Panda uaru

Uaru fernandezyepezi

Also known as Atabapo uaru, Fernandezyepezi uaru

FreshwaterFish

Panda uaru (Uaru fernandezyepezi) — The Wet Spot Tropical Fish · Used with permission

Care at a glance

Temperature: 75–82°F (24–28°C)
pH: 4.0–5.8
Adult size: 9.1 in (23 cm)
Minimum tank: 159 gal (600 L)
Temperament: Mostly peaceful
Social behavior: Social
Swim level: Middle
Difficulty: Difficult
Breeding: Medium
Rarity: Rare
Origin: Rio Atabapo, Orinoco basin
Family: Cichlidae

Overview

This is a demanding blackwater cichlid best kept as a group of five or more, much as you would keep discus, so that the fish feel secure and spread out mild social tension. It is a tall, deep-bodied swimmer that spends its time in the middle of the tank among wood and shade, and it is peaceful enough to share space with other calm, soft-water fish. Its diet leans heavily vegetable, so feed plenty of greens, spirulina foods, and blanched vegetables alongside some frozen bloodworm and brine shrimp. A group grows large and needs a big, stable tank of at least 600 liters with dim light and plenty of vertical cover.

In the wild

It lives only in the Rio Atabapo, a tea-black tributary of the Orinoco on the Venezuela and Colombia border, where the water is warm, extremely soft, and very acidic over sand and drowned wood. Recreate that with soft, tannin-stained water, a dark substrate, bogwood, leaf litter, and subdued lighting. Hold the temperature around 24 to 28 C and the pH low, roughly 4 to 5.8, and above all keep conditions stable, since this fish reacts badly to swings in chemistry.

Good to know

Uaru fernandezyepezi is a cichlid of the family Cichlidae reaching about 23 centimeters. Juveniles wear the bold black-and-white blotches that give the panda uaru its name, while adults change into a smoky, dark-masked pattern. It is an open substrate spawner, but breeding it in aquariums is rarely accomplished, and raising the fry to adulthood is harder still, so tank-bred fish stay uncommon.

Did you know

Like discus and its cousin the common uaru, its fry feed on a layer of mucus grazed from the parents' skin in their first days of life, so the young spend early childhood eating their meals directly off their mother and father.