▷ Butterfly Cichlids | Microgeophagus ramirezi | All info

butterfly cichlids, Microgeophagus ramireziare relatively delicate fish that are not as easy to care for as many other fish species.

They are not suitable for beginners, even if they are often sold as beginner fish.

If they are kept in very soft water that is free of nitrite and very low in nitrate, and if the water is changed frequently, they can live quite a long time.

Data sheet for the butterfly cichlid

German name:
butterfly cichlid

Scientific name:
Microgeophagus ramirezi

Origin:
South America: Venezuela and Colombia

Size:
Up to 5cm

Aquarium

Length:
80 cm

Contents:
From 54 liters
Better: 112 liters

Lighting:
Normal

Furnishings:
Plants and free swimming space, floating plants, slate or roots are recommended for breeding

water values

Temperature:
24-31°C

PH value:
5 – 6

Behave

Number:
in pairs

Area:
Below

propagation:
Egg layers – open breeders

Lining:
Live food but also flake food and freeze-dried food

Difficulty:
No beginner fish – aquarists with first experiences

Breed:
Breeding is possible in the aquarium

Appropriate water values

suitable temperatures

Butterfly cichlid © Carmen Brehm

There are different views on the maintenance temperature.

Some keepers see temperatures of 24 to 25°C as the short-term lower limit. According to this, the average temperature should be around 27°C, with seasonal fluctuations of 3°C up and down. For breeding, the temperature should be around 30°C.

Other keepers see one cause of early deaths in butterfly cichlids being kept at temperatures that are too high. They recommend 24 to 25° as a maintenance temperature.

Arguments for lower temperatures

Many tropical fish species are kept at temperatures that are too high. A well-known example is discus fish.

One reason why butterfly cichlids often die early is that the temperatures in the aquarium are too high. The animals reproduce successfully even at 25°.

Arguments for higher temperatures

Butterfly cichlids live in waters that are quite different from the waters of other fish, which are often kept at temperatures that are too high. discus e.g. B. live mainly in running water. There they stay in shady places, which z. B. occur in the protection of tree roots. Butterfly cichlids live in relatively shallow, stagnant water. The waters are in a savannah-like environment that offers little protection from the sun’s rays.

The waters in which butterfly cichlids live therefore reach much higher temperatures. Due to the shallow depth, the animals cannot escape to cooler zones. Butterfly cichlids are therefore among the fish for which higher temperatures are really appropriate.

Keeping of butterfly cichlids

2 butterfly cichlids are kept together with 2 other dwarf cichlids in a 100 liter aquarium.

The water values:

Water is changed twice a week. The alternating water is pure osmosis water, which is previously filtered through peat and alder cones.

Stocking and keeping of butterfly cichlids (Mikrogeophagus ramirezi)

Butterfly cichlids are kept in pairs. combinations of e.g. B. a male with two females are not useful.

When kept in pairs, a female can be chased by the male at times, but adding another female does not defuse the situation. Instead, the second female is vigorously chased by the pair.

The male will chase both females until the preferred female is ready to spawn.
As a rule, it can already be recognized in the trade which animals form a pair.

How many couples can be kept together?

How many pairs can be kept together depends on the size of the aquarium and the temperament of the individuals. It is often recommended that 2 pairs can be kept in tanks with a water content of 112 liters or even smaller.

Such stocking recommendations usually only work temporarily. By the spawning season at the latest, a pair caring for the brood will need a 112 liter aquarium for themselves. Even in well-structured tanks, other pairs or single specimens can only be hidden in thickets of plants or behind roots. As soon as they come into view of the spawning pair, they will be chased away. Over time, this stress leads to disease and early death in the defeated animals.

Even in a 300 liter aquarium, two pairs can fight fiercely. In one specific case, one male was so dominant that the other male hardly got anything to eat and always had to hide. The dominant male saw the other male over the 160 centimeters aquarium length and then swam massive attacks.

If a male then dies, there is a risk that the excess female will be scared violently and she will then constantly wear the fright coloration. It may therefore be necessary to separate pairs or individuals, even in such large tanks.

Notes for the purchase

© Christina Will

Butterfly cichlids are very susceptible and probably most of the purchased animals die after a few weeks. Whether e.g. B. the abdominal bulge in the animal in the picture is still normal, or already indicates a disease is uncertain. Such animals should not be bought.

No offspring from East Asia should be bought, but only German offspring, if possible directly from the breeder. In any case, Asian offspring are weakened by the long transport routes and are therefore particularly susceptible to diseases.

It is always assumed that Asian offspring are used to water values ​​that are completely different from the water values ​​in Central Europe. In addition, the animals should be stuffed with antibiotics and other preventatives so that they survive the breeding and transport. So far, however, it has not been proven whether these claims are correct.

Due to the artificial mass rearing, the brood care instinct is said to be either not or only slightly pronounced in many animals.

It is doubtful whether the trade will always answer honestly to inquiries about German offspring. If you want to keep butterfly cichlids, you should try to find a private breeder, e.g. B. about aquarium clubs.

age and lifespan

© Carmen Brehm

It can be from an average life expectancy of 2 to 3 years to be run out.

By the time they are big enough to sell they are usually at least 6 months old, more like 9 months.

With optimal water and other good conditions, healthy butterfly cichlids can even in individual cases 4 years old become. An annual temperature change between slightly cooler and slightly warmer phases is also important. Constantly the same and unchanged husbandry conditions harm the animals more than they help.

The right husbandry conditions and healthy animals are important. Animals from the trade are usually already severely damaged. These animals often survive for only a few weeks or months.

However, it is too easy to attribute all problems to overbreeding, antibiotic use, etc. Butterfly cichlids are not beginner fish and are also somewhat more sensitive. Other more sensitive fish will also get sick or die if kept in water that is not at all suitable for them.

This has nothing to do with overbreeding. Even very overbred butterfly cichlids with long fins, distinctive coloring etc. are successfully kept and bred by some keepers for a long time.

forage and feeding

Live and frozen food is best suited.

Suitable live food:

Suitable frozen food:

Tubifex may need to be given with tweezers for the animals to eat well.

Dry food is eaten only hesitantly. After a period of acclimatization, however, they usually eat it.

Suitable dry food:

aggressiveness

Butterfly cichlids are often described as peaceful. However, it must not be forgotten that peaceful is actually a relative term for dwarf cichlids. Even peaceful dwarf cichlids chase other fish away, especially during the breeding season, and can attack them violently.

The aggressiveness or the effects depend on factors such as aquarium size and setup. They can also differ from individual animal to individual animal.

Although butterfly cichlids are quite peaceful compared to other dwarf cichlids, they will drive other fish away from the breeding grounds during the breeding season.

While some butterfly cichlids drive other fish away from the breeding site even when caring for the brood, but proceed quite moderately, other butterfly cichlids are more aggressive.

Recommendations according to which butterfly cichlids can be kept together with other fish in 60 liter tanks or two or more pairs can be kept in 112 liter aquariums are therefore very questionable. This can go well for a while, but depending on the couple, it can go well for a long time. However, it may also become necessary to bring other animals to safety in another tank.

It has been reported that all other fish had to be removed from a 60 liter tank because they were being shooed too hard by the pair caring for the brood.

It was also reported that two pairs could not be kept together in a 300 liter tank because they fought too much with each other.

Territorial behavior is not limited to males. Two females bite each other’s mouths, as do two males. Couples among themselves…