Description
Acestridium dichromum is a small loricariid catfish of about 6.5 cm, with an elongated body and a pointed snout, from the upper Rio Negro, in Brazil, and the upper Orinoco, in Venezuela, including the Casiquiare Canal. Its name probably alludes to its changing body colour from brown to green, and it is known only from those two basins and what lies between them.
It needs a group and a mature tank of clean, soft water, with wood and leaves to graze. It is not a fish for a first pleco.
Behavior
Peaceful and discreet, it does better in a group of five or more and stays on the bottom and on wood. Its small size makes it vulnerable to lively fish that take its food.
It lives well with tiny, calm tetras, dwarf corydoras and other peaceful soft-water fish.
Avoid housing it with larger or territorial cichlids and with fish that compete for the bottom.
Habitat
Acestridium dichromum is known only from the upper Negro, in Brazil, the upper Orinoco, in Venezuela, and the drainages linking them, including the Casiquiare. The type locality is Pozo Lucas, a tributary of the Orinoco 7 km south of San Fernando de Atabapo, in Amazonas state, Venezuela.
Details
🌊 Water parameters
🐠 Minimum tank size
Breeding
Its breeding is not documented.
Diet
A probable grazer of algae, biofilm and small debris, like the rest of its subfamily.
- Staple: small sinking tablets and blanched greens.
- Supplement: frozen mosquito larvae or daphnia and leaf litter to graze.
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 5–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 5–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 5.5–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 5.5–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 5.5–7 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 5.5–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 25–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–25 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 5–7 and 27–28 °C.
They share water: pH 7 and 24–28 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 25–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 5–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 5.5–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 5.5–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 5–6.5 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 5–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 5–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 5–7 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 5–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 7 and 24–27 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 5.6–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 5.5–7 and 26–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 5.5–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 5–6.5 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 5.5–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 5–7 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 5.5–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 5.5–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 5.5–7 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 6–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 5.5–7 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 5.5–7 and 24–27 °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 and 24–28 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 5.5–6.5 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 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 7 and 24–25 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 7 and 24–28 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 7 and 24–28 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 5.8–6.8 and 24 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 5.8–6.8 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 and 24–27 °C.
They share water: pH 7 and 24–28 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24–26 °C.
They share water: pH 7 and 24–28 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 7 and 24–28 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
They share water: pH 6.5–7 and 24–28 °C.
They share water: pH 7 and 24–28 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
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They share water: pH 7 and 24–28 °C. They only meet at the very edge, so the tank has to hold that value.
Sources
- FishBaseFroese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. 2026. FishBase. World Wide Web electronic publication.
There is no source for this species' water: none of the accepted sources records its pH, temperature or hardness, and the profile's ranges are estimated from its congeners or species of the same genus.
Water: the profile's ranges (pH 5-7, 1-8 dGH and 24-28 °C) are estimated from those of other soft-water loricariids in the catalogue. Size: 6.3 cm SL in FishBase. Distribution: upper Negro and upper Orinoco, including the Casiquiare.
Litres per fish, tank sizes and lifespan: the profile's own judgement. The sources consulted do not give them.
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