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Thread: Dicrossus foirni, a recently-described checkerboard cichlid from Brazil

  1. #1
    Platinum Member Ryan's Avatar
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    Default Dicrossus foirni, a recently-described checkerboard cichlid from Brazil

    If you've seen any of my non-discus posts here, you know I'm always on the look-out for an uncommon South American cichlid. Checkerboard cichlids, most notably Dicrossus filamentosus and (less commonly) Dicrossus maculatus, have been staples in the dwarf cichlid trade for years. I've been keeping large South American cichlids exclusively for years, so I decided to branch out and set up a few small tanks for some dwarf cichlids. Initially I'd planned to get D. maculatus but I stumbled on F1 Dicrossus foirni by chance.

    D. foirni were only recently described in 2010. The fish are found in the Rio Negro drainage in Brazil. They are somewhat stockier than D. filamentosus which tend to be long and thin. Males have a beautiful, tall maroon/red dorsal with a white stripe. Their anal fin is often bright blue/purple and they have long, pale blue pelvic fins. The top half of the caudal fin is red with a white stripe much like the dorsal, while the lower half of the caudal fin tends to be a blueish color. The checkerboard pattern is noticeably different -- the checkers are actually comprised of smaller black dots, unlike D. maculatus and D. filamentosus which have solid black squares.

    For the official description of the species, check out the paper that was published in 2010: http://www.uni-muenster.de/imperia/m...0__123-138.pdf

    I originally purchased these fish in June 2012 as 3/4" juveniles. They are now between 2 - 3". Unfortunately, as with most dwarf cichlids, the sex ratio of the fry tends to be skewed by water parameters. Out of seven fish I've got six males and one unknown, although I'm thinking it's a runt male. I have contacted the seller and he's since lost his pair, and the other buyers who got fry all report that their fish are either males or too young to tell. If that's the case, it may be the end of the line for this rare little dwarf until someone imports a few.

    Here are the fish shortly after I purchased them in June 2012:












  2. #2
    Platinum Member Ryan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Dicrossus foirni, a recently-described checkerboard cichlid from Brazil

    Two months later I took a video. Not much had changed with the exception of a dominant male emerging. His growth had started to exceed the rest and his red dorsal started forming. I thought it meant I had one male and six females. If only that were the case.


  3. #3
    Platinum Member Ryan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Dicrossus foirni, a recently-described checkerboard cichlid from Brazil

    Fast forward to this week and you can see that the fish have grown considerably and slimmed down a bit. They went through quite a chunky phase as sub-adults and I was afraid I'd overfed them. Then over the course of a month they became more elongated. As you can see in these pictures, there's one small colorless fish. I have my fingers crossed that it's a lone female. If so, she should be showing red pelvic fins signifying sexual maturity any day. (The other little fish you see with the square, horse-faced mouth is Enigmatochromis lucanusi, an African dwarf similar to kribensis -- I have an F1 pair of growouts in this tank. They are named after Oliver Lucanus.)

    You'll notice I have one male with a predominantly blue dorsal instead of a red dorsal. I'm not sure why or how that happened but he's handsome.























    And since I can never get a good picture of them displaying/flaring at each other, here is a picture of their wild father from the seller:

    Last edited by Ryan; 03-25-2013 at 09:00 PM.

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    Registered Member joanstone's Avatar
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    Default Re: Dicrossus foirni, a recently-described checkerboard cichlid from Brazil

    I really, really like those, they're a type of fish that I would be intrigued with as well. Best of luck with them, definitely keep us posted.
    Joan

  5. #5
    Administrator and MVP Dec.2015 Second Hand Pat's Avatar
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    Default Re: Dicrossus foirni, a recently-described checkerboard cichlid from Brazil

    Crossing fingers on the lone maybe female and if he should be a she, well I really like these little guys
    Your discus are talking to you....are you listening


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    Registered Member John_Nicholson's Avatar
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    Default Re: Dicrossus foirni, a recently-described checkerboard cichlid from Brazil

    I have my fingers crossed for you....and for me. I would love some F1's from those guys.

    -john
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    Registered Member Trier20's Avatar
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    Default Re: Dicrossus foirni, a recently-described checkerboard cichlid from Brazil

    These little guys are pretty sweet! Good luck!!!!
    -Brandon
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    Default Re: Dicrossus foirni, a recently-described checkerboard cichlid from Brazil

    Cute little fish!

  9. #9
    Registered Member pauline's Avatar
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    Default Re: Dicrossus foirni, a recently-described checkerboard cichlid from Brazil

    Nice fish. I love "little" species.

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    Homesteader DiscusLoverJeff's Avatar
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    Default Re: Dicrossus foirni, a recently-described checkerboard cichlid from Brazil

    Very nice looking fish Paul. Good luck with them.
    DiscusLoverJeff

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    Default Re: Dicrossus foirni, a recently-described checkerboard cichlid from Brazil

    Ryan you have a nice little collection of some rare cichlids. Do you also have or you had inca cichlid (i wont even try to spell i)Tahuantinsuyoa macantzatza? I think you should do a thread with all your interesting cichlids and maybe a video of your fishroom.

  12. #12
    Platinum Member Ryan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Dicrossus foirni, a recently-described checkerboard cichlid from Brazil

    Quote Originally Posted by plecocicho View Post
    Ryan you have a nice little collection of some rare cichlids. Do you also have or you had inca cichlid (i wont even try to spell i)Tahuantinsuyoa macantzatza? I think you should do a thread with all your interesting cichlids and maybe a video of your fishroom.
    I've never tried the Inca Stone Fish. I see them on lists from time to time but I usually end up passing them over. All I know about them is that they're similar to Bujurquina in that they are an acara-type which mouthbroods. Now that I'm working with smaller fish and have sold off most of my severums I may have room for them in the future. Jeff Rapps has had an undescribed Bujurquina on his list for months that no one seems to be buying, and I'd gladly scoop those up if money weren't tight! The mouthbrooding fish are always a lot of fun to watch.

  13. #13
    Platinum Member Ryan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Dicrossus foirni, a recently-described checkerboard cichlid from Brazil

    Well, my luck with the first batch of Dicrossus foirni ran out. My initial group of fish all ended up male. The original breeder I got them from had what he thought was two females, so he shipped them to me. One was bloated out of the bag and died a few minutes after going into the tank, and the other lived a week or so and then also bloated and died. My guess is that it was something bacterial.

    Thankfully Mark at Discus Origins was able to secure a small number of wilds this year. I only had the funds for six so I'm sure I'll regret that later (I've read that even wild batches tend to be heavy on one sex or the other, but rarely equal ratios) but it's nice to have them back in the house again. They just arrived today but already they're eating and exploring.



    There are two very obvious males and four unknowns. Out of the unknowns, I do sense at least one more male because he's being very pushy and chasing everyone around already. I REALLY hope they don't all grow into males one by one like my F1 did.

  14. #14
    Registered Member Ardan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Dicrossus foirni, a recently-described checkerboard cichlid from Brazil

    Good luck with them Ryan! I hope you get some females. They sure are active

    Ardan

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    Registered Member rickztahone's Avatar
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    Default Re: Dicrossus foirni, a recently-described checkerboard cichlid from Brazil

    I missed this thread the first time around Ryan, but hope for more luck this time around

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