Apistogramma alacrina
Apistogramma alacrina naturally inhabits in South America: the Orteguaza River and the upper Orinoco River.
Males of Apistogramma alacrina have light gray coloration with dark blurred transverse stripes on the body. Also on body there are bluish tints. The gills are blue and the head is yellow. The dorsal and caudal fins are colored yellow. The dorsal fin has a black edging. Part of the head and back is also painted yellow. The females are yellow-gray, and in the pre-spawning period their coloration becomes yellow with a longitudinal stripe consisting of black spots. In general, males are much more colorful than females. In addition, their dorsal and anal fins are pointed at the ends. Adult males reach a size of 7 m and females 5 cm.
Apistogramma alacrina in general non-aggressive fish, some signs of aggression they show in the spawning period, as well as against the dwarf cichlids and other apistogramma species - with other fish they live very peacefully.
Water parameters: temperature 25-27° C, hardness dH 0-14°, pH 6,0-7,0. Requires filtration, aeration and weekly replacement of about 1/3 of the aquarium water with fresh. Pisces are very sensitive to water quality and in the case of its pollution with organics, they become shy, poorly fed and lie at the bottom.
At the bottom of the aquarium should be placed snags, ceramic pots, put on their sides, the shells of coconuts. It should be borne in mind that each female needs to provide her own shelter.
In the aquarium, the fish are fed live Tubifex and bloodworms, which should make up the bulk of their menu. Also, the fish do not refuse a variety of dry food in the form of flakes and pellets. The fish should be fed once or twice a day.
Reproduction
Apistogramma alacrina spawning like other apistogramma species - in any shelter. Spawning is stimulated by abundant feeding, live and frozen food. Sometimes a slight change in water cooler provokes faster spawning females. Females during the spawning period fiercely guard the entrance to the shelter from all fish that swim by. After the emergence of fry, she takes care of them in every way possible. To save the stock of fry, and the female felt more relaxed, it is desirable, together with the fry to transfer to another aquarium. If this is problematic, in any case, the aquarium should be removed from the male, otherwise the female may beat him to death.
When growing fry preferably in a tank with them to add leaves of beech or oak, among which will develop microorganisms, which in turn will be a good food for the fry in the first few weeks of their lives. As soon as the fry grow a little bit they begin to be fed artemia, live daphnia, and as the growth translate to small littleneck.
Life expectancy Apistogramma alacrina in aquarium conditions is about 6-8 years.
