Neetroplus Nematopus

[stiker]

This is a speices of Central American cichlid that I very rarely see get posted about on monsterfish keepers and even other forums.

I acquired a group of 8 ranging from around 2.75 - 4 inches around 3 days ago and I have fallen in love with them. I was told by the previous owner that they were very shy due to them being kept in a top shelf tank in a fish room but I am yet to see them be shy, yes at times they are somewhat 'jumpy' (what fish isn't?) but they have been very out going and even eating on the first day I had them in the tank. As I have read on many posts online these fish are far from push overs and are currently fitting in well with my growout group of Amphilophus Labiatus which currently range from 4 - 5 inches with one larger being around 6.5inches. I am currently using 5 Melanotaenia Trifasciata as dither fish as I already had these (if I had Astyanax Aeneus I would substitute these for the M. Trifasciata to make it more biotope specific.

Currently I have them in a 'Lake Nicaraguan inspired biotope'. The tank is a 180G 6x2x2 ft with around a 40-50G sump.
The current stock is:
5 Amphilophus Labiatus - Ranging from 4 - 6.5 inches
8 Neetroplus Nematopus - Ranging from 2.75 - 4 inches
5 Melanotaenia Trifasciata

I have included some photos / videos of the fish and tank (Please excuse the back quality/glare or any algae on the glass, and the floating particles in the videos it was just after feeding time). It is hard to get a scale of the tank due to the fact that the rocks are very large (some over 13inches).

Please note the Neetroplus Nematopus came to me with their fins as they are in the pictures/ videos, pretty shredded up, and they are beginning to heal. Also the smaller A. Labiatus got a bit of a whopping by the Largest A. Labiatus establishing it's dominace as the tank boss after I changed around the aquascape.
I perform around 30-40% water changes every second day on this tank.

My final goal for this tank is to either keep a pair of A. Labiatus or a solo male, and a group of the Neetroplus Nematopus and to tweak the aquascape as the fish grow / time goes on.

I would love for others to post photos/ their experiences with N. Nematopus as I genuinely believe it is an overlooked/ underrated species in the hobby especially as they are fully of personality and are comical to watch swim in and out of rock structures as well as graze on the rock work. I plan to also keep this thread updated in the future!

 

[dan518]

Nice scape and stock, interested to see how it all goes as you have a similar stock to me, one male amphilophus labiatus, 8 Amatitlania nigrofasciata in a 215 gal.

 

[RD.]

Nice score on the Neets! I love the overall look of your tank, my only advice would be to move a few of those rocks around, to create actual caves, large enough for the Neets to utilize, but too tight for the labs as they mature.

 

[stiker]

Nice scape and stock, interested to see how it all goes as you have a similar stock to me, one male amphilophus labiatus, 8 Amatitlania nigrofasciata in a 215 gal.

Thank you, sounds like a nice stocked tanked. Any photos?
I was deciding between either N. Nematopus or A. Nigrofasciata but in the end choose the Nematopus. My partner kept saying that the A. Nigrofasciata looked too similar to the N. Tetracanthus pair I have >.< haha.
But I have recently discovered just how beautiful A. Nigrofasciata are!

 

[stiker]

Nice score on the Neets! I love the overall look of your tank, my only advice would be to move a few of those rocks around, to create actual caves, large enough for the Neets to utilize, but too tight for the labs as they mature.

Thank you. I was super excited to score them.
there are caves within the rocks that all the fish except the larger A. Labiatus are able to fit in, but I will keep that in mind I’m not 100% content with the aquascape so will change it around. My only concern with an aquascape with this was dead spots underneath the rock work. I’ve tired to combat this but moving my Ecotech Vortec MP40QD slightly lower in the tank and increasing its flow to have more flow through the rock work

 

[RD.]

My only concern with an aquascape with this was dead spots underneath the rock work.

If the rocks are smooth on the bottom, set them directly on to the glass. Just make sure that they can't topple over. In one of my 125's I had approx. 225 pounds of granite boulders directly on the glass, then added sand after the fact. And that was with sand sifting/digging species. That's how I have set up all of my rock work over the years. The trick is finding large boulders with a flat/smooth side. Local landscaping yard is where I have cherry picked all of mine over the years.

 

[dan518]

Thank you, sounds like a nice stocked tanked. Any photos?
I was deciding between either N. Nematopus or A. Nigrofasciata but in the end choose the Nematopus. My partner kept saying that the A. Nigrofasciata looked too similar to the N. Tetracanthus pair I have >.< haha.
But I have recently discovered just how beautiful A. Nigrofasciata are!

Always wanted to try a group of neets.
Labiatus is about 10 inch, convicts about 2 inch. One side has alot of rock work and branches hanging down, slows the amph down. The other more open, stops the convicts continually sneek attacking the amph, so far so good but time will tell.

 

[stiker]

If the rocks are smooth on the bottom, set them directly on to the glass. Just make sure that they can't topple over. In one of my 125's I had approx. 225 pounds of granite boulders directly on the glass, then added sand after the fact. And that was with sand sifting/digging species. That's how I have set up all of my rock work over the years. The trick is finding large boulders with a flat/smooth side. Local landscaping yard is where I have cherry picked all of mine over the years.

The rocks are smooth on the bottom. I placed them directly on a layer of egg crate and then filled in with sand.
I grabbed my rocks from a landscaping yard as well so much cheaper. Plus when I want larger rocks it’s the easiest place to find them!

 

[stiker]

Always wanted to try a group of neets.
Labiatus is about 10 inch, convicts about 2 inch. One side has alot of rock work and branches hanging down, slows the amph down. The other more open, stops the convicts continually sneek attacking the amph, so far so good but time will tell.

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Your tank looks great!
I am loving the Nigrofasciata! Kind of making me wish I went with them over the Nematopus! But I love their Kooky faces/ mouth structure.
I think if I went with the Nigrofasciata it would be easier to match the diet with the Labiatus but I don’t see this being a major issue considering I feed a variety. My old aquascape I had before I got the Nematopus had rockwork on the left and driftwood on the right. The smaller Labiatus were able to navigate much better then the larger Labiatus in the driftwood section. I do believe that the new scape is better for the time being due to it offering greater places for the smaller fish to hide from the larger Labiatus

 

[dan518]

Really liking your tank. In both our cases it will be play it by ear and adjust as necessary, it will be interesting to see how our tanks mature.
After looking at yours think I am going to swap back to sand.