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Blue Cheek Dwarf Cichlid
As most Apistogrammas can be, the Blue Cheeks tend to be territorial fish. They will stake out a spot in the aquarium, usually circled around a rock formation or a clump of plant matter. Fish such as tetras or catfish usually aren't harassed like other cichlids are when it comes to this territory. The Blue Cheek will defend the site from other cichlids, seemingly impervious to the opponent's size. Of course there is a limit to how big a rival can be before the dwarf will back off, such as a person's hand coming in to clean the aquarium, so by no means assume this fish could take on the likes of a 10-inch predatory fish. Blue Cheek males reach up to two and a half inches in length, but can flare their fins to make themselves appear much bigger. When Blue Cheeks are young, they are grey in color, which varies from a pasty-white when they are scared to a very dark coat of almost-black bars that grid their body when they are in hiding. They also have a mustache of electric-blue streaks across their cheeks, hence the name. When males become older, their pelvic and dorsal fins take on new colors and size. The fins become longer, the pelvic fins developing orange tips and the dorsal fin growing a long red tip that reaches to the end of the caudal fin. Speaking of the caudal fin, this body part also changes a bit. Dark orange coloring increases on the upper and lower lobes of the fin and two spikes seem to grow out of the lobes as well.
Flake Food, Freeze-Dried Tubifex Worms, Shrimp Pellets
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