Cryptoheros Spilurus 'cutteri' ? ?

crap pics but they seem to be scared of the camera!
got them from a a guy with a wild breeding pair, so these are f1, that is the name i was given but when i look it up they all look different!

yeah that most certainly is a Cryptoheros Spilurus
cracking little fellow

ah cheers for that, must of been halfway through uploading when you posted!!

just a couple more!

Dave

still sure its a Cryptoheros Spilurus

ok cheers for that, i will just wait for a few more people to comment, not that i don't trust your judgment, its just for my reassurance really!!
cheers,
Dave

nobody else know about these fish??

Absolute beauties mate, been trying to get them for years

thanks, i was unsure about them at first but they are growing on me, they are supposidly 1 male and 1 female so will hopefully breed when they mature, may still go get a couple more so i definately get a pair!!

Dave

Nice fish. Looking great.

They are definitely cutteri Dave



If you notice the first and third bar are much more vivid than that of the second,
Also they have the distinct pale blue patch running almost horizontally across the fish

Both are distinct features of the C.Spilurus 'Cutteri' variant that the C.Spilurus lack.

If you can get them showing their breeding colours that will be a surefire way of id'ing them as cutteri turn white, whereas spilurus don't

all them pics are of the same fish, as the other wouldn't stay still, otherwise id of asked your opinion on their sex!
they are meant to be male and female, on the one presumably female, its anal fin is more rounded than on the other, is that a way to sex them?
they are both near identical in colour.
yes they have a metallic blue horizontal line.
they are only around 3 inch so still young, the guy said they was around 8 months old.
occasionally the one assumed to be male chases the other, could this meen they are both males, or would this still happen with 1 male and 1 female??

cheers,
Dave

Yes the one in the pic looks female, The length and shape of the dorsal and anal fins should give a clear indication to the others, same with most cichlid species really.
Cutteri are quite a feisty cichlid given their size and both males and females will have the odd dig at each other, especially when they are just establishing territories.

ah ok, thats a bit of reassurance!
the one in the pic is slightly smaller than the other, say 1cm or so, and is the one thought to be female, i still cant get a decent pic of the other but it definitely has slightly longer and 'pointyer' dorsal and anal fins, they do seem quite feisty, more or less just with each other as opposed to other tank mates, i gathered its just in their nature, as with most cichlids.
is there any other cichlids that could live in the same tank as these?
the same guy i got these off has quite a few young (4 inch) geophagus surinamensis, i know these can get to around 12"
compatible?
also he has rainbow cichlids (Herotilapia multispinosa), these stay smaller i've read, are these aggressive or not too bad?
i am happy with the cutteri, so if i can't keep any other cichlids i'll be happy just with these so it doesn't matter too much. or maybe i will extend to 4 cutteri? that a good or bad idea do you think?

Cheers,
Dave

What size tank do you have them in Dave?
both rainbows and the geos are generally more peaceful than the cutteri but in certain tank sizes both could be kept alongside them.

Geophagus surinamensis are a great species but are a true shoaler and are much better kept in a large group, when kept in a small number like 2 they usually act quite territorial to each other which is out of character really for the species, I wouldn't go with these unless you could house a group of 5, sizewise i'd say 8-9inches is usually about the norm.

Rainbows on the other hand could be kept in just a pair, and provided the tank is around 200L+ you should be fine with both pairs and a few dithers. Rainbows get to 5" max

Other pairs that could be kept with Cutteri include any of the Firemouth variants (i.e. T.Meeki, T.Ellioti or T. Aureus) You could also keep singular cichlids with the pair, Acaras, severums etc. will mix in a good sized tank.

Or yes you could go for an all cutteri setup with multiple pairs

the tank which the cutteri are in is a 240 litre.
not so keen on the firemouths, or siilar sp. just simply as i see them as 'normal', something i had when i was younger, something you see everyday, if ya get what i meen, i like to see different things, fish i dont usually see when i go to the lfs! am i too picky?? lol

erm i doubt the tank, with the current occupants is big enough to house more than 2 of the surinamensis so mabe i might go with the rainbow cichlids, the guy said he has 2 males and 1 female so could get 1 male and 1 female, wasn't expensive, about £4 each and was around 4/5", that an ok price?
the cutteri was £.50 each and are around 3" was that ok?
erm i have in the tank, various cats eg. s. eupterus, m. leucophasis, p. pictus, L122 pleco, LDA033 pleco pink tailed characin, bush fish, 1 hujeta gar/characin, 2 nandus nandus, 2 delhezi bichirs.
i know the hujeta and pink tailed characin are said to be aggressive fish but they really keep them selves to them selves, somewhere down the line, probably a couple of months now, i will be collecting my 6x3x2 so all fish will be in a more appropriately sized tank!
the cichlids were only small so would like to grow them before they'd go into a bigger tank.
they would almost certainly be the last fish i buy for the tank until i get the bigger one.
it has a fluval fx5 on the 240L so is well filtered!!

Dave