Cryptoheros sp.
4" Male . . . Very Accurate Colors
Click To Enlarge
All Photos By JDCormier 2005
I first became aware
of tthe Cryptoheros sp. "Red Point"
at the 2003 ACA convention. One of my local club members,
that I attended the convention
with,
was
getting
a few of them
at the convention but I wasn’t into Central American
Cichlids at that point so I really didn’t pay much
attention to them. Since I had no initial interest in them,
I only remember
him
saying
he was getting some "Red Points" and I didn’t
even make an effort to see them.
Fast forward to the fall of 2003 and the "Red Points" started
to become available through several different sources that
I was aware of and they
each
had photos
of the
adult fish. When I saw what the fish looked like I knew I
had to get some. A young breeder pair became available so
I jumped at the chance to get them. Unfortunately the male
was DOA when the box arrived. I put the female away in the
tank I had planned for the pair and started my search for
another male to join her.
 2
1/2" Female
After
the female settled in her new home I could see how beautiful
this fish really is. The pictures I have here don't even show
all the colors these fish. When I started taking pictures
of
mine I found
out how difficult it is to capture all the shades of blue (I
am not a big time photographer) on the fish and the fish
are much bluer than these photos show. My search
for a new male was unsuccessful and very trying.
Nine months later at the 2004 ACA convention I came across
a fellow hobbyist that had three adult males for sale and
my friend and I were able to obtain one each for $10. When
I finally got him home I didn’t put him in with the
female for about a month. I was very concerned about aggression
between the two if and when I put them together, but I finally
swallowed hard and I put in the tank with 25 medium
size kribs for dither fish. It was
a
40-gallon
breeder
tank with sand on the bottom, lots of driftwood and clay
pots. Having the extra kribs in tank did the trick after
a couple of days of "feeling each other out" they staked
out a territory and spawned by the end of the week.
 
Pair With Fry Male With Fry
After I moved my fish room this winter I put the pair by themselves
in a 30-gallon tank. They spawned a couple of more times and
then when I pulled the babies from their third spawn the male
beat
up the female for some unknown reason. She was very listless
in the upper corner so I put in a couple of swordtail to divert
his
aggression and all was well after that and after another three
weeks they spawned again.
The fry from the first spawn were getting up to 1.5” so
I separated some into two groups, 5 in a 40-gallon and 4
in a 30-gallon. After a week 2 pairs formed in each tank
and they all started breeding within in a week of each other.
I
have
had
them
lay
their eggs
in a
cave, on the side of a rock and on the underside of an Anubius
leaf. They don’t seem to care except that it’s
some place that they can protect them easily. After they
hatch, the fry are placed in a pit that they have prepared
in typical subatrate spawning cichlids.
  
Young
Pair With Fry Young
Male Young
Female
They don’t seem to be very aggressive, even when spawning
despite the agression to the female that one time. They will
defend their fry but they don’t
seem to have a very large territory. I now have 2 pairs spawning
in
a 3’ long
tank. I’ll see what happens when the pairs get bigger.
The other surprising thing is the fry start to show the blue
color at less than ¼”. When they are barely
over 1/8” you can start to see the blue when you look
down on them from above.
 3/8"Fry
They are easy to sex. The males will have the red fins and
the females will have red on her side. The red on both sexes
seems to come and go depending on their mood. So far they
seem mild for a cichlid and will do very well in a community
tank.
I saw something recently that was a little disturbing. I
saw them being offered for sale as blue convicts! I have
nothing
against convicts, I do like them but putting that label on
them is selling them short. I know they are closely related
to the convict but I think they will eventually be as popular
as angelfish as the color on these fish far surpasses even
the best Convicts I have seen . . . and usually it is color
that attracts us to the fish we keep!
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