Laetacara sp. 'purple gold'

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

I picked up a pair of Laetacara sp. 'purple gold' at the local
club meeting yesterday. Sounded interesting. This is my first
dwarf acara (am I reight in assuming this is indeed a dwarf acara),
so any information would be helpful. The person who'd put them
up on the auction block told me they were peaceful. That all I was
able to get out of her before the next item came up and the
conversation broke off.

[Randall]

Dear Ghazanfar,

Yes, Laetacara species are generally peaceful South American dwarf cichlids.

For husbandry, a well planted and decorated tank with a fine substrate is advisable. Soft, acidic water at about 76 degrees is recommended. Heterospecifics should include only other smaller, peaceful fish. Laetacara species are monogamous, biparental open substrate spawners that respond well to small dithers.

Good luck with them.

Randall Kohn

[Cichlids1]

I currently have quite a few of these guys growing out. I've found, much like the L. dorsiger, the softer the better when it comes to the water. The pH didn't seem to have much of an impact on them, I've kept them in pH ranges from 7.5 to the low 6's. TDS/Conductivity seeemed to be the key.

As Randall mentioned, planted tanks are great for them. I've kept them with other rather laid back dwarfs like M. ramirezi, M. altispiniosa, A. borelli. They are rather timid, except when guarding eggs or fry. They are not shy, they seem to always be in the open but near some cover. If another fish starts to harass them, mine usually back off.

Tetras and pencilfish kept them entertained. A brief chase, or flare at them is about as much energy as they want to spend on them. Here is a picture of one of my females:

http://www.roundtownaquatics.com/images/laetacara_sp_purplegold.jpg

Good luck with them

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

Hehe. They spawned! I gots things spawning left and right. Too bad
they're in my community tank - laid a batch of 80 -100 eggs on
a price of driftwood. I don't think they'll be able to keep the fry
protected. I may siphon out a few to raise in a separate tank though.

[tjudy]

:)
Cool... I had that fish a long time ago. Came in as a contaminant in an order of I do not remember what. I do remember that their fry, like a lot of Leatacara, are very small. BBS might be too large for some of them. A well established planted tank will provide plenty of forage foods for the fry. I used to use 'barley bales' infusoria infusions with great success.

[laetacara1]

I'm curious. How does L. sp. "purple gold" look. Is it one of the smaller (dorsigera group) Laetacaras or is it one of the bigger ones (flavilabris group). How does it compare in coloration to common Laetacaras such as curviceps or dorsigera?

By now I'd imagine your fry are independent. How did the breeding experience go? How was the parents' broodcare?

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

On day 3 of the spawning, the parents decided that they
eggs were just too tasty and ate them all. They weren't
infertile eggs either. I didn't see a single one get any fungus.
Better luck next time around I guess.

[laetacara1]

On day 3 of the spawning, the parents decided that they
eggs were just too tasty and ate them all. They weren't
infertile eggs either. I didn't see a single one get any fungus.
Better luck next time around I guess.
That's too bad about the spawning. They'll probably get it right next time. Again, how do the adults look in their regular and spawning colors?

[Randall]

I'm curious. How does L. sp. "purple gold" look. Is it one of the smaller (dorsigera group) Laetacaras or is it one of the bigger ones (flavilabris group). How does it compare in coloration to common Laetacaras such as curviceps or dorsigera?

Dear Laetacara,

Hey, I like your name.

The "purple gold" smiling acara is a member of the smaller dorsigera group. There is a photo link posted by Ken on this thread.

All the best,

Randall Kohn

[laetacara1]

Dear Laetacara,

Hey, I like your name.

The "purple gold" smiling acara is a member of the smaller dorsigera group. There is a photo link posted by Ken on this thread.

All the best,

Randall Kohn

That's an attractive little fish. It looks very similar to L. sp. "buckelkopf".

[Randall]

Dear Laetacara1,

As far as I can tell, L. sp. "purple-gold" and L. sp. "buckelkopf" are the same fish. Should you have interest in working with them, their spawning coloration is amazing, and like other members of the genus, they are quite peaceful.

All the best,

Randall Kohn

[laetacara1]

Dear Laetacara1,

As far as I can tell, L. sp. "purple-gold" and L. sp. "buckelkopf" are the same fish. Should you have interest in working with them, their spawning coloration is amazing, and like other members of the genus, they are quite peaceful.

All the best,

Randall Kohn

The "buckelkopf" is certainly a fish we'll keep someday. We once saw them at a local store, where they were mis-labeled as "curviceps". Actually most of the dorsigers we've seen, including the ones we own, were labeled as "curviceps" in local stores.

We currently have two generations of dorsiger in our tanks (and we gave away some 3rd gen fish)--for details see the fish photos and story on my website, although there should be a write up coming out in one of the next two Apisto Gram issues. We have found L dorsiger to be exceptionally good parents and very smart fish. The one difference between our experiences and what we've read is the aggression level of these little guys. They are not the meek retiring, painfully shy fish that we so often read about. Ours have much bigger territorial requirements than the two apisto species we've kept (A. steindachneri--granted an exceptionally small pair, and A. pertensis) and are (no surprise) much nastier than the mellow Cleithracara maronii (well deserved reputation for mellowness). When we had diamond tetra dithers our dorsigers would erase one every now and then (why we switched to different dithers), even when not breeding. One also decided he liked killing, dismembering and eating otos. In non breeding times they have killed others of their species and recently took out my best A. steindachneri. The flip side of this is that they are much more outgoing than the average dwarf cichlids. They sort of have "big cichlid" personalities.

Anyhow, I am glad I stumbled across this forum. There's lots of good info here.

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

They're at it again!
http://www.aquaticscape.com/offsite/laetacara.jpg

[Randall]

Way to do Ghaz!

Would you mind if I submitted your excellent photo to the Apistogramma Study Group web site?

Thank you.

Randall Kohn

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

Go right ahead!
I hope they manage to do better this time around.

[laetacara1]

They're at it again!
http://www.aquaticscape.com/offsite/laetacara.jpg

Wow, you have a nice-looking pair! And that's a lot of eggs. Good luck. I'll bet they get it right this time.

[apistodave]

Here are mine in Spawning colors--I finally had to tie a knot in it:

http://216.136.200.194/auction/Mar/20033136989773177376362.jpg

[Randall]

Dear Dave,

Your fish are L. dorsigerus, aren't they?

Thanks!

Randall Kohn

[laetacara1]

Dear Dave,

Your fish are L. dorsigerus, aren't they?

Thanks!

Randall Kohn

They look like dorsigera to me, too. We currently have a pair guarding a ton of wrigglers and another pair preparing to spawn in another tank. Both sets of parents were born in our tanks.