Hongsloi dwarf cichlid

Care at a glance

Overview

A single male with one or two females fits a 75 liter tank at 23 to 29 C and pH 5.5 to 7.0. Provide caves, leaf litter, and planted cover to break up sight lines. Feed small live and frozen foods, since these slow feeders lose out to fast tankmates. They are mostly peaceful outside of spawning, when the female guards her cave.

In the wild

Apistogramma hongsloi comes from the Rio Vichada and middle Rio Meta in Colombia and the middle Orinoco in Venezuela. It lives in still, shallow water thick with leaf litter and fallen branches. Wild water is soft, acidic, and stained brown with tannins. Tank-bred fish are more forgiving of harder water.

Good to know

This dwarf cichlid was described by Kullander in 1979 and carries the aquarium code A110. Males reach about 8 cm and show red flanks and stripes with extended fins, while females stay near 4.5 cm. Line-bred color strains such as super red are common in the trade.

Did you know

A male will hold a harem, defending a territory that contains several smaller female breeding caves.

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