1 kinds · tap one for a closer look
Gentle with small fish; defends eggs.
393 species in our list are a good match.
Gentle with small fish; defends eggs.
Flakes, pellets and small frozen foods.
Tap a food to see what it is.
Hard to sex by colour: breeding males and females both develop conspicuous red cheeks, gill covers and belly. Males are usually a little larger.
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Cave spawner (pair) · Moderate
Biparental substrate spawner: eggs are laid on a hard surface and both parents guard the brood.
Raise 6 juveniles together and let a pair form, then remove the rest or provide a very large tank.
A 60 L tank with a sponge or gentle filter, flat stones, clay caves or flowerpots, and a sand bed.
Strong conditioning on frozen and live food plus a large water change with slightly warmer water.
100-250 eggs
Both parents guard the brood; feed fry newly hatched brine shrimp and finely crushed flake.
A small acara from the Guaporé in Bolivia and Brazil and the Paraguay-Paraná and Uruguay rivers further south, named the redbreast acara for the red cheeks and belly both sexes show when breeding. It is known to leap from the water onto floating plants to escape predators.
Heckel described this small acara in 1840, originally in Acara. It comes from the Paraguay basin and the Pantanal wetlands. Breeding fish show a bright red chest, giving it the name red-breasted acara.
First described by Johann J. Heckel in 1840.
14 facts checked with sources
Formerly Aequidens dorsiger. Redescribed by Ottoni & Costa 2009. Easily confused with L. curviceps (both have a dark spot on the dorsal fin); dorsigera has a deeper head and both sexes show red cheeks and belly when breeding.
FishBase: Laetacara dorsigera summary · Seriously Fish: Laetacara dorsigeraFishBase uses Cichlasomatinae; Catalog of Fishes places these in Cichlinae. Legacy has no family field.
FishBase: Laetacara dorsigera summaryFishBase 6.0 cm SL and 8 cm TL; Seriously Fish 3.7 cm SL. Legacy 8 cm matches the TL maximum.
FishBase: Laetacara dorsigera summary · Seriously Fish: Laetacara dorsigeraInside Seriously Fish's 20-28 °C. FishBase is cooler (20-23), reflecting the southern Paraná/Uruguay range.
Seriously Fish: Laetacara dorsigera · FishBase: Laetacara dorsigera summaryInside both ranges.
Seriously Fish: Laetacara dorsigera · FishBase: Laetacara dorsigera summarySeriously Fish range used. Legacy has no hardness.
Seriously Fish: Laetacara dorsigera · FishBase: Laetacara dorsigera summarySeriously Fish 'Social: in a pair'. Legacy 1.
Seriously Fish: Laetacara dorsigeraSeriously Fish rates it a community-tank fish; no explicit 'peaceful' wording.
Seriously Fish: Laetacara dorsigeraNo source names a swimming level.
FishBase: Laetacara dorsigera summarySeriously Fish rates it 'Beginner'; legacy 2 (moderate).
Seriously Fish: Laetacara dorsigeraIUCN: Least Concern (FishBase, assessed 20 Nov 2020).
Seriously Fish: Laetacara dorsigera · FishBase: Laetacara dorsigera summaryLegacy says only males have the red breast; Seriously Fish says both sexes do when breeding. 'Males slightly larger' is not confirmed by these sources for this species.
Seriously Fish: Laetacara dorsigeraLegacy breeding.type 'cave spawner' is misleading.
Seriously Fish: Laetacara dorsigeraLegacy 'from Paraguay and Brazil' omits Bolivia and Argentina.
Seriously Fish: Laetacara dorsigera · FishBase: Laetacara dorsigera summary