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jcali10 · Post by **jcali10** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 9:08 am

I can't seem to keep them alive. What's up with these fish.

Sonny Disposition · Post by **Sonny Disposition** » Wed Nov 05, 2008 3:57 pm

It's hard to say. They have few requirements and are fairly easy to keep.

My best guess, without knowing anything else about the conditions that you're keeping them under, is that your water is lacking in carbonate hardness. (Catonsville has fairly soft water, no?). They're from southern Florida, which basically sits atop a limestone deposit.

If you put a nylon bag of crushed coral in your filter box, and add a half teaspoon or so of disolved horticultural hydrated lime to the tank when you do water changes, they may fare better.

What kind of conditions are you keeping them under.

marge618 · Post by **marge618** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 11:50 am

Are these Mesonuata Insignis? (The Flag Cichlid from South America)

I have had a pair for awhile. They are about 3 inches long. Actually, I was worried about them as they seemed to just float together at the top of the tank. I feed NLS. I don't think I have ever actually seen them eat. I added plants, more rocks and no improvement. Next I gave them a floating plastic log with holes. They hovered next to it most of the time for over a week.

Last week they laid eggs on a driftwood log and later moved the eggs to the top of the sponge filter. Now I have wrigglers. Cute little specks with black eyes and wiry tales.

I am in Catonsville so my tap water should be the same as yours.

jcali10 · Post by **jcali10** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 12:33 pm

The ones I have are Jordanella floridae.

I think my tank water is a little bit on the soft side of 7.0. I haven't checked the pH just yet.

Cristy Keister · Post by **Cristy Keister** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 12:52 pm

I have been keeping them in very soft water for a couple of years. They even bred without permission. The biggest problem they have is getting enough algae to eat. It's got to be the right kind of hair algae. They also eat some flake food, but do much better with plenty of live algae.

DonkeyFish · Post by **DonkeyFish** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 2:08 pm

LOL... "bred without permission".....

Cristy Keister wrote:I have been keeping them in very soft water for a couple of years. They even bred without permission. The biggest problem they have is getting enough algae to eat. It's got to be the right kind of hair algae. They also eat some flake food, but do much better with plenty of live algae.

PadreJP · Post by **PadreJP** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 2:44 pm

Some years back when I had them, they absolutely loved chomping down on my black brush algae as well. I'd watch them grab a mouthful and then jerk to the side furiously to rip it off of whatever it was attached to. Pretty amazing fish.

I kept them in pH ~ 7.2, moderately hard water, and found them to be extremely hardy in those conditions. I also got some healthy stock, ordered directly from a place in Florida that specializes in native species.

jcali10 · Post by **jcali10** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 7:23 pm

Well there is a little string or staghorn algae on a big chunk of moss in my 50G, and I feed them flake food daily.

I had some BBA in my 20G, I removed most of it and I treated my java fern and anubias with a diluted bleach solution. The BBA turned grey and now its gone.

ddavila06 · Post by **ddavila06** » Thu Nov 06, 2008 11:37 pm

you want some hair algea? bring em' to my tank

wow, how can you guys tell the difference on sex? they sound pretty interesting

Cristy Keister · Post by **Cristy Keister** » Fri Nov 07, 2008 3:15 am

Easy to tell - the female has a black spot on the end of her dorsal fin. When they're old enough the male gets more colorful with red stripes.

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