Bolivian butterfly fish

Hey fellow discus enthusiasts,

I just discovered the dwarf cichlid section of my LFS recently and I must say, WOW!! I just wanted to share what great little fish are these. I bought a Bolivian ram for $14 and he is one of the dorkiest cutest little fish I have come across--he has a really strong, busy personality, and seems to go well with my discus. I think I will try to get him a mate. I say "he" because I think due to his brighter colours that he may be a male. Anyway, excuse my rambling, but if anyone is thinking of getting good peaceful tankmates for their discus, I would highly recommend the Bolivian ram.

Claire.

claire sexing these guys is particularly difficult
females have a slightly deeper body , variable though in general less extensions on tail and dorsal fin(dont rely solely on that)

and the most sure fire way to tellis if the ovipositor is down females have larger squarer shape male smaller pointed type

andrew

Hi,

I just bought 2 of these little guys a few weeks ago for my tank as well (1 male and 1 female), they are very entertaining little fish. For $10 each they are great.

They didn't look that impressive in the shop as they were all white and with very little colour but since I have had them in my tank they are starting to show some nice pink and yellow colouring.

The way I sexed them was that the males have a pointed anal fin and the females are rounded.

Adam

That's cool Adam!

Mine has started to colour up nicely too. I might be nuts, but I could swear the colour around its eyes changes--maybe it's just the lighting, but it gets a really nice green colour around its eyes at times. I swear this fish thinks it is one of the discus too!! When the discus are squabbling over the blood worm blocks, he's right up there with them getting his fill!!
I have to say that I find these fish much more enjoyable to keep than varieties of tetras, for instance--tetras, despite making a nice display, just don't seem to have the personality that these dwarf cichlids do.

Oh I have named him Pebbles too because when I first got him he would pick up gravel and spit it out lol.

Claire.

Here are some pics of my little guy :)

Hi Claire

I keep 2 pair in a six foot and I have 100+ for sale and don't go by color in trying to sex them it's like trying to sex a discus your got to catch them breeding and see if the eggs hatch.I had fry every 5 days between the 2 and pull the fry out just before they went free swimming as the discus would eat them.

Brad