Panda Dwarf Cichlid

About

Here is the dwarf cichlid where the female steals the show. She goes butter-yellow with bold black blotches on the head and flank and a red-edged tail — the blotching is what earned the fish its shop name. The male is larger, blue-grey and red-rimmed on the tail, and far less dramatic. He is also why the tank has to be long: he patrols the whole floor while each female holds one small cave inside his beat. Then there is the water, and this is where pandas are bought and lost. Home is a handful of blackwater creeks in the Río Ucayali drainage of northern Peru, measured at 3 to 25 microsiemens with a pH around 5.5 — softer than rainwater in a barrel, and nothing like anything that comes out of a Lithuanian tap. The published tolerable band is pH 5.0–6.5 at under about 4 °dGH. The fish will live above that. It will not breed there either: the one care sheet that ties the two together reports that above about pH 5.5 the eggs are unlikely to hatch, and the breeding advice everywhere else asks for water softer and more acidic still. Reverse osmosis is not an accessory for this species; it is the equipment. Temperature does something stranger. In this genus the sex of a brood is not settled when the eggs are laid but during the first weeks of life, and temperature loads the dice: cool water gives mostly females, warm water mostly males. The published study covers 33 species of the genus and it measured the sensitive window — about 30 to at least 40 days after spawning — in a relative, not in the panda. What keepers report for the panda itself is that broods raised above 26 °C come out male-heavy. Treat that as a reason to hold the thermostat steady, not as a dial you can turn. One last honesty note, about size. A careful species profile gives males 8.5 cm and females 7 cm; one database says about 9 cm total length; a long-running care sheet says 5 cm; and the taxonomic literature, measuring preserved fish to the tail base, has 3.9 cm. We gate on the large end, because no panda was ever harmed by too much floor.

Care

One male to two or three females, in a tank at least 80 cm long and around 90 litres: the length is for him, the caves are for them. Fine sand, wood, and enough coconut shells, pots or crevices that no female can see her neighbour's front door. Dried leaves on the bottom, dim light, gentle flow. Microsorum, Cryptocoryne and Anubias are the plants that grow in that light, and these fish leave them alone. Aim for pH 5.5–6.5 at 25–27 °C with hardness under about 4 °dGH — in most of Lithuania that means an RO unit and remineralised water, not tap water with a bag of peat thrown at it. Small weekly changes beat big ones. Captive-bred fish settle into a quiet community with pencilfish or small tetras; wild imports are better kept alone, and no Apistogramma should share a tank with another Apistogramma. When a female is guarding eggs she becomes the most aggressive fish in the tank, and in a short tank the male is the one who has to leave. The common mistake is buying the fish first and the RO unit later: the panda then sits in hard water looking grey, refuses to spawn, and gets called delicate.

Diet

A micropredator on small bottom invertebrates. Frozen and live daphnia, artemia, cyclops and bloodworm are the core. Whether dry food is taken depends on who you ask — Seriously Fish and The Tropical Tank say most fish accept it, AquaInfo says it is hardly accepted — so offer a small sinking pellet and plan the diet around live and frozen anyway. Small portions once or twice a day.

Telling males from females

What works for this species, most reliable first.

• Extended finsStrong · from about 8 months, and later in a suppressed male

  On many cichlids and killifish the male's dorsal and anal fins draw out into trailing points as he matures, while the female's stay rounded.

• VentingA hint only · only on a mature fish, easiest when she is in breeding condition

  The method breeders use when the answer has to be right. Hold the fish upside down in a wet hand or soft net and look at the two openings ahead of the anal fin. The forward one is the anus; the one behind it is what you are reading.

• Adult sizeA hint only · only across animals of the same age

  In many cichlids, catfish and loaches one sex simply grows larger — usually the male, though there are well-known reversals.

Also in these lists

Similar species

Same category and the closest water parameters — if this species isn't quite it, start here.

Sold in Lithuania

These Lithuanian shops listed this species in their public catalogue (checked August 8, 2026). Stock moves — ask before you travel.

These links are unpaid: we get nothing for them and ask for nothing.

Frequently asked questions

What tank size does a Panda Dwarf Cichlid need?

A Panda Dwarf Cichlid needs an aquarium of at least 90 litres (23.8 US gallons) with a footprint at least 80 cm (31.5 in) long — for this species, swimming length matters as much as raw volume.

What water parameters does a Panda Dwarf Cichlid need?

Panda Dwarf Cichlid does best at 24–29 °C (75.2–84.2 °F), pH 5–6.8 and a general hardness of 0–5 °dGH.

What group size does a Panda Dwarf Cichlid need?

Panda Dwarf Cichlid is a social species — keep a group of at least 3 so natural behaviour emerges and stress stays low.

Is the Panda Dwarf Cichlid suitable for beginners?

Panda Dwarf Cichlid is a demanding species best attempted with some experience — it needs stable, closely watched conditions to thrive.

Sources

• Seriously Fish — Apistogramma nijsseni
• FishBase — Apistogramma nijsseni Kullander, 1979
• AquaInfo — Apistogramma nijsseni
• The Aquarium Wiki — Panda Dwarf Cichlid (Apistogramma nijsseni)
• The Krib — Apisto Fry: Temperature and pH (Apistogramma mailing-list archive, 1997–2000)
• The Tropical Tank — Apistogramma nijsseni (panda dwarf cichlid)
• Wikipedia — Apistogramma nijsseni