# Just bought a pair of Pelvicachromis taeniatus



## Zapins

As the title says I just got a pair of these interesting fish on friday and I have them in a 5g bucket until i can set up a 10g for them on sunday. These fish are F0's so they still aren't used to flake food yet.

Very interesting behaviors, I got worried today when I looked in the bucket as the female was just under the surface. I thought something was wrong with the water as I don't have a filter set up to circulate the water yet. 

So I changed 65% of the water and came back an hour or so later. The female was still under the surface. I decided to feed them, they didn't eat the food but it looked like they were tasting it, sucking it in and spitting it out again. 

Then I realized that the female must be "fishing" for little bugs that are coming though the broken screen. Never seen this behavior before but it all makes sense now  Just thought I'd share.


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## fredyk

they are detritus feeders. not a high protein diet, unless, like you have lot of it. I feed mine high protein. but whatever. also it will be good to have some 'dithers' It will help cement the bond, and they won't pick on each other, but pick on the 'dithers'. Give a cave for breeding, plants and rocks for territories.
Edit: the female, at the surface, may be getting picked on by the male. just a thought.


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## Zapins

Yep, good advice, just got to get them to start eating flake. 

I've bred some kribs before so I'm assuming they need the same sort of conditions to breed?

Not sure what you mean by dithers exactly but I assume its other fish of that species. I don't think I can get more of these at the moment, the petstore only had these two.

I got them for 40$ for the pair (not sure if its a good price or not), what did you get yours for?

Just looked at them today and the female is back at the bottom in the pot I have there. The male seems very gentle from what I have seen, although I will probably need to observe them more 

By the by, have you had success breeding them?


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## fredyk

I actually have kribs, a close cousin. for much less$ lol


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## JanS

Hi Zapins.

Dithers are usually fish of other species that are tough enough to stand up to the fish you're putting them in with as a distraction to spread the aggression around. Of course they shouldn't be so tough that they are going to beat up on the fish you're putting them in with, and they should have similar requirements when it comes to water conditions. 

Do you have any pics of your new fish?


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## Zapins

Ahh I see, b/c dither has to do with computer modeling/technical things so I was a bit confused 

I set them up in a 10g with some old floura base substrate and 2 different sized clay pots with some different moss species. They are both happily traveling around the bottom of the tank sucking up the dust/clay and spitting it out. I assume they are eating bits and pieces of old organic stuff that was left over from the last setup.

I might try adding some blanched zucchini to see if they like it. Maybe i'll try some boiled rice and other veggies. Maybe I'll feed them a bit of chicken too.... hmmmmm the possibilities are endless!!

I can post some pics later tonight  They are both beautiful fish, much more colorful than kribs xD


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## Zapins

Hmm, thought I'd update on this thread. 

The female is in brilliant coloration and spends all day eating (I can see her stomach is bigger now so I suspect eggs are on the way). The male just sits in his little cave and seems to dig sometimes (there is a pile of substrate outside the cave). He is really odd, he doesn't venture out of the cave much at all I'm not really sure why. He seems sort of antisocial and she is very social, lol. 

I recently added a pair of veijita apistos to the same tank to act as "dithers." The female pelvicachromis is the one that defends the cave territory she chases the intruders around the tank while the male just sits in his cave all day. Haha. 

I got a good picture of the female and I'll post it later, the male is hard to photograph since he hardly ever leaves his cave.


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## Zapins

Ok finally updated w/ pics of the pair! Enjoy!

http://www.freewebs.com/zapins/fishpictures.htm

Just scroll down under the angel fish pics.

I couldn't get a better picture of the male since he tends to be very shy and just digs in his cave all day while the female roots around her territory. She is very pretty IMO  And pretty aggressive towards the veijita apisto pair that I added after the pelvachromis pair.


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## gheitman

A pair of apistos aren't necessarily the best dither fish for your new Pelvicachromis taeniatus. Your dither fish should be the focus of aggression and not potential aggressors themselves. Apistos also occupy the same space as your P. taeniatus (near the bottom of your tank) which means they'll be competing for food, living space, breeding spots, etc. I recommend that you consider returning the apistos, or putting them in another tank, and getting some Congo tetras instead. Congo tetras are the perfect dither fish in this case because they stay in the middle levels of the tank and are good looking fish besides. I used to keep Congo tetras in a tank with kribs and this worked out perfectly.


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## Zapins

Yep, I plan to remove the apistos on thursday (when I have my free day), just temporarily storing them in the 10g, they don't seem to be causing too much trouble, the female pelvicachromis generally chases the veijita around the tank showing them who's who in the zoo.

I have tried feeding them several food items and they don't seem to eat any one of them with any particular relish. I have tried egg yolk with some success, but they don't seem to eat frozen pees, blanched zucchini, beetroot, boiled carrots, flake food, algae wafers (for plecos), white part of the egg, cooked fish, or chicken. Any ideas what they might like to eat?

I mostly see the female picking at unseen things on the bottom and in the moss, so I assume shes eating diatoms/algae, but I would like to supplement their diet to help induce spawning. I have been changing the water every few days to help stimulate breeding conditions, I raised the water temp to just under 80F, and have been adding less calcium/magnesium each water change. 

The female keeps looking into the many clay pots I have set up for them, but the male stays in 1 pot and just digs all day. Soo... hmmm...


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## Six

As dithers I have used:

-_Epiplatys dageti_ with my _Pelvicachromis pulcher_ "Red form" which are "kribs" in a 29g:








the killies have spawned as well as the cichlids

-Montezuma swordtails with _Pelvicachromis taeniatus_ "Lokundje" in a 20L

-Endler's Livebearers with _P. taeniatus_ "Keinke" in a 20L.

A dither fish needs to be a disimilar fish (ie; not another cichlid or benthic dwelling fish) and a fish that can take a little "run around". Apistos qualify as neither and honeslty, I would take them out ASAP to keep each species from getting stressed (ie; the apistos as they will lose any battle to a pelvic, expecially a pair) and possibly sick.

Also, I would suggest keeping your Pelvics in no smaller than a 20L. Sure, while they are acclimating, they'll be fine in anything (even a bucket), but you WILL come across aggression issues eventually. Even my pair bonded fish will harass eachother if there is not enough "personal space". I keep plants in my Pelvic breeding tanks as well as caves for just this reason.

If you just bought "_Pelvicachromis taeniatus_", you overpaid. $40 a pair should come with a location varient name. Resell value on a species like this without a location name (ie; "Lokundje", "Keinke") won't be much; I'd say as much as a common kribensis.

As for food, like was said, they'll eat through detritus, but any frozen food given in variety should suffice.

GL. HTH.


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## Six

I realize you said the apistos are leaving this week. That's good news. Also, I looked at your photos of the fish and sometimes you can tell the location from a photo, but I can't tell for sure. Perhaps _P. taeniatus_ "Moliwe" although the male isn't colored up enough to tell. I would ask the place you bought them if that is indeed the location they were collected. I'm suprised they were selling wild fish without a location name, but then again, I'm a cichlidiot ^^.

Also, I would never suggest feeding chicken to any fish. It contains protein, but not one fish would find in the wild. I feed Cycopeeze, enriched brine, daphnia, mosquito larvae (in the summer months), HBH soft pellets for herbivores and New Life Spectrum pellets.

GL!


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## Zapins

Yes the pet store did say they were P. taeniatus "Moliwe" at the store on the tank. 

Hmm thanks for your comments Six! They are helpful.

The veijita apistos seem to be flirting now as well and checking out caves, so I will definately be moving them soon, so they don't start problems w/ spawning disputes with the P.T.'s 

Hmm... as for frozen foods I don't have room for a fridge in my room, although maybe if I could find a mini-mini fridge the size of a shoe box I could store some frozen foods for them...

Not sure why the male isn't more colorful but I checked out other pics of P. taeniatus "Moliwe" and the males don't seem to get as well colored as the females so I'm not sure that it will color up any more.

The P.T.'s seem much more active now, and the male has come out of his basement-cave. The pair now patrols the area and regularly chases the apistos. I think those frequent water changes are really helping 

Will post more pics soon.

If anyone else has P. taeniatus or kribs or any other similar fish please post your experiences w/ them !!


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## gheitman

When I kept kribs it was in a 29 gallon tank planted with a lot of Anubias and Java ferns. I had some rock caves for spawning and a half dozen Congo tetras as dither fish. I fed them New Life Spectrum and Hikari freeze dried foods for the most part along with frozen foods such as brine shrimp and bloodworms three times a week. They spawned for me pretty regularly.


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## Six

If the fish are wild, I would personally go through a "low o2" stage where you simulate a dry season. Then, near the full moon/new moon phase (I think full is best; I forget when our fish naturally spawn...) do a large water change. We'll let the water evaporate out a few inches and even just refill it and get results. Usually the best results come from the simulation though. Also, if you have bad luck spawning the fish, use an RO-h2o mix as your base for their aquarium. The closer the fish are to wild caught, the more they prefer exceedingly soft water. Our F-2 babies don't care either way


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## Zapins

Don't the pelvachromis come from very hard water though? 

I'm thinking of the other african cichlids and their high gh needs.


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## ed seeley

Zapins said:


> Don't the pelvachromis come from very hard water though?
> 
> I'm thinking of the other african cichlids and their high gh needs.


The other African cichlids you're thinking about are from the East African Rift Valleys. They need hard, alkaline water.

Pelvicachromis (along with Nanochromis and other West African species) come from forest streams which are generally mineral poor and acidic. They aren't usually as soft and acidic as a typical South American river, such as the *****, and the fish seem to adapt better to harder water better than SA dwarfs (However some, such as Nanochromis transvestitus do need very soft water).
They definitely do not need hard water though.


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## Zapins

LoL oh ok... that would explain why they seem more active now that I keep changing the water. 

Initially I added some Ca and Mg to harden it (matching it to the pet store's parameter that I got them from) and the water changes have been lowering the GH ever since.

Isn't it odd though that the female displays to the male? Normally with other cichlids its the male that must look good for the female.


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## JanS

I'm a little late here, and I think most of your fish questions have been covered.
Nice looking fish BTW.

But - I want to see the photos of the "stupid tree" now... LOL! They aren't showing up for me for some reason...


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## Zapins

Hehe, its not too late JanS, I'd love to hear you answer my Q's as well! The more solutions the better!

Oh man... that tree was a beaast!!! Practically tore my hand off lol. I didn't post pics of the tree itself though (or I might shake with fear every time I looked at my website). But it was a type of pine tree... definately a pine tree... :-D


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## ed seeley

The whole Chromidotilapiini Tribe (which includes Pelvicachromis, Nanochromis, Benitochromis, Chromidotilapia and a few others) have females who are generally more colourful and take the lead in courtship. IME the colouration of the female accentuates the roundness of the belly which seems to moderate the males aggression. Don't know whether that was a factor in the colouration.

In South American dwarfs, such as Apistogramma, part of the reason that the males are more colourful is probably that they are relatively uninvolved in brood care and control harems. They need to show the females they are genetically fit and producing colour shows you have extra energy to devote to making pigments rather than just growth.

BTW the stream 'Moliwe' comes from has 4dGH, 3dKH, pH 7.6, Conductivity 130 microsiemens and 26oC!


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## Zapins

Wow, thats really interesting!!! Good to know I'm not seeing things w/ the female courting the male xD

By the way, did you mean that in your experience the closer the female is to laying eggs the more her belly enlarges and in turn this makes the male more aggressive?

Also, what does 26 oC mean? Is oC dissolved oxygen or temperature or?? And thanks for those parameters I have been finding it difficult to get any really good info on these guys on the net.


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## ed seeley

Sorry, by oC I meant Temperature in Degrees Centigrade. I just couldn't find the superscript button!
BTW I forgot to say that the habitat info was from Linke and Staeck's book, Cichlids from West Africa.

I meant the rounder her belly the less aggressive the male is towards the female, therefore it is an advantage for a female to look more ripe than she is to keep the male off her back!
In my experience though in Pelvicachromis, male aggression isn't too much of a problem, certainly not with the smaller speices I have kept. However in Nanochromis it has been for me. 
Apparently, in the wild a male will hold a territory and when a females is ready to breed, i.e. she has a ripe belly full of eggs, she will pair with a male and they will spawn fairly quickly. In Pelvicachromis they then usually stay bonded and go on to raise many successful broods.
However in our tanks they get shoved together before the female's ready, but the male is 'thinking', well she's in my territory, she must be ready to spawn. Therefore if the female looks more like she's ready to spawn then male's mood seems to relax and he is less agggressive towards the female.

Interestingly in P.taeniatus it seems that sometimes the male isn't that interested in breeding with the female! It can be like he isn't bothered (Obviously got a headache...) Apparently in the wild large groups of adolescents often congregate and it's thought by some that the competition between males and females spurs on the breeding instinct, that's why, if you have space, it can be best to buy a small group and let pairs form naturally.


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## Zapins

Hmm yes, the male doesn't seem to be terribly interested in my tank. The female is constantly shimmying in front of him and he usually pays no mind. I'm not sure if I can get another pair of these guys as they were the only ones in the store. Any idea how to get the male interested?

The female's belly is practically bulging with eggs and she is constantly eating algae around the tank. Her colors are amazing!!


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## ed seeley

Try a mirror! If the male sees another male in his territory it might spark him into action! 
Otherwise a few 'target' fish in there temporarily, that won't come to too much harm - maybe common kribs as they are close enough to provoke a respnse. Do you have any other cichlids in another tank you could transfer across for a few weeks?


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## Zapins

Well, just the apisto veijitas that I have in there already. But he doesn't bother them too too much, its mostly the female that chases the apistos around.


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## ed seeley

I'd try a mirror. Can't hurt to give it a go!


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## Six

If you recently bought the fish, I wouldn't "pressure" them into spawning just yet. A good adjustment period to their new tank should be a semi- hands-off approach. Sometimes too much attention is a bad thing, IME. Let them settle in, do your water changes of course, but I wouldn't put that much effort into getting them to spawn just yet. 

Those red kribbies is have pictured in the thread are actually pretty nasty fish. The male recently killed on of the two females we had left of that morph. There's one female left, and they look to be courting, but man, they are the hardest of my Pelvics to breed/obtain compatability. The female does her dance for him, but it doesnt always work. Hmm..


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## Zapins

lol, I just can't get over the fact that the female fish is the colorful one that does a dance for the male. Its just like people where the females dress up (and gets all her make-up on) and looks attractive for the males.

I think I bought these guys a few weeks ago, maybe 3-4 weeks back? I'd have to check the receipt, how long do you think it will take them to acclimatize? I have had apisto cacatuoides that spawned about a week after I bought them so comparatively these taeniatus are taking their sweet time!! haha


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## Zapins

Hmm, bad news of sorts. 

The male doesn't seem to like the female. He has started chasing her around the tank, she doesn't seem to be getting beaten up or anything, just being chased.

The female hasn't gotten the picture yet though, and tries to shimmy for the male even when he chases her.

Maybe the male is missing his sweetheart back in Africa?


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## ed seeley

Sounds like fairly normal behaviour to be honest! They will be a bit of 'raucous' behaviour often before they settle down. At least the male's taking an interest in her...

Did you ever try the mirror? That may take the male's mind off beating up the female now too! Just keep feeding them up and once she's ready to spawn they'll almost certainly settle down fine. Only if she's in danger should you remove the male. Don't remove the female if at all possible as then she'll have to re-establish herself in the tank's territory when re-introduced.


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## Zapins

the male is following the female around all the time now and doesn't chase her much at all. She is constantly turns around and shimmers at him. 

I see the female's papillae have descended but I cant see the male's yet. They are both constantly swimming in and out of 2 particular caves. The male's burrow and another cave next to it. 

Her belly isn't smaller so I don't think shes laid eggs yet. But it must be getting awfully close to that time!!! xD


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## ed seeley

Good news. Glad to hear things settled down. It might take them a couple of tries to successfully rear a brood, but don't worry this is pretty normal with West Africans in my experience. Just don't disturb them and they'll get it right.


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## Zapins

Best they do or its curtains for them.

J/k lol, I'll update later on their "progress" mauahhaa


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## Six

They've settled in quickly. Sounds like babies will be on the way soon enough. Remember that sometimes first parents will not have the best of luck with their first few broods, so don't expect too much from them on their first go. Just a heads up. 

GL!


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## Zapins

Heh, I think they laid eggs. The female's belly suddenly shrunk back to normal and they seemed to be guarding a cave. Then I checked inside and I saw the male eating the last of the eggs off the roof of the cave while the female was out foraging. 

Haha, she doesn't seem pissed at all. They are both eating like nuts so hopefully they will make more eggs soon!


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## ed seeley

When you say checked inside you don't mean you lifted the cave up do you? Quickest way to get fish to eat their eggs is to lift or move their cave! I wouldn't even trim plants in the tank when you think they might have spawned!

If you just meant you could see the eggs without disturbing anything then no worries. If you keep up the feeding they can spawn again within 10 days IME.


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## Zapins

Heh, nah I just looked through the glass, I didn't touch anything.


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## ed seeley

Cool, didn't think you would, just making sure! It's amazing what some people do and then seem annoyed with the fish for eating their eggs/fry! Any indications of new spawning activity yet? Sure it won't be long.


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## Zapins

I think so, the male keeps shimmying for her and they are both extremely aggressive towards the apistos. They chase them away from any food/for short bursts around the tank. I think I'll be removing the apistos soon.

The pelv's also keep hanging around one side of the tank and going in and out of the pots there, there is a lot of nice hair algae covering the pot openings so I think they have chosen that region of the tank to spawn in. 

The female's belly is beginning to look more full. So I think within a few days they should lay eggs again 

I think I will keep changing the water every night. Maybe 30% a night. Hopefully it won't disturb them too much.


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## Zapins

Ok, I saw the female's papillae descend last night. I turned the lights on half way through the night and after an hour they started shimmying and moving around in a very elaborate and choreographed manner - their mating ritual! I caught it on video and I'll try post it at some point on youtube so you can all see how the wild fish dance!

(Unfortunately my camera incurred some kind of horrible manufacturing defect during my filming! So the upper 1/3rd of the screen is purple in some of the videos :'( I'm so upset!!! I posted about it in the aquarium photography section if anyone is interested :'(((( )


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## ed seeley

Well congrats on the spawning but shame about the camera.


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## Zapins

Ok new updates on this ancient thread.

My fish kept eating the eggs in the 10g. I added them to my 55g a few months ago. They seem to be constantly bickering with a male apisto agazzizi that has been in the same tank for months. I will be removing him and his mate as soon as I can. 

I have been doing large water changes on my 55g over the past few days to clean out a bit of mulm that had built up on the bottom. Since then the Pelvicachromis have colored up quite a bit, and are both actively courting out in the open. This is quite different from before when only the female seemed interested and the male seemed to hide all the time in pots. Now both the fish are checking out caves and eating well. Hopefully they will lay eggs soon and actually raise some babies this time!!

By the way, I finally figured out youtube and added some videos of the Pelvicachromis during a courtship dance filmed last year. There are 4 videos in total. Enjoy!


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## BryceM

Hey Mike,

Somehow I missed this thread earlier. I've been keeping three pair of P. t. 'Moliwe' for about 6 months now in my 180g community tank.

They're nothing short of fabulous - amazingly beautiful, especially when spawning. I'd put them up against SW fish anytime.

The female courtship display is rather entertaining. I've got about a dozen three-month old fry from their first spawn. About a month ago I had two pair spawn at opposite ends of the tank simultaneously. Unfortunately, the parents didn't do as well as the first time and the fifty or sixty free-swimming fry eventually disappeared.

It absolutely blows my mind that these guys were able to keep a dozen of their first brood alive. There are congo tetras, rummynose, harlequins, corries, loaches, and even rams in the same tank. I would have never guessed they'd be able to avoid predation for that long. They're now big enough to sex. Somehow I got about 10 males and 2 females. Some have suggested a pH influence on the sex ratio.

Mine display and spawn regularly at GH 4 KH 3 conditions with frequent waterchanges. I provided them with a few caves which they used the first time, but avoided for their subsequent spawns. This last time one pair hollowed out an area in the substrate under a crypt.

You'll find their parenting instincts to be remarkable. The male is heavily involved and even takes turns to let mom eat once in a while. The little ones follow their mother's displays, dashing to the substrate to avoid danger at a moment's notice. These guys are very, very beautiful & interesting fish.


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## Tex Gal

Zappins where is the link to your youtube video! I wanna see it!


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## Zapins

Wonderful! Someone else keeps them too!! I also love these little fish, they are truly amazing little fish. I am hell bent on getting them to spawn and raise fry. I currently have neon black tetras (7x), 3 apistos, and 50 guppies. Do you think I should remove the tetras as well as the apistos, leaving just the guppies as dithers? I have seen the tetras eat baby guppies so they might prove to be a problem as they are already accustomed to hunting baby fish.

Would you consider selling a few fish?

Do you have any pictures of them online?

Do you know where I could buy a few more? I suspect that having them in a colony will help them feel more comfortable.

My fish can be seen at:
1




2




3




4





Pictures at:
http://www.freewebs.com/zapins/fishpictures.htm


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## Zapins

You know... upon closer inspection I think they might be Pelvicachromis taeniatus "nigerian red" instead of "Moliwie." I say this based on the number of black spots on the female's tail and dorsal fin. 

What do you guys think?


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## BryceM

Yep, I was just going to suggest that yours are a slightly different species. The differences are pretty subtle but your male definately has a more intense red coloration.

Yeah, I might sell a few. I'll be honest - I've never shipped fish before. I'm not sure I'd be willing to risk it right now either. Our temps have been in the single digits. The question is how to net them out of the 180g tank. It's hard enough catching dead fish in that monster. Hmmmmm. I'm actually glad I don't have 60 little ones at the moment.......

I posted a video on U-tube too:

Display behavior

Also, I have several photos of the fish and their fry. Check out this link.

Supposedly my fish were wild-caught from Cameroon. I'm surprised that there aren't more of them available locally given their relative ease of spawning.


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## ed seeley

Zapins said:


> You know... upon closer inspection I think they might be Pelvicachromis taeniatus "nigerian red" instead of "Moliwie." I say this based on the number of black spots on the female's tail and dorsal fin.
> 
> What do you guys think?


It's almost impossible to accurately distinguish between morphs or locations from just looking at the fish. As they are all one species they are so similar in the morphological characteristics. If you don't think they are the location you bought them as (Moliwe) then you should just refer to them as _P.taeniatus_ rather than ascribe another location to them. The caudal spots also are a very variable characteristic that can change a lot over generations so they aren't necessarily a very reliable characteristic for identification.

Looking at your pictures and a video I think the claosest you could say was that yours are an aquarium strain which are descended from Nigerian stock originally.


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## Tex Gal

Beautiful fish! Keep us posted on the spawn.


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## Zapins

ed seeley - There was a bit of a mix up at the pet store when I bought them. The label on the tank was Moliwe, but the computer at the front desk said they were nigerian. In either case they were sold to me as wild caught. After looking at other youtube videos of Nigerians and Moliwes I think whoever wrote Moliwe on the tank must have been confused and made a mistake.


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## ed seeley

Zapins said:


> ed seeley - There was a bit of a mix up at the pet store when I bought them. The label on the tank was Moliwe, but the computer at the front desk said they were nigerian. In either case they were sold to me as wild caught. After looking at other youtube videos of Nigerians and Moliwes I think whoever wrote Moliwe on the tank must have been confused and made a mistake.


I agree they cannot be Moliwe as they show the strip on the edge of the lower half of the caudal fin that is seen in most Nigerian strains. However my point was that unless the shop was only selling Nigerian Red and Moliwe and you can be _sure_ that they are that morph you would be best just saying they were an aquarium strain. Otherwise, were you to breed them and sell the offspring, someone else may buy them and cross them with 'real' Nigerian Reds and then end up with hybrids between the morphs. There is also the chance that P.taeniatus as a species may be restricted to the Nigerian morphs and those from Cameroon may be reclassified into one, two or three separate species. Any crosses between these populations would then be interspecific hybrids!

I'd also be surprised if they were actually Wild caught I'm afraid. The Nigerian Red strain has been sold for years and was allegedly first established by an importer sorting through a batch of fish from Nigeria, selecting the reddest ones and then breeding and selecting them to form what is now called 'Nigeria Red'. Collecting sites are known for Green, Yellow and Red Cheek forms of P.taeniatus from Nigeria but AFAIK no site for the Red morph has ever been found. Basically all the ones found for sale over here are bred in the Czech Republic and yours may even have come from there too.

They are very nice fish though and perfect for any aquarium IMHO.


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## Zapins

Hmm. Good points, I will call them P. taeniatus then. Out of curiosity I will also ask the LFS if they have any additional info on the pair they sold me. A long shot but maybe they will.

Anyway, I have been doing water changes on the tank daily and feeding them lots of frozen brine/red mosquito larvae/bloodworms/flakes and the female seems to have chosen a cave. She is camping out there most of the time chasing other fish away. Hopefully this is the pot she will choose to lay eggs in.

I found some disturbing info on taeniatus. Apparently they only live about 4 years. I have had my pair for at least a year, and they were full grown when I got them, so they must be at least 2 years old. Only two years left on them  Hopefully I can get them to breed a few times before they go...


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## BryceM

Yeah, that's a disturbing thing with most of the more brightly colored FW fish. The little drab corries & tetras can live a decade or more. The killies barely get started before they're done.


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## ed seeley

Zapins said:


> I found some disturbing info on taeniatus. Apparently they only live about 4 years. I have had my pair for at least a year, and they were full grown when I got them, so they must be at least 2 years old. Only two years left on them  Hopefully I can get them to breed a few times before they go...


You don't need to worry Zapins. They can be fully grown in about 6 months if fed and kept well so your pair probably aren't 2 years old yet. And _Pelvicachromis_ can live a lot longer than 4 years. I have a pair of _P.suboccellatus_ 'Matadi' that must be 6 now and they are still breeding (though the spawns are a lot smaller than they were)!

Once they start breeding you'll get brood after brood out of them too. Averaging about 60 fry each time! So don't be in a rush to remove them from the parents as they will look after them for 3 months or longer!


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## Zapins

Wonderful! I really like the little buggers. They have such odd personalities.

I have been doing 50% water changes and feeding them bloodworms. Their colors are amazing! Interestingly the agassizi pair are also showing breeding signs. Tensions are definitely rising between the two pairs especially between the female pelvichromis and the male agassizi. I noticed some biting today. Fortunately there are no scales missing or other marks.

I started setting up my 90 gallon tank to put them in, but I have run into a few problems. The tank is drilled, and reef ready but I still have to renovate certain things. For example, I need to remove the overflow and seal the hole at the bottom somehow. I also need to get a replacement plastic rim on the bottom of the tank (since it was painted with an ugly white latex paint by the previous owner). Annnd.... remove the calcium build up on the glass before filling it. Suffice to say I have a lot of work ahead of me and the upcoming snow storm won't help me get the supplies I need...


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