Microgeophagus ramirezi Gold
The Microgeophagus ramirezi Gold is a strikingly beautiful dwarf cichlid. These fish live naturally in the Orinoco River basin in Venezuela and Colombia. The nature here is very diverse, with the river flowing through flooded plains and forests in the rainy season. Even beginners can keep fish.
Microgeophagus ramirezi Gold is bright yellow in colour. Fish in the reflected light glitters neon sparks, thanks to the blue and red speckles, which dot its entire body. Similar to the body, the tail and anal plumage are speckled. The male's dorsal plumage has elongated orange rays that are red at the tips. The eyeball has a ruby rim. The male's coloration is bright orange and the female's is lemon. In addition, the abdomen of mature females is pinkish-purple. Males are slightly larger than females and are about 6 cm long, while females do not exceed 5 cm.
Keep Microgeophagus ramirezi Gold can be in pairs or in groups with 2-3 females per male. Between the females quite often there are conflicts that end without any injuries. When keeping fish in a flock, very often the females begin to spawn at the same time, and the males immediately fertilize the eggs. In favourable conditions, the fish spawn twice a month.
For the content of fish is suitable aquarium volume per pair of fish - 80 liters. As a substrate is desirable to use coarse-grained river sand. At the bottom should be placed numerous shelters in the form of ceramic pots with holes in which they could freely swim fish, as well as snags and large stones. If the size of the aquarium allows, it is possible to settle other non-aggressive fish to the apistogramma. The Microgeophagus ramirezi Gold become territorial only during the spawning season. Do not keep these fish with small shrimps and snails, which can be additional food for them. Large snails and shrimps are exceptions. If you want spawning apistogramma in the same aquarium they permanently live in, the other fish species must be removed. Plants such as Fontinalis antipyretica, Cryptocoryne pygmaea, Anubias barteri var. nana `Gold` and others can be planted in the aquarium.
Water parameters: temperature 26-30° C, hardness dH 1-12°, pH 5,5-7,5. Need filtration and aeration of water, as well as its weekly replacement of 1/5 of fresh water. Do not introduce fish into an aquarium that has not yet established biological equilibrium.
The fish menu consists of a variety of live, frozen and dried foods. The fish are given cyclops, Artemia nauplii, Tubifeed, chironomid, pelleted and flake food. You should strive to fish menu was diverse, only in this case you can achieve their bright colours. Fish take food from the water surface as well as from the bottom.
Reproduction
Microgeophagus ramirezi Gold reaches sexual maturity at the age of 7-10 months.
It should be noted that young fish often eat their entire clutch, but do not be too upset about this, as an adult fish will be more responsible for their future spawn and fry will appear in your aquarium.
Female fish spawn on a smooth surface as which may be the surface of a leaf plant, a large flat rock or driftwood. Female lays eggs in batches, and the male immediately fertilizes it. The producers jointly take care of the clutch and the fry.
The eggs incubate for 48-72 hours. The hatched larvae are sedentary for the first 5 days and feed on substances from their yolk sacs. Later they begin to swim and feed. At this time they are offered infusoria, and after 3-4 days begin to give nauplii artemii.
The life expectancy of the Microgeophagus ramirezi Gold under aquarium conditions is about 3 years.
