Laetacara curviceps dwarf flag cichlid need info please

[Guppysnail]

I need some info and guidance from folks with first hand experience keeping these fish. I’ve read the internet stuff so I do not need that. 

I need behavioral/ compatibility in specific situations to determine what tank I will put him in that I will also be able to get him a girlfriend and breed him. That may require getting a larger group of 6 and growing them out to find a girl. 
 

Anything else you can share from experience that they don’t list on the net or YouTube would be fantastic!
 

THE STORY

He was ordered by my LFS as a group.  His siblings adopted out.  He has lived there fir 5-6 MONTHS. He showed no color and I guess no one really knew how beautiful he would be. His $18 price tag in a small local store with not a lot of traffic for cichlids was a deterrent as well. 
 

I stop to see him (I think it’s a him) each week when I go in. He comes right up front. I fell in love but had no plan of buying him. This week his fin edges were a touch tattered and it broke my heart so he came home with me. 🙄🤪 Can you say impulse buy 🤣

Here are my tank options

20L-80 degree- GBR boy, I’m growing out a new girl in another tank for him Since he killed the last one.  Plan Was to put in a hard acrylic divider when she is a bit bigger and wait until she is ready to mate and see if he bullies her (my fault I accidentally netted his mate and left the wrong girl in the tank) If he does bully her then the divider is permanent meaning new guy needs to live on one side or the other. 

20L-75 degree-large breeding group of panda corydora. This tank runs high nitrate consistently due to so many pandas. I don’t care if he eats the fry I’m not a breed for profit. Concern here is will they kill my pandas when I get him a mate and they breed?  
 

10g- temp optional BUT This is the tank I grow out my Apisto fry. I consistently have them as I have 2 girls that spawn monthly. I can move the Apisto fry to a 5g temporary but to grow them large enough to sex I can’t keep them there. (Anyone want to buy Apisto babies wholesale cheap 🤣)

 

Thanks for your help 🤗

 

Him at the store a week or two ago. Yes I adored him enough to photo him LOOK AT THAT SMILE 🤣

 

Him 10 minutes in his 5g QT tank. We just got home a bit ago. 

[Lennie]

Yesss finally you got the Dory!! 
 

On 7/26/2023 at 7:13 PM, Guppysnail said:

 

 

[Guppysnail]

On 7/26/2023 at 1:48 PM, Lennie said:

Yesss finally you got the Dory!! 
 

Yes. I finally broke down and brought him home. You know how much I adored him. I couldn’t leave him there any longer. 🥰

[anewbie]

They are nice fishes; but like all dwarf cicihld they are territorial if they pair up. Usually the female is the more aggressive and the male more passive but i'm not 100% sure for this species. I actually had Laetacara araguaiae; I had 4 - what i can say is they were very aggressive torwards competition (i.e, i ended up with 2 males and 2 females and the larger female hounded the smaller female; as well as the 'extra' male); so once sexed i wouldnt' keep more than a pair. I had them in a 40B; i did not notice any over aggression towards other fishes - or the other cichild (nannacara) i had in the aquarium but the anannacara was one smart dude and he knew the ins and out of avoiding conflict but establishing his presence (lovely fish with a ton of personality); i did not notice any special behavior of the Laetacara other than they were more aggressive to each others than expected and larger than expected - a good 1 to 1 1/2 inch larger than expected size.

[Guppysnail]

On 7/26/2023 at 2:47 PM, anewbie said:

nannacara

This has been on my someday list since I saw them in my friends tank. As a group of juveniles they acted like cichlid guppies 🤣. I’ll definitely hit you up for info if I ever get them. 
Thanks for the info. 
Question. I’ve now read they are cave spawners-substrate spawners and smooth rock spawners. Which is correct?  
 

@Elodie Rose just offered to take half the panda Cory so he will go in that tank. I put out feelers for folks local who may breed these so I can get him a girlfriend. 

[anewbie]

On 7/26/2023 at 1:51 PM, Guppysnail said:

This has been on my someday list since I saw them in my friends tank. In a group they acted like cichlid guppies 🤣. I’ll definitely hit you up for info if I ever get them. 
Thanks for the info. 
Question. I’ve now read they are cave spawners-substrate spawners and smooth rock spawners. Which is correct?  
 

@Elodie Rose just offered to take half the panda Cory so he will go in that tank. I put out feelers for folks local who may breed these so I can get him a girlfriend. 

I *think* they are substrate spawners but to be honest they will pick a suitable position; these rules are generalities - so i usually ignore them and just let the fishes pick where they want to spawn. 

[Guppysnail]

On 7/26/2023 at 2:56 PM, anewbie said:

I *think* they are substrate spawners but to be honest they will pick a suitable position; these rules are generalities - so i usually ignore them and just let the fishes pick where they want to spawn. 

I’ll give them options then. I have tons of rocks and caves. 

[anewbie]

Yea what i meant is that i had harems of a hongsloi before and had the females do completely opposite thing of each other before. Hum - my festum is mad.

[Guppysnail]

On 7/26/2023 at 3:03 PM, anewbie said:

Yea what i meant is that i had harems of a hongsloi before and had the females do completely opposite thing of each other before. Hum - my festum is mad.

I understand this so well. My Apisto cauc trio. The two moms are completely different in how they raise their babies. Like so different you would think they were different fish. 
One is on top of the fry always. The other hides hers and goes about her day and checks on them sporadically 

[TheBlueBeetle]

I love these fish. I have had up to 4 in my 125g community. I'm down to one now. (old age has whittled them down and I don't want to buy any smaller that my remaining one as they only ever bothered their on species. I have Bolivian rams and several apistos that occupy the same lower tank areas and the dwarf flags never clashed with them. I have much bigger an much smaller fish, never a squabble with the flags. As I said they only ever had squabbles with each other, but due to the tank size and how heavily it's planted ,nothing serious. I will get more eventually .

[Pruned Fingers]

On 7/26/2023 at 1:57 PM, Guppysnail said:

I’ll give them options then. I have tons of rocks and caves. 

 

I've spawned these many times they prefer to adhere eggs to a flat stones in most cases but you may get a pair that prefers wood, glass side or glass bottom

Spawning can turn a usually passive fish into a monster. Small tank size is going to exacerbate this bad behavior.

Breeding cichlids in a community tank can very disruptive 

75L gives the female a chance to avoid being roughed up if she's not ready to spawn.

I like to add a group of 4-6 small platys they give the Curviceps something to chase away and gives shy fish confidence

feed them well and avoid disturbing the tank it won't take long for dancing and egg laying 

you may or may not lose several broods to the parents before it clicks and they figure everything out.

As with most Cichlids when the eggs or fry get eaten by a parent there may be some fighting.

If successful you're going to have more Curviceps than you'll want so plan accordingly

[Guppysnail]

On 11/20/2023 at 1:25 AM, Pruned Fingers said:

 

I've spawned these many times they prefer to adhere eggs to a flat stones in most cases but you may get a pair that prefers wood, glass side or glass bottom

Spawning can turn a usually passive fish into a monster. Small tank size is going to exacerbate this bad behavior.

Breeding cichlids in a community tank can very disruptive 

75L gives the female a chance to avoid being roughed up if she's not ready to spawn.

I like to add a group of 4-6 small platys they give the Curviceps something to chase away and gives shy fish confidence

feed them well and avoid disturbing the tank it won't take long for dancing and egg laying 

you may or may not lose several broods to the parents before it clicks and they figure everything out.

As with most Cichlids when the eggs or fry get eaten by a parent there may be some fighting.

If successful you're going to have more Curviceps than you'll want so plan accordingly

They are doing well and spawned several times. Then promptly ate the eggs. They will figure it out. Most of my kids do. (This does not include my German blue rams who are the worlds worst parents and NEVER figure it out 🤣)
 

The girl came in with a bit of fin rot and a slight haze to her eyes. I thought I had her cleared up but not completely. I put an acrylic divider in the tank to work on clearing her up completely. He is a touch of a bully when she does not want his attention.  She is recovering again. 

They are so different from my L. dorsigera who are lovey dovey all the time.

On 11/20/2023 at 1:25 AM, Pruned Fingers said:

If successful you're going to have more Curviceps than you'll want so plan accordingly

I wholesale all my babies to a vendor who always wants more of everything I breed. Though your addition of a caution is appreciated. For folks who are first time breeders dwarf cichlid spawn numbers can be quite surprising. 
 

Current time out setup in 15g.