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Posted by Dale on May 29, 2005, 10:22 pm
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Hello --
I'm quite new to cichlids (a week in) and was hoping someone could help me
identify what exactly I've got here. These are the only 3 fish in the tank
right now, but I'd like to add more. As I've been reading (and I'm kicking
myself for not understanding more before I got into this) I understand that
there are MANY MANY more cichlids that I thought. I'm hoping someone can
help me identify these fish so I can add compatable fish and grow my new
tank into something really keen. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
http://img197.echo.cx/img197/3258/dfish19iz.jpg
http://img197.echo.cx/img197/3825/dfish21to.jpg
http://img197.echo.cx/img197/6967/dfish31qx.jpg
--Dale L. Houston
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Posted by kay-bee on May 30, 2005, 5:15 am
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hi,
It looks like you have a trio of Melanchromis Auratus, which are typically
highly aggressive african cichlids from lake Malawi, and have been known to
decimate tank-mates.
Maturing males will change to a darker color and tend not to tolerate other
males.
As with most mbuna, you'll probably want to add more, at least twice the
number you have now (with a high female to male ratio).
They're most compatible with other highly aggressive african cichlids with
lots of rock work in tanks 55-gallons are larger.
kay-bee
----- Original Message -----
From: "Dale" <-->
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria.freshwater.cichlids
Sent: Sunday, May 29, 2005 22:22
Subject: help identifying new fish
> Hello --
>
> I'm quite new to cichlids (a week in) and was hoping someone could help me
> identify what exactly I've got here. These are the only 3 fish in the
> tank right now, but I'd like to add more. As I've been reading (and I'm
> kicking myself for not understanding more before I got into this) I
> understand that there are MANY MANY more cichlids that I thought. I'm
> hoping someone can help me identify these fish so I can add compatable
> fish and grow my new tank into something really keen. Any help would be
> greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks!
>
> http://img197.echo.cx/img197/3258/dfish19iz.jpg
> http://img197.echo.cx/img197/3825/dfish21to.jpg
> http://img197.echo.cx/img197/6967/dfish31qx.jpg
>
> --Dale L. Houston
>
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Posted by MrHappy on May 31, 2005, 2:54 pm
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Hello dale
Melanochromis Auratus would be my guess
Theu are attractive but violent cichlids from Lake malawi...
have a look here so you feel confident of the identification
http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/aquarium/mbuna_auratus.html
I don't know how big your tank and what the filtration is like
but some general rules
Make sure the fish in the tank want the same conditions and
food. Mbuna are 95% herbivore and grow to about 3-4"
probably best not too mix the predators and the prey usually
fish with upturned mouths eat other fish! Avoid anything torpedo
shaped as it will be a swinmmer and need open water...not Mbuna
rock faces
If you already have fish of a particular colour and body shape
new introductinns should be different in colour/stripes - it
lowers aggression
In a Mbuna tank overstocking stops territories being formed and
so dominance....means you need heavy filtration
If the melanochromis form a pair and attack the third......take
it out and trade it an at your local fish shop
either remove all decor and put in some 1.5-2" diameter plastic
pipe in 6" lengths to get lots of hiding places for new fish.
when you have your fish, then aquascape properly. doing this,
stops any of the fish forming a territory...as they will kill
anything that enters their territory.....if you add them all in
to a new aquascape...they all have to do the best they can
I use little lengths of pipe and no substrate before putting
them in a nice rock and sand palace....the filters are run on
the bare tank to make sure they will accept the ;pad when you
put the fish in to the aquascaped tank
I take the fish out and put them in a rubbermaid box with the
tank water and filter.....aquascape the tank then transfer the
fish back
Put them in the dark and they will go to sleep
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Posted by Dale on June 1, 2005, 8:55 am
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Thanks for the advice and the identification. The identification appears to
be dead-on (double points for deciphering those blurry pix :)
Of course my first time out looking for more agressive fish, I manage to
pick something in the top 5 killer scene. Other than the coloration change
when they atart to get older, is there a way t sex these fish now? I'd love
to be able to avoid males killing each other if I can avaoid it.
Right now I've got a 30 gallon tank, so I definitely don't want to overstock
it. I'm working on adding lots of rocky terrain now for these guys. It was
indicated I should add more of these if I can (I'll see what I can find
around here) or fish of equal size/agression - any specific suggestions?
-Dale
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Posted by Frankster on June 1, 2005, 10:28 am
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> I'm working on adding lots of rocky terrain now for these guys.
Just thought I'd throw out my experience on this. I know that "lots of
rocky terrain" providing hiding places is often recommended by advanced
fishkeepers and pros. I never liked that solution because I don't want my
fish hiding from *me*! I want to see them (go figure! :) ).
Anyway, I have found in my experience that having almost no place to hide
seems to work equally well. As long as other factors are controlled. Kinda
like the fish store scenario, who never have rocks and such (how do they all
survive in the fish store with barren tanks?). I do have some rocky
decorations, but they are aligned in such a way that when the fish "think"
they are hiding, they are facing outward to the glass and are clearly
visible to anyone peering into the front of the tank :) My "rocks" are
nothing but little upside-down U shapes.
Works for me. Not specifically recommending this, or trying to fly in the
face of other more experienced fishkeepers. Just stating that there *are*
other solutions.
I should add that I do other things as a compromise to control aggression
that some folks would not like to do. I never buy two of the same fish
(really helps!!!). I always buy similar sized fish. I try to pay attention
to the compatibility charts as well as I can. These things have allowed me
to keep the same 5 fish in the same 55-gal tank for almost three years now
with no aggression worth noting. Just happy fish, shoveling gravel all over
the place as they continually move my (fake!) plants around to positions of
their liking. LOL!
-Frank
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>
> I'm quite new to cichlids (a week in) and was hoping someone could help me
> identify what exactly I've got here. These are the only 3 fish in the
> tank right now, but I'd like to add more. As I've been reading (and I'm
> kicking myself for not understanding more before I got into this) I
> understand that there are MANY MANY more cichlids that I thought. I'm
> hoping someone can help me identify these fish so I can add compatable
> fish and grow my new tank into something really keen. Any help would be
> greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks!
>
> http://img197.echo.cx/img197/3258/dfish19iz.jpg
> http://img197.echo.cx/img197/3825/dfish21to.jpg
> http://img197.echo.cx/img197/6967/dfish31qx.jpg
>
> --Dale L. Houston
>