curviceps

Question
hi, my name is nick.

i saw this cool looking fish at petsmart yesterday. it was called a curviceps cichlid.

can you please offer me some info on it? i would like to set up an environment just for them.

would it be good in a 10 gallon tank? im pretty sure i can get an empty 10 gallon tank from my mom.

thanks, any help is appreciated

nick

Answer
Hi Nick,

This is a neat fish! It goes by a few common names, which can be confusing. Dwarf flag cichlid, flag acara, and curviceps cichlid all refer to this fish. Aequidens curviceps, Acara curviceps, as well as Laetacara curviceps, are scientific names that refer to this fish.

I don't believe you would be too successful keeping these fish in a 10 gallon tank. A mated pair, maybe, but if you are buying them from Petsmart, there is probably not a pair formed. You would have to buy a group of them, and it would be hard to keep up water quality. They are sensitive to nitrate (just like most dwarf cichlids) and need frequent water changes or heavy planting to keep nitrate very low. Unless you had a well-established 10 gallon planted tank, I would not consider keeping this fish in such a small volume. Try 15-20 gallons instead, it will be much easier - and the fish might even spawn for you!

Here are a few websites that talk about this cichlid:
http://www.cichlidforums.com/showthread.php?t=26949
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?id=127
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_curviceps.php
http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/breeding/Williams_Aequidens_curviceps.html
Do a Google search using all of those names for more info.

These fish are best suited to the Amazonian small tank - similar setup to what you might keep blue or Bolivian rams in, except these fish don't need too much heat. They are fine with a more moderate temperature of 75-78 degrees, you can keep them as low as 72 F.

If you used something like blackwater extract or Indian almond leaves to make the water tannic, this fish would probably appreciate it! Most important thing to remember is ammonia and nitrites must be 0 ppm and nitrates must be kept under 20 ppm. Weekly water changes of 50% in a 15 gallon tank would be essential, at least in my opinion.  

If I didn't have rock hard well water, I might give this lovely fish a try myself! Let me know if you have any further questions.

I hope that helps, take care.
Nicole