Checkerboard cichlid

[Roach]

I've done a bit of reading on these guys lately and even picked some up for myself. Lost the first male after a few days of seemingly nothing wrong, and now have another that is intent on sweeping all the sand from front to back of tank as he flashes at that "other" male in his reflection.

After reading an article by Tjudy I found out about their ability to change sex where the next biggest female becomes male for the good of the colony. If a female is kept alone will she gradually become male as she is the only one in the "colony"???

Also, is it the same deal with the Macs??

 

[Apistomaster]

Dicrossus filamentosus

The photos showed them to be in good shape. Treat them like wild discus and they will thrive. Figure out how to grow out their fry and let us know how.
I have bred these off and on over 40 yrs and still have'nt found what really works. Their fry are so sensitive.

 

[Mike Wise]

The only checkerboard cichlid that has show sex change in scientific studies is Crenicara punctulatum. There are no scientific reports of a Dicrossus doing the same.

 

[Lisachromis]

Well, it appears that there are 4 males and possibly one female. Isn't that always the luck? I'll try and get some updated pics up.

 

[Apistomaster]

Lisa,
Your males shouls be fairly easy to trade in for more(female) at LFS as people tend to buy colorful males preferentially and for your group all you really need are females and one male.
Larry

 

[Lisachromis]

It's actually not that easy. They are not the easiest fish to find around here. Typically, when you do find them, they are male. I am keeping my eyes open though.

 

[apisto-nut]

where are you at ,I may be interested in a male and some females if you find some.

 

[Apistomaster]

Lisa,
Of course you are right. I made the same mistake I have chastised others for: Beware of the pitfalls of inductive reasoning, just because it's been my experience does'nt mean you will, too. In the PNW checkerboards are pretty easy to get if they don't wipe out at the LFS. I found nothing but females while visiting in Seattle and I had some shipped to me from another NW source and I have only 1 male and 5 females which works for him!
These are one of my favorite fish and also a great personal challenge. I had my first spawn when I was a teen and I'm almost 40 years older now. One of these days I'm going to raise 30 or so to maturity. They are right up there in terms of challanging your breeding skill with other blackwater fish, cardinals, wild pencils etc. The problem is keeping the larvae fed and kept clean at the same time. They breed fairly easily. Actually unless the spawn is in almost pure r/o water the eggs won't even hatch.

 

[Lisachromis]

Does anyone have a good pic of a female? I'd like to make sure it actually is a female. I'm mostly sure it is, but I'd like to be absolutely sure.

 

[Houndog]

Female


Male


If it's a male you will notice the tail fin extensions, roundish tail on female.

 

[Lisachromis]

Rounded tail yes, but does the tail have a hint of the lyre shape the males have?

 

[Mike Wise]

Females can have truncate (squared-off) tails, but never have extension on the caudal fin. If you find one with red ventrals then it is certainly a female (that has already spawned at some time).

 

[Lisachromis]

Then I'm fairly certain I have at one female in my batch of checkerboards.

 

[wasabi8888]

HI all


I have 3 checkboards.. Can someone tell me the difference between maculatus or filamentosus ? Any pics to show?

For male checkerboards, the tell tale sign is the tail?....

 

[Mike Wise]

On males the tail tells the tale (sorry, I couldn't help it:redface. Females are harder to separate. If you look at the central row of spots, they are more verically oriented on D. maculatus than on D. filamentosus. It is subtle, but easy to see when comparing the 2 together.

 

[Zapisto]

On males the tail tells the tale (sorry, I couldn't help it:redface. Females are harder to separate. If you look at the central row of spots, they are more verically oriented on D. maculatus than on D. filamentosus. It is subtle, but easy to see when comparing the 2 together.

and to add a bit more difficultie , younger the fish are , more difficult to make the difference.

maculatus is growing much larger than filamentosus.

 

[valice]

Issit normal for the filamentus of the D. filamentosus to break off?
One of my male's lyretail seems to break off for some reason which I am unsure off...

 

[Zapisto]

dont know if it is normal or not, but can happen.