Like to learn more about uarus

lordroad

lordroad

Large Fish
#1
Sep 2, 2004
989
7
0
43
Shelby, NC
www.joshday.com
#1
Thanks to Orion, Fishgeek, FWJeff, and The Fool for alerting me to these interesting and very unique fish. I discovered the uaru fish forum and posted the following and would like to post here as well...

I am in the end-stages of cycling a 180 gallon tank and am still thinking of what I'm going to stock.

My original idea was this:

1 oscar
1 EBJD (blue jack dempsey)
1 green severum
Possibly a blue acara
5-7 Firemouths (could be problematic here with aggression among them)

The only fish I have right now is the EBJD, which is in a 29 gallon. He's barely an inch right now too.

Other than keeping discus and angels, I'm new to big SA/CA cichlids. Several people have recommended uarus to me but informed me I'd have to mix up the stocking some.

I have a few questions...

One, can a uaru be kept solo? What I'm looking for is a centerpiece fish and the unique beauty of the uaru does it for me. I would change out the oscar for the uaru, though I've read some posts here where members have kept the two together successfully.

And two, are uarus really as "difficult" to keep as discus? I've read a lot about that, mainly on aquahobby, and I really, really want to keep this 180 gallon stocked with more easygoing fish and not have change the water twice a week like I do with my discus and angel.

I have soft tap water which fluctuates some, anywhere from 6.4-6.8 pH. Also I have terracotta pots and driftwood in the 180 gallon and will go for a blackwater setup. Filtration is a the biggest AC, an XP4, and an Emperor.

I'd rather not put any plastic plants in the tank as I'm going for a more open, raw look to this system (my other tanks are all full of plants).

Substrate is playsand, which I've used in the past for several tanks and had no problem. Could the light-colored sand be an issue with the uaru?

Right now the only fish definitively going into the 180 is my EBJD.

I know it will depend on his temperament, but is this just asking for trouble to begin with?

I would love to hear any advice, comments, or suggestions, especially if my ideas won't gel at all with uarus.

I am quite open to mixing up the stocking list and even having multiple uarus if need be, and/or keeping the oscar and not adding the rest, save for maybe a severum and the EBJD of course.

Finally, what's a ballpark figure of the cost of a small uaru from the LFS?
 

C

Cichlid-Man

MFT Staff
#2
Jul 9, 2003
8,866
14
38
38
Columbia, SC
www.youtube.com
#2
Well i'm no pro by any means so take m post with a grain of salt (i tend to stick to the african side of things as you know ;)).

-I've heard of people keeping single Uaru, yes so i don't see a problem with that.

There are many parallels between Uaru and Discus, hence their nickname "Poor man's discus". I'd say at least try and stick to weekly WCs, as they do like clean water and are HITH prone much like Oscars. They can be shy like discus as well. As hard as discus? Hmm not sure i'd go that far, but thats only my readings talking....i have no first hand experience with them personally. I don't think you will have much trouble having a Tap pH that low. The only thing that is questionable in my mind right now is the tank Temp. Uaru like it like discus, pretty warm....not sure if the other fish would like it that hot.

That sand is probably fine. And i've heard of Uaru acctually grazing on plants and driftwood.

As for price, no idea. Only 1 LFS here carried them and it burned down not to long ago. Guy from GA (Ken Davis) has them (where Fishgeek got hers i do believe) for about $8 each on Aquabid.

Maybe someone with a little more first hand experience can chime in.
 

T

TheFool

Large Fish
#3
Apr 19, 2006
323
2
0
#3
Info on Uaru is a little hard to come by, and I have never kept them - when I kept frsh they were not easy to get here, and I never bothered to special order, but now they are available quite often.
There was a 2 piece set of articles by Mary Bailey a couple years ago in the british mag practical fishkeeping covering here experiences with maintenance and breeding. I imagine it is on the website, or you could email her and she will send you a copy (maybe). She is a very experienced cichlid keeper, and her experiences seemed to match what I heard.
She had the feeling single uaru would NOT do well singly as they are very social. If kept single from a juvie it was possible, but non optimal, and separated adults just pined away.
Also I would not imagine uaru to be low maintenance, but neither are most of the more obscure SA cichlids like the rarer geophagines, discus, altums, biotodoma and whatever.
Also uaru are going to eat any plants you have (they are herbivores), but will still require some shelter.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.