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Maingano is a Mommy, almost
Well ... time to setup another tank. One of the Mainganos is holding... I know it is not a great pick but she hides a lot now, and i am no photographer... The peach items in her mouth are eggs, in about 14 days I expect quite a few new fish. Unless of course she eats them :(
Sunshine Peacock
This post is just a picture of an ok looking Sunshine Peacock, well actually, it may just be the best looking Sunshine ever!!! This peacock measures in at just over four inches. It's color improves every day. In the background are my male and female Nublia. Click the following for a larger picture...
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Cichlid, a Uganda Fire Red? No, ...
A recent LFS purchase netted me a trio, one male and two female, of Uganada Fire Red. Otherwise known as Haplochromis (Paralabidochromis) sp. "fire". Now that I have had the fish for some time I am certain, although not quite completely, that this fish is not what it was sold as. How could this have happened?
Well quite easily, the male of this species changes color more often than I do socks. It is actually hard to believe. The male if not feeling quite sure of himself will get rather bland and sad looking. Being an "aggressive" Victorian it all but turned female, buried itself in the sand and died when I dropped it in my Mbuna tank. Not as aggressive as I was told and it surely doesn't have the same diet if what I read is true. Mixed in with Mbunas his color went to something like a female with too much blush, but very similar to a lighter Uganda fire. The following link is a small picture of a Uganda fire:
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1552
... This is not what I have at the moment. Here are two pictures to show what my male looks like. Two, because it hides a lot and I cant get a good picture:
Ok, this has to be what others are calling an Astatotilapia nubila. Here are links to various pictures supporting what I know to be true, so ha!
http://www.ciklid.org/artregister/image_art.php?image=A_Nubila2-Albin-Ekenberg.jpg
http://www.african-cichlid.com/Nubila8205.jpg (lips)
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1557 (This page also states it is an incectivore)
And for those who are wondering what they look like, here is one of the females:
cya
Well quite easily, the male of this species changes color more often than I do socks. It is actually hard to believe. The male if not feeling quite sure of himself will get rather bland and sad looking. Being an "aggressive" Victorian it all but turned female, buried itself in the sand and died when I dropped it in my Mbuna tank. Not as aggressive as I was told and it surely doesn't have the same diet if what I read is true. Mixed in with Mbunas his color went to something like a female with too much blush, but very similar to a lighter Uganda fire. The following link is a small picture of a Uganda fire:
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1552
... This is not what I have at the moment. Here are two pictures to show what my male looks like. Two, because it hides a lot and I cant get a good picture:
Head (nice lips)
Tail
Ok, this has to be what others are calling an Astatotilapia nubila. Here are links to various pictures supporting what I know to be true, so ha!
http://www.ciklid.org/artregister/image_art.php?image=A_Nubila2-Albin-Ekenberg.jpg
http://www.african-cichlid.com/Nubila8205.jpg (lips)
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1557 (This page also states it is an incectivore)
And for those who are wondering what they look like, here is one of the females:
Well, this is actually the lighter male look, the "I'm not feeling so tough today" look, the females have less green, no red and no blue. As much as this fish can change its appearance I can understand how it could be misidentified. I am actually glad I got what I did though.
cya
Cichlid Species Listing By Tank
Here is a listing of the Cichlids I have for now. I will be adding more to the 75 soon, assuming I can find something that can take the aggression the current fish exhibit.
The 75:
Astatotilapia nubila (1m) (2f)
The 75:
- Metriaclima lombardoi (1)
- Metriaclima estherae (Orange) (1)
- Metriaclima estherae (OB Blue) (1)
- Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos (11)
- Pseudotropheus crabro (1)
- Pseudotropheus socolofi (1m) or possibly Metriaclima estherae (Blue) (1m)
- Pseudotropheus sp. "Elongatus Ruarwe" (1m)
- Pseudotropheus sp. "Elongatus Chewere" (3)
- Labidochromis caeruleus (1)
Astatotilapia nubila (1m) (2f)
Blueberry Zebra Cichlid Video
Well here goes ... trying to add a video. This is of my little Blueberry Zebra Cichlid grazing, enjoy
Purchase results
I was not able to test the water ... I was too excited and forgot. I got the quantity of fish I ordered. I in fact received not only the correct number for each species but one extra labeled freebie. Live Fish Direct really came through for me here. But, some of the 2" - 3" Premium fish we less than two inches and less than premium. Was I happy overall, I guess. Ordering a specific gender was interesting. The shipper had to have made the best guess possible, it would be problematic at best to vent a 1.5" fish. Three of the Mainganos were small and none were larger than advertised. Some fin damage is to be expected for $5.00 each and at least half of the Mainganos are really quite nice. One of the larger Mainganos was very nice, I hope a female. I have to be reasonable, I did not ask for a definition of premium before I purchased the fish and more than half were at least 2".
So first off Brutus my Scofoli went on full tilt as soon as I floated the bags, which were surprisingly small, not a complaint since the fish arrived alive, just surprising. He attacked the bags happily. Once the fish were dumped in he decided to claim half the tank to himself. This was even with the lights off for introductions. There have since been twitching displays, fights and territory disputes but no casualties. After a day things have calmed down a little ... Brutus shown first below still owns the left half of a 75 gallon tank though!
Here are some pictures and a little video of my new Blueberry Zebra, named Opal.
So first off Brutus my Scofoli went on full tilt as soon as I floated the bags, which were surprisingly small, not a complaint since the fish arrived alive, just surprising. He attacked the bags happily. Once the fish were dumped in he decided to claim half the tank to himself. This was even with the lights off for introductions. There have since been twitching displays, fights and territory disputes but no casualties. After a day things have calmed down a little ... Brutus shown first below still owns the left half of a 75 gallon tank though!
Here are some pictures and a little video of my new Blueberry Zebra, named Opal.
Oh darn i dont know how to add a video yet ... cya