Amazon sail-fin dwarf cichlid

Apistogramma pertensis

Also known as Sailfin apisto

FreshwaterFish

Care at a glance

Temperature: 77–84°F (25–29°C)
pH: 4.8–6.5
Adult size: 2 in (5 cm)
Minimum tank: 15 gal (55 L)
Temperament: Peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Bottom
Difficulty: Medium
Breeding: Hard
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Lower Rio Negro and Amazon mainstem margins from Manacapuru to Monte Alegre, Brazil
Family: Cichlidae

Overview

One of the gentlest apistos: males threaten with fins, not teeth, so it suits a peaceful soft-water community of 55 liters or more with tiny tetras or pencilfish. Feed small frozen and live foods with fine granules. Spawning is cave-standard but egg development wants truly soft acidic water. Several males can even share a larger tank, displaying at each other across the sand.

In the wild

Apistogramma pertensis lives along sandy litter banks of the lower Rio Negro and the Amazon mainstem lakes, in warm, soft, tannin-stained shallows. It is a slender sand dweller that drifts over open bottom between leaf piles. Keep it on fine sand with scattered litter at 25 to 29 degrees Celsius, pH 4.8 to 6.5.

Good to know

Described by Haseman back in 1911, this is one of the longest-known apistos. It reaches about 5 centimeters, and males raise a tall smoke-and-silver dorsal that gave the species its sailfin nickname. The pertensis group built around it holds the genus's slim, high-finned sand specialists.

Did you know

Where most apisto males settle arguments with mouth-wrestling, pertensis males mostly fence with their sail fins and call it a day.

Tank mates

Amazon sail-fin dwarf cichlid is a peaceful, social species that keeps to the bottom. These picks match on water type, temperature, pH, size and temperament.