This small and very peaceful fish, which has many different names: cichlid butterfly, Ramireza or chrome butterfly. For today, the apistogram of Ramirezi is very popular and because of its extraordinary beauty and appearance. Today there is a huge abundance of artificially derived forms: veil, neon, balloon, electric blue, albinos, gold and others. Dwarf cichlids apistograms of small sizes and grow to 5 cm in nature there are species up to 7 cm. These fish are quite complex in content. This is directly related to the fact that in the derivation of various forms of immunity the fish is significantly weakened and it is highly susceptible to various diseases.
Ramirezi's apistogram - content and care
With a good content, the life span of this fish is about 4 years. This fish is not only bright and small, but also very peaceful. It is not difficult to breed these fish, but special difficulties arise when it is necessary to "go out" fry. In natural conditions, these fish eat various kinds of microorganisms and plant substances. For feeding in the aquarium, both live and frozen food is suitable. It can be: a pipe man, a bloodworm, an artemia, a coretra. Feed the fish no more than 3 times a day in small portions. In addition to the diet, you can use flakes and granules, but not all fish eat them. Make sure that these cute fish eat and do not stay hungry because of their neighbors.
For a comfortable maintenance of these fish, the aquarium should be from 50 liters. It is necessary that the water is always clean, and the current is not very strong. Of great importance is enough oxygen in the water. The most preferable is the presence of an external filter. For these fish, the water temperature is ideally between 26-28 ° C, and the acidity level is 6-7.5. Appipogram very much likes to dig in the ground, so it is worth using sand or small gravel. It is worth doing in the aquarium a lot of shelters, take care of the presence of snags, locks and thick plants. This atmosphere will give the fish a sense of peace and will be close to their natural conditions. They do not like the presence of bright light, so to illuminate the aquarium it is necessary to approach judiciously and to float floating algae on the surface.
Ramirezi's apistogram - compatibility
To properly choose the neighbors for these fish, you need to remember the friendly nature of the cichlid butterfly. It easily coexists with the same civilians of medium size. In the neighborhood, you can populate viviparous fish: swordfish, mollies, guppies, pecilia. It can also be: neon, discharge, erythrosonus or rhodostomus. An appistogram can also live with large shrimps . She will perceive the fry as feed.
A feature of the life of these fish is that they are able to live both alone and in pairs. When buying a few fish, do not immediately expect the offspring. Butterflies prefer to choose their own pair. Cichlid is a territorial fish,