Description
The cockatoo cichlid is the easiest apistogramma to find and keep, and a good gateway to South American dwarf cichlids. The male, about 8 cm long, owes its name to the dorsal fin: the first rays extend into spikes reminiscent of a cockatoo's crest.
Bred forms — "double red", "orange flag" — have tail and dorsal fins washed in intense red and orange. The female is smaller and yellow, turning lemon yellow with black markings when breeding.
Unlike many relatives, it tolerates moderately hard water and needs neither peat nor RO. What it does need is structure: leaf litter, caves and plants where each female has her own corner.
Behavior
Peaceful towards other fish and territorial with its own kind. One male with two or three females is ideal: the male patrols a wide territory spanning several females' patches, and each female defends her cave.
It lives well with small, calm mid-water fish: ember tetras, rasboras, cardinal or neon tetras.
Avoid housing it with other bottom-dwelling dwarf cichlids in small tanks, the kribensis included; large fish that intimidate it; and shrimp if you want them to breed, because it hunts them.
A 60 cm tank for one male and two females is the reasonable minimum; more females need more floor space.
Habitat
Apistogramma cacatuoides lives in the upper Amazon, in Peru, Colombia and western Brazil: slow streams, pools and lake margins with a bottom covered in leaves, fallen branches and roots.
It is a leaf-litter fish, hiding in it and hunting the invertebrates that live there. That is the setup that makes it feel at home: fine sand, dried catappa or oak leaves, coconut shells or small caves, and subdued light.
Details
🌊 Water parameters
🐠 Minimum tank size
Breeding
A cave spawner. The female sticks the eggs to the roof of a small cave and tends them alone; the male stays outside, guarding the perimeter. While breeding the female turns bright yellow and attacks anything that approaches, the male included.
The fry swim out after about a week and the mother leads them across the bottom. They take brine shrimp nauplii from the start.
As in other species of the genus, water temperature during incubation tilts the sex ratio: warmer water produces more males.
Diet
A micropredator: in the wild it eats larvae, small crustaceans and insects found in the leaf litter.
- Staple: fine quality sinking granules.
- Essential: live or frozen food several times a week: brine shrimp, daphnia, mosquito larvae, cyclops.
On dry food alone it survives, but the male loses colour and the pair rarely breeds. It is the fish where frozen food shows most.
What about your tank?
Enter your tank's values to see only the compatible species that fit them. Litres apply to fish.
Compatible fish
General guidance based on water parameters, behaviour and known exceptions; always review the individual animals' and aquarium's specific needs.
They share water: pH 6–7.5 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7.5 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7.5 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7.5 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7.5 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7.5 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7.5 and 24–25 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7.5 and 24 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 27–28 °C.
They share water: pH 7–7.5 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7.5 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7.5 and 25–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7.5 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7.5 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7.5 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7.5 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 7.5 and 24–28 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 7.5 and 24–28 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7.2 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7.5 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7.5 and 24 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 7–7.5 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 26–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7.5 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6–6.5 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7.5 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7.5 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7.5 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7.5 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 7–7.5 and 24–28 °C.
Compatible invertebrates
General guidance based on water parameters, behaviour and known exceptions; always review the individual animals' and aquarium's specific needs.
They share water: pH 7–7.5 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–6.5 and 24 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 6.5–7.5 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 7–7.5 and 24–25 °C.
They share water: pH 7.5 and 24–28 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 7–7.5 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 7–7.5 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7.5 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6–6.8 and 24 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 6–6.8 and 24 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 6.5–7.5 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 7.5 and 27–28 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 7–7.5 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7.5 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7.5 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7.5 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7.5 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7.5 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 7–7.5 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7.5 and 24–28 °C.
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They share water: pH 7–7.5 and 24–28 °C.
Sources
- FishBaseFroese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2026. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication.
- Seriously FishSeriously Fish. Apistogramma cacatuoides. Ficha de especie; consultada 2026-08.
pH discrepancy: Seriously Fish gives 5-6, with wild fish in mind; FishBase, 6-8. The profile uses 6-7.5 for captive-bred fish, which are the ones in the trade.
The effect of temperature on the sex ratio does not come from these sources: it comes from breeding studies of the genus Apistogramma.
Plan your next aquarium
Is this fish right for you? Plan a suitable aquarium before setting it up.