Cuban Biotope

[mahaffeywj1984]

I am pivoting in the hobby and moving into a more biotope-style aquarium for my fish. I have been researching the areas in Cuba where the Cuban Cichlid can be found. I am leaning towards the Yayabo River in Sancti Spiritus, Cuba. It is a beautiful area, at least from the pictures I have seen. I wish I could head down there and research for myself; however, that's probably not feasible right now. It is really hard to find any information on what below the surface of the river looks like. Does anyone here have experience with this area or the habitat of the Cuban cichlid in general? I know it should lean more towards rock-heavy, with minimal driftwood. Any other insight would be great. I am also wondering about adding another biotope correct fish. I know this is a dangerous game; however, would something like the Cuban Gambusia potentially be doable? The Cuban I have is still fairly small, I would say 3.5 - 4 inches. He (I'm fairly certain) has a BN in with him and doesn't pay any attention to it. Which I know is subject to change at any moment. My thought is to add adult Gambusia punctatas into the tank with him and have a tank ready to go if it goes south, which I am sure the odds are in favor of. I also know that this would not be long-term, as they will be a fun snack to chase when he matures more, if not now.
I have attached some photos with what I have so far.

 

[bkfamus]

Sounds like an interesting pivot.. I'll defer to those with more experience w/ Nandopsis tetracanthus, ( duanes ), but in my limited experience, I'd remove the BN pleco and avoid dithers.. May work w/ bigger more robust catfish or loricariidae...

The group I had for a short time always seemed angry, and even ate pellets violently.. I believe they like some flow and are native brackish water.. I moved mine before the casualties started.. But still intrigued by the species.. GL

 

[bkfamus]

Just did a quick search and can't find any catfish (or characin or other cichlids) native to Cuba.. I thought you may have better luck with a Doradidae species or a Callichthyidae species instead of a Loricariidae species, but not seeing any endemic to Cuba.. I'd think Platydoras armatulus could work, but not native.. The gambusia are native.. But I'd think they would need a huge tank to possibly survive..

This image of the San Vicente River from The Cichlid Room Companion suggest there is vegetation in, or surrounding their habitat:


Here is a nice biotope, but notice no tankmates:

 

[mahaffeywj1984]

bkfamus Thank you, I had looked at both of those places. It appears that Cuba is the one hard place to find a lot of documentation on biotope info. I even checked the Biotope Contest page, and nobody has done a scape in that style that I could see. Lots of other styles for CA and SA. I am guessing it's because it wasn't very tourist friendly in the past?? I did notice that there wasn't anything else in the video as well. I thought it may have been because they were a breeding pair. The only thing that I could find that isn't an open water swimming type fish that is native is the Dormitator maculatus (Fat Sleeper Fish). They seem to stick to the bottom and hide in the substrate when spooked. While that would be a cool species only tank, I don't think it would be very appealing with them in the substrate all the time. Plus, they run about the same adult size as most of the endemic/native fish in the region. Plants are the other big question mark. I did find some photos in the area I was researching with water hyacinth covering most of the river. But in other photos it isn't there. Underwater photos are non-existent, at least on the internet.
The BN is bigger than the Cuban right now, after conferring with some folks who have kept Cubans at the OCA, it seems that they should be able to co-exist. At least those that I spoke with had them together.
My hope is that someone on here has some first-hand experience with this area and can provide some more in-depth insight as to what lies below the surface.

 

[duanes]

I have kept N tetracanthus, and they never tolerated any tanks mates in a 125 gal (6ft tank), probably because they were a mated pair


male above (@ 10"), female below (@ 5")


There is anothe cichlid endemic to the island Nandopsis ramsdeni, isolated fro tetracanthus by geography, and nearly impossible to get.
There is a goby ( Awaous banana) that is native to Cuba, and other areas in the Caribbean, and Central and North America.
I have kept it, and find it a most interesting species, although I never kept them with tetracanthus, and don't know whether it would stand up to tetracanthus aggressiveness..
I catch the Awaous I have at the moment if fast flowing streams in Panama.


Although it is a substrate hugger, it does also like to hang out there influent breaks the water surface.
And tolerates brackish water.

The tetracanthus can be quite prolific..

 

[mahaffeywj1984]

duanes thank you as well! We discussed the gender of my juvenile a month or so ago and I am constantly going back looking at the pictures you posted then. He is starting to get the golden background sheen behind his black spots and his forehead area is becoming more pronounced (like the 10" male you posted). It looks like you have a sand and gravel mix for substrate, would this be an accurate substrate? Also, did you have yours with any plants? All of the hardier ones that you see in the hobby are not biotope correct for that area. When I was speaking with people who had BNs with theirs the key phrase was singular. Breeding pairs wouldn't even tolerate a pleco of any variety with them. I am constantly keeping an eye on him with the BN, right now there is no visible injury to the BN and I have only watched him swim up to him, hover by him for a few seconds and then swim away. I am keenly aware that this could change in a moment's notice.
I saw at one time Max Sivchuk was attempting to breed ramsdeni and that was a quick YouTube video about how they had been failing to spawn. Haitiensis is on my bucket list, but I wanted to start with tetracanthus to get my feet wet with the Nandopsis. Is the ramsdeni larger or smaller then the haitiensis?
Looking at the Awaous banana, it resembles a BN in shape. I wonder if that would potentially be a fit? Although, after a quick Google search finding them might be the problem. Once again, thank you for your wisdom.

 

[Kevin@TUIC]

these might help my buddy Max collected in Cuba this past year (He is Russian, his wife Rikki is Cuban)


vids:
part 1:

part 2:

bonus

 

[mahaffeywj1984]

Kevin@TUIC , these are great. I appreciate it. I have been trying to convince my wife to let me order some A. nanolutea from you. That will have to be another fish adventure for another day though.

 

[duanes]

The videos of the Rio Juguani, very much resemble the Rio Mamoni in Panama where I find Isthmoheros and Darienheros.
Flow is rapid over rocky susbtrate, with no true aquatic vegetation, but plenty of terrestrial vegetation that line the banks, and temporary islands.

Here, the pH is high (8.2) and nitrates are nonexistant, even in the dry seaon, when water levels are at their lowest

always interesting how much the cichlids resemble each other, even thousands of miles apart

 

[duanes]

Whenever I want to check a list of what kind of fish are found in a certain country, I usually find Fish Base is a great resource
Freshwater fish of Cubatropicalfreshwaterfish.comhttps://tropicalfreshwaterfish.com › data › Cuba