The count in the name is literal: red and black patterning on two fin sets, the soft dorsal and the caudal. Add the anal fin and it is a triple red, add the ventrals and shops call it quad or super red. Males carry far more of the color, so a mixed group of juveniles looks like nothing much until the males mature. Buy males by photo, since the grade shows late.
In the wild
A trade line built by generations of selection, not a wild pattern. Seriously Fish lists double red among the ornamental line-bred forms of the species, alongside triple red, gold and orange flash. Wild fish are much plainer than any of them. No single breeder is credited with fixing the double red, and nothing matching it has been found in the wild.
Good to know
The grade is a coverage measure rather than a named gene, and the forum answer is that there is no official set of characteristics, so it depends on the seller. Spawns give a range: a super or quad red pair still throws double and triple reds, which is why breeders keep picking the best colored parents. Males carry most of the color and grow the extended dorsal rays as they mature, though good females of the red forms show the same fin colors to a lesser degree.
Did you know
Grading is done by counting fins, not by judging shade. A dark, heavily marked fish with only two patterned fin sets is still a double red. A paler fish with three patterned fin sets is a triple.
Weekly picks
Tank mates
Double red cockatoo cichlid is a mostly peaceful, social species that keeps to the middle. These picks share a community profile with it, are safe together in both directions, and overlap on water type, temperature and pH.
Is a Double red cockatoo cichlid a different species from the Cockatoo cichlid?
No. A Double red cockatoo cichlid is a variety of the Cockatoo cichlid, Apistogramma cacatuoides, and it wants the same tank, water and food as the species.
What size tank does a Double red cockatoo cichlid need?
A Double red cockatoo cichlid needs at least 18 gal (70 L). It spends most of its time in the middle.
How big does a Double red cockatoo cichlid get?
An adult Double red cockatoo cichlid reaches about 3 in (7.5 cm).
3 in (7.5 cm)20 gal (75 L)72–84°F (22–29°C)
3.3 in (8.5 cm)18 gal (70 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)
2.6 in (6.5 cm)18 gal (70 L)68–79°F (20–26°C)
2.2 in (5.5 cm)20 gal (75 L)68–77°F (20–25°C)
3 in (7.5 cm)20 gal (75 L)75–84°F (24–29°C)
3 in (7.5 cm)20 gal (75 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)