currently raising a group of 6 uaru I bought this group back about exactly 13 months ago at about .5-3/4ths inches long. I started them out in a 125 all by themselves fed daily and did huge 80% water changed weekly feeding spirlina flakes and extreme community pewee which has been a good known food for mbuna because of it’s low fat content and spirlina contents these fish grow incredibly slow i eventually got impatient and moved them to my 600 that I am growing out some fish for a nice South American community tank these fish eat like hogs constantly pushing other fish out of the way for their share my water parameters are all totally I’ve tested multiple times as of today the biggest fish is about 4 inches long and the whole group is finally started to show that black blotch on their side their known for am I doing something wrong? This seems like an incredibly slow growth rate for a cichlid the fish seem totally healthy never miss a meal and never act out of the ordinary ever, are they just slow growers? Pictures never do fish justice and I will admit they do look better in person but don’t they seem incredibly small for being a year old
Strange experience with Uaru amphiacanthoides
- Thread starter Jboy1128
- Start date
I kept and bred Uarus all throughout the 1980's, and they were and are my favourite cichlid. Many people used to call them the Poor Man's Discus, although today they seem harder to find than actual Discus. I recall that they were stupidly slow growing, despite having excellent appetites, at least 100% weekly water changes and perfect soft, low-pH water. They were largely vegetarian, but still got a fair amount of animal protein in their diet. Temps were in the low 80'sF. The fish looked great and spawned regularly...but they took forever to grow. I don't remember specific numbers but 4 inches for year-olds sounds similar to what mine achieved.
My original stock came from the father of a friend, and that gent also often commented on how slowly this species puts on size.
My original stock came from the father of a friend, and that gent also often commented on how slowly this species puts on size.
Appreciate the feed back. I was starting to wonder if their was something in the water quite literally haha, I didn’t have any plans to specifically breed them but if they decide to spawn on a rock I might pull the rock out if I catch it at the right time and try to artificially hatch them for fun
If you want to breed them "for fun"...then let them breed naturally. Sure, you can probably remove the eggs and hatch them with artificial aeration, feed them carefully-sized commercial fry diets and/or brine shrimp, microworms, etc. Doesn't really sound like fun; more like drudgery. Of course, that's the way to approach it if you are dead set on producing the absolute maximum number of eventually-saleable fry at all costs.
But, if you want the breeding to be fun...you have got to let them do their own thing in their own way. That means letting them clean and tend to and protect their spawn themselves; it means losing a certain percentage of eggs and fry to cannibalism by adults, especially by younger breeders (although Uarus seem less inclined to act up that way than many other cichlids; and, best of all, it means watching the fry grazing like little sheep on the sides of their parents' bodies. One of their first foods, which they will continue to feed on for as much as a couple weeks, is a slime their parents secrete for this purpose. It's one of the coolest fish behaviours you can hope to see in your tank, and it's the one thing by which I was absolutely transfixed the first time I saw it in the tanks of the much-older, more-experienced aquarist from whom I got mine.
Personlly, I think cichlids as a group are a hugely overrated group of fish; aggressive buttheads, troublemakers...and the only thing about them that I find truly appealing is their breeding behaviour, with the parental care of eggs and fry. Uarus take this to the extreme, actually feeding their fry from their bodies, and best of all they do it without acting like sociopathic a-holes most of the time. Watching them do this in your aquarium is magical; don't deprive yourself of the chance to see it.
Of course, you could also get Discus...they're the Poor Man's Uaru!
But, if you want the breeding to be fun...you have got to let them do their own thing in their own way. That means letting them clean and tend to and protect their spawn themselves; it means losing a certain percentage of eggs and fry to cannibalism by adults, especially by younger breeders (although Uarus seem less inclined to act up that way than many other cichlids; and, best of all, it means watching the fry grazing like little sheep on the sides of their parents' bodies. One of their first foods, which they will continue to feed on for as much as a couple weeks, is a slime their parents secrete for this purpose. It's one of the coolest fish behaviours you can hope to see in your tank, and it's the one thing by which I was absolutely transfixed the first time I saw it in the tanks of the much-older, more-experienced aquarist from whom I got mine.
Personlly, I think cichlids as a group are a hugely overrated group of fish; aggressive buttheads, troublemakers...and the only thing about them that I find truly appealing is their breeding behaviour, with the parental care of eggs and fry. Uarus take this to the extreme, actually feeding their fry from their bodies, and best of all they do it without acting like sociopathic a-holes most of the time. Watching them do this in your aquarium is magical; don't deprive yourself of the chance to see it.
Of course, you could also get Discus...they're the Poor Man's Uaru!
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