Dicrossus maculata

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

Anyone with any experience with Dicrossus maculata? I picked
up a group of 6 juveniles a few weeks ago and have them in
a 10G with fine dark gravel, javamoss, oak leaves and driftwood.
Temp is 78F. KH out of the tap is 4, GH is 6 and pH is 7.2.
I'm attempting to get the water softer and more acidic by not doing
water changes. Driftwood and leaves have released tanins and I
may be adding a small bag of peat in there this week to help.
Fish are very active and eating like hogs. Feeding them blackworms
though I'm going to switch to frozen bloodworms this week.

Currently they're about 1" - 1.25". how much bigger are they
going to get?

 

[tjudy]

Nice fish...

You will be able to lower the pH a bit with the peat and leaves, but you will not effect the hardness very much. I suggest using RO with your tap about 50/50. That will bring the KH down to about 2, and then the pH will drop much more easily.

 

[apistodave]

Not too difficult to keep but if they spawn you will want to consider moving the parents and not the fry. I have some of the Rio Tapajos Cf andthey are pretty much the same except they are a white water CF

 

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

One store in the area has some Rio Tapajos but they want $30 a pop.

Thanks for the info everyone, I'll keep you guys posted.

 

[Neil]

Currently they're about 1" - 1.25". how much bigger are they
going to get?

You don't have juvs. You have sub-adults. They are pretty close to spawning size. They will grow another 1/2 inch or so.
The water requirements are not as difficult for this species as it is for filamentosa. I spawned them in 6.3pH, but the water was very soft (mostly RO).
At the size that you have now, can you sex them? If not you should be able to soon.

One store in the area has some Rio Tapajos but they want $30 a pop.

That is not a bad deal for Rio Tapajos. Especialy if they are sexable. It is a pretty rare and usually expensive fish.

Neil

 

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

Heres a pic I took of one of them...
http://www.aquaticscape.com/gallery/75G/maculatus.jpg

 

[Neil]

That is a probable male, but I wouldn't bet money on it. They are tough little buggers to sex until the male starts blossoming!
Neil