Laetacara curviceps - how many

[hyunelan2]

I am making my first endeavor into Cichlids. I decided on the Laetacara curviceps for a 25g tank. I would like to get a pair. However, with it being impossible to distinguish males from females at a juvenile age, how many do I need to get to end up with a pair? They are available to me locally, at $5 each. Once they pair off, will the pair kill the others?

 

[Cichlid-Man]

4-6 would increase your chances of getting a pair a lot, and should be ok in the 25gal...at least until you can sex them. As for the killing, yes i've heard of extra Laetacara curviceps in the tank being killed once one pair is formed, but still living with some other species of cichlids. Just to many of the same species is my guess. While they are a pretty peacful fish, they are still a cichlid and do have the potential to get fussy. I've heard they are plant friendly too, can't say for sure though.

But a cool fish to start with, good choice. Its not one usually mentioned or even seen by most (unless its looked over). I wish we could get them locally.

 

[hyunelan2]

Hopefully they still have some tomorrow night when I go to get them. I went ALL over to all the local places + chain stores. I actually found these at Petsmart, of all places, for $5 each. They had about 12 in the tank.

My normally reliable LFS dealer didn't have much. I asked him what was up with that, and he said that everyone seems to be getting out of cichlids and switching to saltwater. 80% of his customer base is now on the saltwater side of things. Too bad. (SW is cool, but not something I'm ready for at this point in time).

 

[Limi310]

I wish we could get them locally.

They have some at Fintastic if you ever make it up this way Matt.
I had 1 for a while...it was a nice pretty fish....very peaceful. In looking at pics, I think mine was a female.
I read the females can get pretty nippy during spawing and that they pair up for life.

 

[hyunelan2]

From the research I've done, they pair for life, are plant friendly, don't dig up everythign, peaceful (except can be aggressive when eggs/fry in the tank), more tolerant to higher PHs and hardnesses than other SA Cichlids, don't need caves for spawning, and don't get too big. Pretty-much sounds perfect for an intro-to-cichlid-keeping fish.

 

[hyunelan2]

I picked up four of the Curvicep Cichlids (aka Flag Cichlid; Flag Acara; Smiling Acara). They had 6, but the price was up to $7 each, so I decided if I got 4, I'd have a decent chance at a pair without spending over $40 in fish. They're pretty sweet, and surprisingly active. I thought they'd be hiding a lot more for just bringing them home. They went to town when I put flakes in. They are already starting to show some stripes too, in the fish store they are plain yellowish - kinda look like a gold gourami. I'll try and post a picture later, but my awesome 5-year-old 2.1mp camera might not cut it for decent pics.

Here are some pics from my obsolete camera.

larger - left as link: http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h11/hyunelan2/adj1.jpg


Every time I go in the room to look at them, they are a different color or pattern. It's wierd, but really cool

Edit: I just watched one attack and devour a medium-sized snail that was crawling on driftwood. It was a quick flash, then an empty snail shell fell to the bottom of the tank. Finally - Snail control!

 

[straitjacket]

I purchased 3 from Petsmart as well. So far I have one definite male, one suspected male and one I can only hope is a female as it was the last at that location.
I've had the two larger for 3 weeks so far and in that time they've both grown .5" and quite a bit thicker. The last one I bought last week and is small, probably hasn't grown at all since the store got them in.
I've had L. dorsigera before and they do get quite aggressive with eachother but with plenty of room to hide you shouldn't be able of anyone killing anyone else before you can take preventative measures.
Hopefully these guys aren't much different. Treat them well and feed them plenty. They'll reward you threefold with gorgeous colors. My large male is already developing the nice blue sheen on his body, has gorgeous yellow color in all unpaired fins and a very beautiful purple and orange outline on the edge of the dorsal - at less than 1.5" body length. *BOUNCINGS

 

[Orion]

Thank you hyunelan!! I've been tring to think of these. A local petsmart has had these in for a while and I've been pondering picking some up, but I wasn't sure of their name.

So, a quick google search hasn't turned up much info, where's the good stuff at about these fish?

 

[straitjacket]

Have you checked The Krib?
Laetacara curviceps

A nice article by Pei Chang:
Tropical Resources - Encouraging Aquatic Excellence

Aquarticles:
Aequidens curviceps and Me, by Doug Williams

other:
Laetacara curviceps

 

[Orion]

hehe, thanks straitjacket

So how well do you think these would fair with a bit larger, around 4-5 inches TL, cichlids who for the most part aren't very aggressive? How about with smaller, like apisto's? From what I've read it's going to be more or less a trial and error with this. I think these might do well in my 75 gallon with my heros, as it would give the hero's some 'competition' and may help them in their breeding by being more attentive of the eggs and fry. This is, as long as they can hold their own at feeding time.

Either way I think they should be well worth a try. Knowing my luck, next time I'm up there to get some they won't have any even though last time I was there they had over 30. lol

 

[straitjacket]

They're feisty enough to do well with other larger, but peaceful cichlids like larger true Geophagus sp. and other acaras. They'd also be ok with apisto's as long as there were plenty of room for both, otherwise the curviceps might bully a smaller more timid apisto.
I'm keeping mine with larger keyholes and so far so good.

 

[hyunelan2]

Some new pictures. Not great, but the best I can do for now.

 

[straitjacket]

Looking VERY nice!

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Showing some nice colors, very cool!

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Saw these in my LFS today, i was surprised...might pick a few up in the future when i have a small tank setup.

 

[Orion]

Eh, I'm just a sucker for a cute face I guess. Just brought home 6 of these guys. Most around 1.5, but one big guy at just over 2 inches. First fish in my new 65 gallon. (no worries, I pulled the filter of another tank for this one, and this tank will have a smaller bio-load as of now)

 

[straitjacket]

Dwarf acaras own!

 

[Orion]

Major pwnage! lol

These have got to be some of the neatest SA's I've gotten in a long time. Funny how they actualy school togeather exploring the new suroundings. Of course I'm sure this will fade as they grow, but still neat to watch for now.

I've been able to stap a few pics, but not uploaded them yet to see how good they came out. I may post back with one or two shortly.

 

[FreshwaterJeff]

I'm insanely jealous.