Amatitlania septemfasciata

Amatitlania septemfasciata a small cichlid from Costa Rica. Which I found in small streams how drains their water in the Toro river. The Toro river is located just north-west from the village Limon and drains into the Caribbean Sea in its vicinity.

[@WillsAquarist]

Absolutely outstanding Hans. Such incredible footage and naration!

[@cichlidsinthewild]

Thanks Andrew I am happy you guys enjoyed the video.

[@fletchqc9900]

You've earned a new subscriber! Seeing wild cichlids is always amazing

[@Banderad]

Beautiful video! Which tetra species appear in the video?

[@cichlidsinthewild]

Thanks Asterhed, these are Astyanax mexicanus how you will find in most Central American rivers

[@dcphifer4307]

Thank you Hans for this in depth presentation of their natural habitat. I had picked up a bunch of these Amatitlania septemfasciata at a fish club swap. I have been working on a 55 Gallon tank for them. I got them very young. I have a nice substrate for them but see that I need to find more larger River Rock bolders and find branches. Your video of their underwater habitat is most useful as I was not thinking to create it this way. I originally creating this to be a Community Tank. But, since then I decided to put the Amatitlania septemfasciata into this tank, instead.
What Algae should I look into for the River Rock Boulders?

[@cichlidsinthewild]

Hi DC, thanks for your compliment. And I am happy you found some inspiration in my videos to setup a nice habitat imitation for your cichlids , that’s why Ian doing this. In natural habitats you find the most algae by clear water, so the sun ore some bright lights above your tank can bring you some algae’s. The problem is it can also affects your front window, so try to find the balance. Success with your tank setup.

[@ansvel]

Terrible burr...😪

[@thomascallaghan5988]

Amazing just amazing I love every video

[@cichlidsinthewild]

Thanks Thomas, I am happy you enjoyed them.

[@MarcoIsidori]

Hi Hans! These shots and natural environments of the Rio Toro are fantastic.
I was very impressed by the clean and clear water despite the foliage in the water.
There is also a presence of green algae in many stones where the poecillids I believe get a lot of food. I have also seen other cichlids besides Amatitlania septemfasciata.
Those characins look like Astyanax but I'm not sure what species.
The couples of Amatitlania with the little ones with the pattern of parental care are really beautiful.
I wish you a happy weekend.

[@cichlidsinthewild]

Thanks Marco, yes there are for sure more cichlids in the video.

[@bees8390]

Hi Hans, do you also notice the difference in breeding dress between the septemfasciata along the east coast vs inland vs the arenal area? I notice the east coast variant is tall bodies with barring, the central Costa Rican variety has the blue breeding dress with no bars, and the arenal variant has the black breeding dress with no barring.

[@cichlidsinthewild]

Hi Bees, yes I did. I have observed them mainly from the Rio San Jose up to Rio Bananito. In other rivers the had the same basic colour but no vertical stripes. Only a black spot and their well known dark mask. In the Rio San Jose the even show a very light purple colouration.

[@bees8390]

@@cichlidsinthewild Thank you for your response. I currently own the limon variant with the black barring, and have kept the rio cornito (sucio) variant before.

[@thatguy1733]

Did I see Kribensis?

[@danielstephenson9577]

No i’d hope not, kribensis are african (not in the lakes though). Still possible though, because the fish trades made many invasive species

[@trillb0t]

Thank you for this wonderful video

[@cichlidsinthewild]

Thanks TrillbOt

[@chrisgeorge4429]

I love your videos!

[@cichlidsinthewild]

Thanks Chris.