In most cases, people purchase home aquariums to observe the life and habits of underwater inhabitants, to relax after a hard day by contemplating the smooth movements of fish. Therefore, it is unlikely that someone will want to get a dull, uninteresting inhabitant, merging in color with the ground or the scenery. Most choose bright and beautiful pets, which include the cockatoo apistogram.
Description
The cockatoo apistogram is a small (5–10 cm) colorful fish belonging to the cichlidae family. It looks like this:
- eyes are large, expressive;
- lips are large, clearly defined, when grasping food or catching prey, cockatoos pull them forward with a “tube”;
- the color of the body of the fish can be very diverse: silver, pink-pearl, with a yellow-orange tint;
- a dark strip runs along the side;
- fins are painted in red, orange and even blue, are full of spots and stripes;
- in males, the dorsal fin in front is adorned with long beams resembling the crest of a cockatoo parrot.
Important! The female differs from the male in the absence of a "crest" and a more modest color, as well as in size - it is almost half the size.
Kinds
Selection does not stand still, so the cockatoo apistogram has not remained aloof. By breeding artificial varieties, the following colors were obtained, giving the fish names:
- apistogram cockatoo dawn (sunset);
- solar flare (sunburst);
- double red (double red);
- triple red (triple red);
- golden (gold);
- white gold (white gold);
- orange flash (orange flash);
- albino (albino).
How to contain?
In order for your cockatoo fish to live happily ever after, you need to follow the recommendations for caring for them. Let's consider them in order.
Habitat
Cockatoo cichlids are most fond of water that contains a large amount of dissolved oxygen. But various nitrogen compounds can harm fish. Therefore, it is recommended to use a filter without fail, preferably an external one. It is desirable to maintain the acidity of water at a level of 6–7.8 pH, and hardness - 5–19 dGH.
The temperature must be kept between +23 and +27 degrees Celsius. A cockatoo can suffer a temporary decrease in performance to + 14– + 16 and an increase to +34 degrees. Aquarium professionals advise changing the water temperature depending on the season, slightly lowering it in winter.
In this way, you can strengthen the immunity of apistograms.
Choosing the right aquarium
Since group maintenance is recommended (from 4 individuals: 1 male and 3 females), the minimum tank parameters should be 60x30x30 cm, volume - 50 liters. The more you get individuals, the more you choose and capacity.
By the way, the small size of the aquarium can lead to conflicts due to the division of the territory, especially if there are 2 males in your flock of apistograms.
Aquarium arrangement
The cockatoo apistogram feels great surrounded by a large number of plants. Be sure to pay attention to decorating the bottom: lay down driftwood there, various pebbles, build grottoes from coconuts or broken clay pottery - the female apistograms love to hide there. And also lay on the ground oak leaves, previously dried and soaked so that they do not float to the surface. By the way, coarse sand is preferred as soil. As far as lighting is concerned, the best is dim diffused light, in which cockatoos will look especially bright.
Feeding
Like other cichlids, the cockatoo apistogram is a predator. She especially loves benthic crustaceans, worms, plankton, bloodworms, and tubule. However, it is not always possible to get high-quality live food, and there can be difficulties with its storage, so train your cockatoo fish in frozen food. They are not inferior to fresh ones in nutrition, but they are much more convenient to store and use. Make sure that the composition of the selected food has a high protein content and that its particles drown, as the apistogram of cockatoos prefers to catch them in water rather than to collect from the surface.
Possible diseases
Cockatoo cichlid is characterized by strong immunity and resistance to disease, and is also famous for its ability to quickly recover after a disease. Perhaps the most common disease of a cockatoo apistogram is columnariosis or an oral fungus. Its sign is the appearance of whitish cotton-like formations.
To cure fish from columnariosis, it is recommended to use baths with phenoxyethanol (up to 6 times).
Compatible with other fish
The cockatoo apistogram, although a cichlid, is not as aggressive as the other varieties, and by temperament it is a clear phlegmatic. The best "neighbors" in the aquarium will be fishes, similar in size and character: tetras, barbs, angelfish, catfish corridors, ancistruses, laliuses, haracinovye. You can contain a cockatoo in conjunction with live-bearers: Molly, Swordsmen, Pecilia. A guppy apistogram can perceive any “small fry” such as zebrafish, so this tandem is undesirable. And also it’s not worth risking and settling a cockatoo along with aggressors like discus, turquoise acara, and Severum tsikhlazoma. But such cichlids, like the Princess of Burundi, the handsome chromis and the apistogram agassitsa, will gladly settle with the cockatoo and will not fight with it.
Subtleties of breeding
Sexual dimorphism in the cockatoo apistogram is rather weak, but one can distinguish a female from a male by fins.As mentioned above, the “crest” is more pronounced in “men” on the dorsal fin, and on the caudal there are long “braids” that are absent in “women”. The sizes of individuals also differ: a female in aquarium conditions can grow up to a maximum of 5 cm, while a male - all 10 cm. Fish become sexually mature at about 9–11 months. When forming the flock, it is important to take into account that up to 5 females should be per male. Cockatoo apistograms pair up and start mating games.
Before spawning, the female begins to zealously guard the selected area of the underwater world, chasing away all her “girlfriends”, but not the male. When the time comes, the cockatoo apistogram forms a masonry consisting of approximately 80 eggs. She does this in a secluded place on a flat surface (it could even be the wall of the aquarium). The female takes care of the masonry, the male carries security services nearby. In order for the masonry to be as fruitful as possible, it is recommended to increase the softness of the water, as well as its temperature - up to +29 degrees Celsius. The medium must be acidic. After 4–5 days, the eggs hatch, and larvae appear. A little later, they turn into fry and begin to move freely around the aquarium.
In order for young growth to grow and develop successfully, it is very important to maintain a stable state of the surrounding aquatic environment during the first three weeks of life. Small cockatoo apistograms grow quite quickly. You can start feeding them with microscopic worms, live dust, artemia nauplii, and also feed boiled yolks of chicken eggs. Like any other living creature, the cockatoo apistogram needs care, proper nutrition and proper conditions. You must understand that you have assumed responsibility for the whole mini-ecosystem by acquiring an aquarium. If you do everything right and on time, the cockatoo apistogram can please you with its bright appearance and interesting behavior up to 5 years.
You can find out how to keep and breed fish Apistogram cockatoo from the video below.
