rm
Passport
- Family
- Sth American Cichlids - dwarf
- Grows to
- 5 cm (2")
- Lives
- 5–10 years
- Temperament
- Peaceful
- Care
- Intermediate
- Swims
- On the bottom
- Keep
- One is fine
- Water
- 22–29 °C (72–84 °F)
PeruBrazil
Care requirements
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On record for Cockatoo Cichlid: adult size, lifespan, minimum tank, temperature, ph, hardness, minimum group, diet, care level, swim level, tank length.
A figure that is not on record is left out rather than guessed. One marked Suggested comes from keeping knowledge rather than a page.
- Minimum tank 76 L / 20.0 US gal
- pH 6–8
- Hardness 0–15 dGH
- Diet carnivore
- Tank length 60 cm minimum
Keeping notes
Wild-caught fish do best alone or with a few small dither fish, and never with another Apistogramma. Captive-bred ones are easier company.
Care notes written from general aquarium knowledge, not from the cited sources.
About
Cockatoo cichlids are named for the crest. The male carries the first few rays of his dorsal fin extended into a spiky comb that he raises when he displays, and combined with a huge patterned tail it makes him one of the most theatrical small fish you can keep.
They come in a range of bred colour forms — orange, red, "double red", "triple red" — which are all the same species selected for how much colour reaches the fins. The wild form is subtler and equally good.
They're among the easier Apistogramma. Tank-bred stock tolerates ordinary water rather than demanding the blackwater conditions the genus is known for, which makes this the sensible one to start with.
Tank setup
Set your cockatoos up as a harem: one male with several females. This is how they live, and it's the single most important thing about housing them — a lone pair means the female takes all of the male's attention, and two males in a small tank means one dies.
Give every female a cave. Coconut shells, small pots, rock crevices — each will claim one and defend a small area around it, and having more caves than females prevents most of the fighting.
Floor it with sand. They sift it constantly for food.
Break the tank into territories with wood, plants and leaf litter. Sightlines are what turn a harem into a war.
Keep the light low. Floating plants and tannin-stained water suit them.
Feeding
Cockatoo cichlids are micropredators that hunt small invertebrates in leaf litter and sand.
Feed live and frozen food as the mainstay: bloodworm, daphnia, brine shrimp, cyclops. They take good sinking pellets too, but a dried-only diet leaves them dull and often stops them breeding.
Feed on the bottom. They rarely come up for food.
Avoid: floating flake, and avoid expecting them to compete with fast mid-water fish at feeding time.
Filtration and flow
Gentle flow. They come from slow, shallow forest streams and backwaters.
A sponge filter suits them and won't harm fry, which matters because they will breed.
Keep the water clean and stable. Soft acidic water brings out the best colour, but tank-bred fish manage well in ordinary conditions provided nothing swings.
With plants
Cockatoo cichlids are safe with plants and won't eat them, though a female excavating near her cave will move sand and dislodge anything shallow-rooted.
Plant densely round the edges and leave open sand. Dense growth divides the floor, which is exactly what a harem needs.
Leaf litter is worth adding for the cover and for the micro-life the fry feed on.
Health
They're reasonably hardy, and most losses trace to aggression rather than illness.
Watch a female that has been driven out of her territory. In a tank with too few caves, she has nowhere to go and will decline steadily.
They're sensitive to nitrate. Regular water changes keep them in condition and keep them breeding.
Breeding
They're cave spawners, and the female does the work. She lays inside her cave, turns a brilliant yellow with black markings, and defends the entrance ferociously against everything including the male.
The male's role ends at fertilisation and he patrols the wider territory. That's why a harem works: one male can hold ground for several breeding females at once.
The female leads free-swimming fry out to forage and herds them back. They'll take baby brine shrimp and microworm almost immediately, and in a quiet tank a good proportion survive without any intervention.
Tank mates
Avoid10
- Convict Cichlid Convict Cichlid grows to 15 cm against Cockatoo Cichlid at 5 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Jewel Cichlid Jewel Cichlid grows to 15 cm against Cockatoo Cichlid at 5 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Least Killifish Cockatoo Cichlid grows to 5 cm against Least Killifish at 2 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Scarlet Badis Cockatoo Cichlid grows to 5 cm against Scarlet Badis at 2 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Common Goldfish Common Goldfish is not safe with Cockatoo Cichlid: common goldfish and sth american cichlids - dwarf are a bad pairing.
Only with care28
- Chinese Algae Eater Chinese Algae Eater is aggressive and Cockatoo Cichlid is peaceful.
- Amano Shrimp Cockatoo Cichlid is a risk to Amano Shrimp: shrimp and yabbies and sth american cichlids - dwarf are a pairing to watch.
- Bamboo Shrimp Cockatoo Cichlid is a risk to Bamboo Shrimp: shrimp and yabbies and sth american cichlids - dwarf are a pairing to watch.
- Blue Bolt Shrimp Cockatoo Cichlid is a risk to Blue Bolt Shrimp: shrimp and yabbies and sth american cichlids - dwarf are a pairing to watch.
- Blue Dream Shrimp Cockatoo Cichlid is a risk to Blue Dream Shrimp: shrimp and yabbies and sth american cichlids - dwarf are a pairing to watch.
No conflict is recorded with the other 68 species in the database, so nothing to flag. 2 species are not covered at all, so they could not be judged either way.