Ivanacara adoketa, the "zebra acara"

I came across Ivanacara adoketa a few years ago in my quest for unusual South American cichlids. They are a dwarf species from the Rio Negro in Brazil and were originally described as part of the genus Nannacara. For those of you who've been in the hobby for a long time, you'll probably remember Nannacara anomala, the golden-eyed dwarf cichlid (also just called the golden dwarf cichlid) that was fairly commonplace in the trade. You can definitely see the similarities in Nannacara and Ivanacara, but Ivanacara was given a separate genus because of things like scale counts, fry coloration, etc.

I tried my hand at these a few years ago and it was mostly disastrous. When my water crashed and I lost a huge percentage of my cichlids, these were the first to go. I decided to give them another try but I have been less than impressed with the results. These fish supposedly grow to 3.5 - 5" and I have seen pictures and videos of spectacular adults online. Mine are barely 2" and I've had them for maybe a year. A couple of them never grew at all from the day they got here. I've raised six of them in a dedicated 40 breeder with a bristlenose pleco. They get freeze-dried blackworms, frozen bloodworms, and micropellets as well as a weekly 90% water change. I'm stumped by the poor growth. In the wild these are blackwater fish and so I guess it's possible that they just don't grow out well in my harder water, but this would be the first instance of a soft water fish just not growing in harder water. I've heard other people grow them out in hard water and then soften it to spawn them, so I'm still left scratching my head.

At any rate, the fish have started to get their zebra stripes (for the first 10 months or so they're just a pale beige/brown color) so I decided to snap some pictures.

The interesting thing about these fish, at least to me, is that their movements and body shape are more betta-like. You'll notice how the larger male is sort of snaking his body into odd shapes in the pictures which seems like a very betta thing to do. After this batch is gone, I don't know that I'll feel compelled to work with this genus again. They are beautiful and interesting cichlids but after two disappointing experiences it might be time to chalk them up to a species that doesn't play well for me.

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j4...psgddginsg.jpg

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j4...ps7vpp3ksd.jpg

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j4...pshrroqrux.jpg

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j4...psarxjrpvf.jpg

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j4...psn6zkkhbd.jpg

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j4...ps6msk2wfn.jpg

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j4...psx2iwc6wm.jpg

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j4...psxyb3ckc1.jpg

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j4...psi4gyyuh2.jpg

I'd highly recommend typing Ivanacara adoketa into a Google Images search for a better idea of what this species can/should look like. You'll see why they're highly sought after in the SA hobby. Unfortunately they're rare, and so that makes them fairly pricey for such a small fish.

This video is NOT mine, but I wanted to share it for a better idea of what the fish looks like and how it behaves.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WczvynhsMyY

Very cool and beautiful, sorry they aren't growing for you.

I like these guys Ryan. If you decide to rehome give me a holler. :) Very cool behaviors.
Pat