Nannacara adoketa

Order: Cichliformes
Family: Cichlidae
Subfamily: Cichlinae
Genus: Nannacara
Species: Nannacara adoketa, Kullander & Preda-Pedreros, 1993

Nannacara adoketa is a small cichlid which grows up to maximum 8 - 9 cm body length. Females stay around 3 cm smaller than males.
Their main body shape is oval but high and strong built. The head of this species is very round and bulky and typical for this genus The dorsal- and anal fin end pointy, especially with males. The tail fin is round, which is a sign for living in a habitat with less to almost no current. With this they can maneuver better than in fast currents.

The coloration of this cichlid depends a lot on the mood and hierarchy. The basic tone is a pink, beige to brown color. In breeding time this can also be greyish white. On top of that a dark brown to black striped pattern is visible. Also the face shows some ornaments. Depending on the light, sideways greenish to bluish iridescent scales can be seen. On the base of the caudal-, anal- and dorsal fin and the head, a orange to red hue is visible. Especially the pelvic- and anal fins can shimmer in a bright blue.

Dominant animals, especially in breeding time, show a more contrasty pattern. Where as subdominant animals look more plain, with almost no pattern.

This little cichlid seems to fit in every tank but it should be taken in account that this species can be quite aggressive and territorial (hence his synonym "Ivanacara", from "Iwan the Terrible"). When kept in groups, this species tends to kill, till there is only one harmonizing pair left. Also to other fish it can be seen that they have a more dominant behavior. Even though this species is not big, it is not afraid to be the first at the food and scare away potential competitors. Especially during breeding time, N. adoketa can be territorial.
We could often observe, that N. adoketa attacks the fins of various fish and bites pieces out of them. So be careful if you want to keep Nannacara and fish with long filaments together in the same tank.

When kept as a harmonizing pair in a tank with no competitors, this species is rather calm and is not a busy swimmer. It stays several seconds at a place, move in one zoom to the next place and stand there for the next few seconds. It is a cichlid, which actively observes its environment for food or competitors.

This species is found in South America in Brazil. There it lives in the middle Rio Negro. Its habitat consists of very shallow waters with almost no current. Black water and a lot of vegetation darkens the home waters of this species. As a substrate you can find sand or mud with leaves.

The water temperature ranges from 24 - 27 °C and is with a pH of 5 quite acidic, due to the tannins of the leaves in the water. Minerals are also almost non-existent in its biotope.

In nature this fish diet consists mainly of insects, insect larvae and other invertebrates. Basically any food that is small enough for this species to swallow.

In captivity they eat almost every food which is given. They prefer frozen food, like artemia, krill or mysis. Also dry food, like flakes or granules they take very good. In general this species prefers to pick its food from the bottom, which is why N. adoketa should be fed with sinking food. Additional greens, in form of tabs or flakes can be given, as long as the main diet consists of animal proteins.

We feed our pair with Insect soft granulate, Krill soft granulate and Artemia soft granulate next to differents sorts of frozen food.

An aquarium for this species should not be to small, due to their sometimes aggressive behaviour. A length of 150 cm gives enough space for keeping this species in a small group. The aquarium should have a lot of hiding spots. This is possible to create with aquarium roots, stones, caves and other nature products, like coconut shells. Plants in the aquarium also create barriers and possibilities to make territories. As substrate quartz sand does its job very well. On top of that a layer of dead leaves (catappa, walnut, etc.) can be added, to create more hiding spots and add tannins to the aquarium water.

Since this species doesn't like strong current, there is no need for an additional streaming pump next to the filtration. The light should not be chosen to bright, since this species comes out of a black water region. In nature, light does not get far through the dark water.

The temperature should be around 25 - 28 °C. Nannacara adoketa is quite flexible with the pH and mineral saturation, but the most comfortable it feels with an acidic pH under 7 and almost no hardeners in the water. To get this parameters, you can add a combination of peat, alder cones and dead leaves into the aquarium. Are those parameters given, the cichlids will thank you with a great coloration and maybe even spawn.

Sexing Nannacara adoketa is not so easy, since subdominant males sometimes imitate the coloration of females. In general, they say that males grow several inches taller and develop a more voluminous head than females. In "normal-coloration" the male shows more vivid colors. During breeding time though, both show a black-and-white pattern with blue fins.

In nature also Nannacara adoketa is an open spawner. The female sticks its eggs to a substrate, like a piece of wood, a stone or a leave. The male fertilizes than the eggs.

Both parents take care of protecting and raising the fry.

In the aquarium breeding is possible but not so easy. Really clean water with almost no minerals and a low pH is necessary for the parents to get in breeding mood and the eggs to develop well. It is said that a water temperature of 25 °C is enough. It is better not to disturb the parents too much so that they do not eat their own spawn.
The first few days after hatching, the babies will eat from their yolk sacs. After some days you can feed the fry with freshly hatched brine shrimps, Sealife Proaktive or other small food. Later it is possible to give all kinds of industrial food.