Care
The Gold Saum is native to the coastal streams of northern Peru and northwards to western Ecuador, as far as the Esmeraldas River. Relatives from further north of the Esmeraldas River are thought to represent Andinoacara stalsbergi (once believed to be synonymous with A. rivulatus) the real Green Terror - despite every commercial breeder using this common name for rivulatus. The aquarium should be spacious, with a soft sand substrate and plenty of hiding places/visual barriers created using driftwood, rocky caves, and robust planting such as Java Fern or Anubias sp. tied to the decor, along with some floating species. Filtration should be efficient but water movement not too vigorous, and small frequent water changes will help keep nitrate to a minimum. Green Terrors are notoriously aggressive and territorial fish, and as such are best maintained singly or as a known compatible male-female pair. If housing a pair in a modest aquarium, they should be the only cichlids in the tank as tankmates would be attacked and quite likely killed if they decide to breed. If keeping a single specimen, in larger quarters it could be combined with other robust cichlids, large armoured catfish, silver dollars, sizeable barbs etc.
Feeding
Omnivorous and will accept most aquarium foods offered. Try to keep it varied with good quality carnivore and herbivore flakes, sinking pellets/sticks, and a mixture of frozen foods such as white mosquito larvae, bloodworm, vitamin-enriched brineshrimp, Mysis, krill, and chopped prawns, along with some fresh vegetable matter.
Breeding
This species has been bred in the home aquarium and is quite straightforward providing that you can obtain a mated pair. Simply placing a male and female fish together is unlikely to work long term, and the male could end up injuring the female if they are not compatible. It may be possible to spot juveniles pairing off in your dealer's tanks, otherwise, it is best to use a clear divider and let the fish get used to seeing one another for a few weeks before removing the divider and observing carefully. Tankmates are not an option if these cichlids decide to breed, so if there are other fish in the tank, they will need to be moved for their own safety. In order to encourage successful breeding, the water should be soft and slightly acidic, with the temperature set at the higher end of the preferred range and the fish conditioned on plenty of frozen foods. Spawning often follows a large, cool water change. The pair will chose and clean a spawning site, usually a flat rock or a pit dug in the substrate. The female then deposits a line of eggs before moving away and allowing the male to move in and fertilise them. This process is repeated until up to 600 eggs are laid/fertilised, and these should hatch within 3-4 days. The female will tend to the eggs during this time, whilst the male vigorously defends the perimeter. Upon hatching, the fry are moved to a pre-dug pit in the substrate, where they will stay until the yolk sac has been absorbed. The young should become free-swimming within a further week, and can then be offered baby brineshrimp (Artemia nauplii) and powdered first foods. It is always best to leave the fry with the parents until broodcare begins to cease (usually 4-6 weeks) because if they are removed early, the male may attempt another spawning with the female, and if she is not receptive, he may kill her. Observe very carefully.
