Two-stripe dwarf cichlid

Care at a glance

Overview

The two-stripe dwarf cichlid is a small, mostly peaceful Apistogramma for a shaded, soft-water community tank. It is a good choice once you have a little experience.

Caring for the two-stripe dwarf cichlid

Keep a harem of one male with two or three females in at least 20 gal (75 L). Each female needs a cave and a patch of territory, so set up dense cover with caves, coconut shells, leaf litter and plants. Keep the cover broken up so the females hold separate territories out of each other's view, to reduce conflict. A sandy floor and subdued lighting help this shy fish settle and show its colors.

Use soft water at 72 to 84°F (22 to 29°C) and a pH of 5.0 to 6.5. Botanicals and driftwood acidify the water and tint it. Feed small live and frozen foods such as brine shrimp, daphnia and cyclops.

The two-stripe dwarf cichlid is generally calm in a community. A female defending eggs or fry turns bold, though, and will chase off far larger fish near her cave. Choose small, gentle upper-water tank mates such as pencilfish and small tetras, which act as dithers and help the cichlids relax.

Males are colorful and develop a lyre-shaped tail and long fins, while females stay smaller. It is a cave spawner, and the female lays her eggs on the roof of a small cave. She guards the fry alone, while the male defends the territory around his harem. Breeding is hard, because the eggs need soft, acidic water to develop.

Good to know

Apistogramma bitaeniata is a dwarf member of the cichlid family, Cichlidae. It occurs in many regional color forms across the Amazon, so males from different rivers can look very different from one another.

In the wild

The two-stripe dwarf cichlid lives in the western Amazon through Peru, Colombia and Brazil. It is found in shaded forest streams and pools of warm, very soft, acidic blackwater. The water is stained dark with tannins and carries little dissolved mineral content.

Common questions

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