Publication2 med aquascape Publication1cs complete | Page 207

In my old L-shaped aquarium the C. intermedum
would often have a small wound caused by a
dominant male. These small wounds would get
inflamed and rupture resulting in death, unless
treated with metro and salt combination. Since
having our larger aquarium, adding more flow and
performing 6 daily water changes through an au-
tomated water changing routine has seen a mas-
sive improvement with the C. intemediums.
Wound infections generally clear up by them-
selves; a testament to excellent water conditions.
At the late stage of free swimming fry, they have
been noted to feed of the mucus membrane from
the parents, much the same as discus young do.
During different periods, both parents would regu-
larly disturb the sand substrate to release uneaten
food particles for the fry to feed. The bi- parental
care is a beautiful sight to see with both fish guid-
ing the spawn through the aquarium. Sometimes
the parents made signals; that alerted the fry of
danger; usually by making flicking movements
with their head. Solid pairing won’t always be the
case, especially if there are multiple females with-
in a group, as the male will usually go between
each one.
In a large enough tank, this can be beneficial as an
impatient dominant male won’t keep harassing
the female while in the middle of fry care. This can
be one of the main reasons why males will sud-
denly turn on and kill a female!
Good water quality is very important when keep-
ing this fish in peak condition.
References:
Staeck & Linke: Amerikanische Cichlids 2 - Grosse-
Buntbarsche. 1984
Stawikowski & Werner: That Buntbarsche der
Neuen Welt.1985
King: Cichlids from Central America. 1989
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