For months I had been trying to locate the Taeniacara candidi. It is a Dwarf Cichlid, a close relative of the Apistogramma family. As a matter of fact, at one time it was known as Apistogramma Weisei. According to Hans-Joachim Richter in The Complete Book of Dward Cichlids (1989) it is found in the Upper Rio Negro region of Brazil. Well, after locating them two times on the internet and having the deals fall through, I was becoming quite frustrated.
Then much to my surprise I met someone in my local killie club that kept and successfully bred the fish. Can you believe it, a killie keeper branching out and keeping other species of fish? I arranged to purchase a pair for the quite reasonable price of $25.00. Not bad when you consider the reputed difficulty in breeding them.
I had it all set up, I was to pick up the fish on Monday. Much to my dismay Virginia had the one snowstorm they get a year on Sunday- and it dumped 15 inches on much of the state. I thought I was going to have to wait another week but it turned out that Monday was a bright sunny day. I spoke to my contact and he told me the weather was great, the snow was melting off the roads, and if I wanted I could come by and pick them up. Well, 7 years in New England had taught me how to drive in snow, so melting snow wasn’t going to stop me. With all the businesses closed for the day the driving was easy. A few hours later I had a nice pair of Taeniacara candidi.
The fish
The fish were small, the male approximately 5 cm. and the female approximately 3 cm., but they were both healthy. Their fins were in incredible condition, which says a lot for the original owner of the fish because he kept them in with others of the same species. Males have a tendency to fight and torn fins can be common from what I have seen.
According to my research the males will top out at 7 cm., so I knew the fish were still growing. It is easy to tell the males from the females. The males have a “spade” tail and much longer pectoral fins. There are 3 different color variations from what I can tell; Red, Blue and the more natural color. The fish I purchased were of the natural coloring but that does not mean that they are drab. The male I owned has an orangish tint to its fins but otherwise was light brown with a visibly dark lateral line. It has light blue spots on its tail. The female looks like many Apisto females, but also has the light blue spots on the tail.
Knowing I was going to eventually get this species I had set up my tank early and had it running for approximately 3 months without any fish in it. It was a 20 gallon long, filtered by two sponge filters. The water had been taken from my 55 gallon tank, in which all the water is filtered through peat moss. I placed a nice sized piece of driftwood on one side, presoaked oak leaves (so they would sink) on the other side. I also placed water sprite and duckweed in the tank to darken the tank. I don’t use a substrate in my cichlid tanks so there is often a glare. The oakleaves not only cut the glare but soften the water and provide hiding places for the fish. I had better mention the water source: I use 100% RO water in my 55 gallon. The hardness does not measure on my testing strip and my ph is under 5. I failed to mention above that these fish come from blackwater and while my fish were tankraised, they appeared to appreciate the conditions. I did not have any other fish in the tank.
The fish were fed exclusively on newly hatched brine shrimp. However, since I first obtained them I have mixed in a feeding or two of whiteworms weekly. They have refused to accept flake food, I guess they are spoiled.
Within 10 days I thought I did something drastically wrong. I could not find the female anywhere. However, after throwing a fit and almost taking the tank apart, I found the female. She was under one of the oakleaves guarding 23 eggs. She looked much like an apisto female, bright yellow with a horizontal black stripe. Unlike the literature I read, it took 6 days for the eggs to hatch and another 6 for the fry to be freeswimming. I counted 17 fry the first day they were freeswimming, so somehow a few did not make it. The fry immediately took newly hatched brine shrimp and ate the “gunk” on the bottom of the tank.
One month after hatching I only had 7 fry left. This is not due to the parents. The female alone looks after the fry but she was quite good at it, especially since this was her first spawn. Around this time I noticed the male was not doing well, he just was not eating. Within days he was dead.
For me, the fry are growing slowly. I am down to 4 but they are in great health. They are approximately 1 1/2 cm. but not sexable yet.
Some points to help keeping Taeniacara candidi
A few things I have found along the way that might help in keeping this fish.
– The female was the more aggressive sex. Even when not guarding a spawn she bullied the male. This is not consistent with this fish though, as others I have spoken to find the males much more aggressive.
– The fish prefer the side of the tank with the oakleaves.
– My fish did not like waterchanges. They would hang out at the bottom for a day after a waterchange. So now I just siphon up the dirt at the bottom of the tank and slowly add the water, which is 100% RO water.
– Artificial raising of the fry may be the way to go. I have had 3 subsequent spawns with the fry disappearing within 1 month of hatching.
I hope this will assist anyone trying to spawn this fish. I have found it to be a beautiful animal that is quite a challenge.
Sources:
Complete Book of Dwarf Cichlids, Hans-Joachim Richter (1989), Pgs 173-175.
Baensch Aquarium Atlas, Volume 3, Dr. Rudiger Riehl, Hans A. Baensch, (1996), Pg. 874.
Author: Rick Kraft, uit “The Daphnian”
Association: Boston Aquarium Society
Source: Aquarticles (No longer available)
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