Breeding Goldeneye Cichlid (Nannacara Anomala) In The Aquarium

Location

This is a freshwater fish. It lives in the rivers, streams, creeks, and floodplains of Guyana and Suriname.

Body description

Colour of the male and female is different when they get older. Male has gray-olive, shimmering blue body with yellow-orange areas on the head, along back, on the base of the caudal fin and on the under side. Their body has a lot of brown spots which create regular patterns which looks like a horizontal stripes. Male's dorsal and anal fin tips are longer. His fins are blue-orange-yellow. Colour of the female is gray-yellow. There are dark stripes on the upper part of the body which look like a grid which is more visible during the spawning season. Female is smaller than male and her fins are rounded.

Temperament and behaviour

This fish has peaceful temperament. During the spawning season male and female are more aggressive and nervous. Males compete with each other for dominance. Dominant male is aggressive and terrorizes other males - they don't grown to regular size and their body colour looks similar to female. Female becomes aggressive towards males and other fish when laying eggs and protecting the fry (around 2-3 weeks). She is even more aggressive if the aquarium is too small for her self and children. These fish are recommended for the beginner aquarist - they are hardy, resistant, and easy to keep.

Aquarium decoration

This fish likes spacious tanks with open areas for swimming, many plants like echinodorus and anubias and places to hide: flat stones, roots, coconut shells, pieces of clay pot, rocks which can be setup as caves. Aquarium should be equipped with sandy or fine gravelly substrate and good filtration system (filter should pump 2-3 times te water volume in the aquarium per hour). For this fish water quality should be kept on the high level.

Breeding

This fish is oviparous species and it is very easy to bread. If there is enough space they may lay eggs in the general aquarium. If there is not enough space you may need to prepare separate tank. Each female require 40x40 cm of the bottom surface. You may induce spawning by increasing temperature of the water to 25-28°C, reducing pH to slightly acidic, feeding with live food and do regular water exchanges. Female lays eggs in secluded places - on flat stones, clay pots, in coconuts. Male earlier cleans this surface very carefully. Female lays to 300 eggs and she takes care of the children. She is aggressive towards the male. The eggs hatch after 2-3 days and female moves her young to a new hole in the substrate until the fry will swim which takes around 5 days. After 2-3 weeks male can take care of the offspring too.