I did get a chance to look at them at the store, and they all seemed very interested in me and flew up to the top of the tank when they thought I had food, so they maybe weren't so shy...


I hate being like this. I've just ended up getting so many fish where they seemed really cool at the store and online, and fit what I wanted to do, only to find I didn't actually like them when I had them. The con was the most disappointing, when it wasn't plastered to the inside of my driftwood it was eating the dithers and beating the BN up.

 

[Wills]

The only gregarious dwarfs Im aware of are Cupid cichlids and Guinacaras, both are kind of like dwarf eartheaters so sand is a must with these but a group of 3 or 4 could possibly be considered but not with the angel Im right in thinking this is a 2x2x1?

 

[NinjaSmurf]

2h 2l 1d. The angel isn't a must, just a thought. I'm really still quite undecided. I do have sand, so will have to check out those two.

 

[jacko32]

i have 4 apistogramma agassizi red 1male 3females in my 25g tank and there not shy at all and the colours are awsome

 

[NinjaSmurf]

Apistos would be awesome, but I don't have that sort of cash right now, quite frankly I've been out of a job for a while, the only reason I can get anything fish related is because of some wonderful people gave me a gift card for my fav lfs for Christmas.

 

[jacko32]

Apistos would be awesome, but I don't have that sort of cash right now, quite frankly I've been out of a job for a while, the only reason I can get anything fish related is because of some wonderful people gave me a gift card for my fav lfs for Christmas.

wow how much are apisto over there i wasnt aware they where anymore expensive than laetacara dorsigerus

 

[NinjaSmurf]

The only fish place I've found that even carries them around here (which is the one I have the card for) they're 20 dollars each, and on the rare times I get to go there I never see any.

 

[jacko32]

The only fish place I've found that even carries them around here (which is the one I have the card for) they're 20 dollars each, and on the rare times I get to go there I never see any.

wow i got 5 for less than that delivered aswell im glad i dont live there

 

[NinjaSmurf]

Well, I've decided I'm going to wait a little figure out the main fish, and am going to get a couple more guppies while I think.

I'm seriously considering trying the acaras, and I have asked a lfs about taking the fry, I might get some cash for babies as long as I don't overflow them, I'm set for that at least. So I guess my last question is how do you sex these guys? I know how with rams and cons, but not sure with these guys.

 

[jacko32]

Well, I've decided I'm going to wait a little figure out the main fish, and am going to get a couple more guppies while I think.

I'm seriously considering trying the acaras, and I have asked a lfs about taking the fry, I might get some cash for babies as long as I don't overflow them, I'm set for that at least. So I guess my last question is how do you sex these guys? I know how with rams and cons, but not sure with these guys.

Sexing
Males will have extended dorsal and anal fins. The females will display a dark patch with white dots at the base of their dorsal fin, this is not present in the males.

 

[NinjaSmurf]

Ok. Is there any good place for pictures? Sometimes it helps to see the difference, but if not I'll be standing in front of that fish tank for a while lol.

 

[jacko32]

Ok. Is there any good place for pictures? Sometimes it helps to see the difference, but if not I'll be standing in front of that fish tank for a while lol.

theres a few pics on google you could browse but i think it would depend how big they where in your lfs

 

[NinjaSmurf]

My link

This is the place that I would be getting them from, they have a pic of the different sexes, but I don't really see a whole lot of difference, especially with their fins shut. And these guys don't look like the ones they had.

My link

This is more like what they actually looked like at the store.