Breeder's Award Program

Name

Amatitlania nanolutea

Dwarf gold convict

Method of Reproduction :Substrate spawner

Number and Gender Distribution of Parents:Pair

Origin of Parents:ank raised

Approximate number of eggs or fry*: ~50

Date of Hatch or Birth*

Unknown, spawn was 2/4/22

Date of Free Swimming If Hatched

2/14/22

Approx. Number of Fry at 30 Days*

4+ (started at 50)

Approx. Number of Fry at 60 Days

N/A

Aquarium Conditions:

pH: 8

General Hardness (ppm): unknown but unaltered from Frederick tap

Average Temperature: 75F

Salinity: N/A

Average Nitrate: 10 ppm

Aquarium Size: 24 X 12 X 16, 20 gallons

Water Source: Tap

Water Changes: 50% once a month

Filtration System: double sponge sponge filter rated for up to 30 gallons, hooked up to whisper 20 aerator

Additives (Salt, iron, etc.): N/A

Décor (Please include all that apply):

Live Plants: Hornwort, duckweed, vallisneria, salvinia natans

Plastic Plants: N/A

Wood: Branches from cherry tree

Leaves: N/A

Caves or Similar Hiding Places: clay pot with the bottom broken out

Spawning mop: N/A

Substrate: Sand mixed with gravel (home Depot all purpose sand, unknown brand never seen again)

Lighting Type and Timing: 18 watt Aqueon LED, 16 hours a day

Food Fed to Parents and How Often: alternating between new life spectrum ultrared, bug bites color enhancing flakes, seachem nutridiet cichlid flakes, spirulina flakes of unknown brand, and crickets every other day

Food Fed to Fry and How Often*: baby brine shrimp once a week+whatever the parents eat and subseqently feed them, fry graze on algae and biofilm idly

Photographs

Comments and Additional Information

BAP point allocation is outdated and should be revised, this species is listed as a category A alongside normal convicts and other easy to breed cichlids. I get 3 spawns from my nigrofasciata a month, whereas I only usually get a singular successful spawn, accompanied by two or three unsuccessful ones annually from this species.

Fry are extremely sensitive and it is considered lucky if more than one fry make it to sexual maturity.

Do not move fry until they're half an inch long, and only move to a mature tank where they can continue to graze between feedings. Do not grow out or keep with other cichlids. The stress of being in the mere presence of other cichlids is enough to stress juveniles to the point of becoming immunocompromised and succumbing to disease.

Grows to one inch in their first year and slows down in their second year, sexually maturing by the end of the latter. Sexual dimorphism starts to show up a little before a year if you have a good eye for dorsal spots and facial structure.

Prefers a cave to spawn but will spawn on an open surface. Very intelligent and charismatic species, I have experienced what appeared to be a nuclear family forming, where another batch of eggs was laid alongside an older batch of fry that was still in the tank. Said older fry could be seen fanning the eggs.