Former Newbie's African Cichlid Experience

[Demeter32]

Alright, so last week I went to my LPS and they had done a big water change on their display tank, they also pull as many fry as they can find when they do this. Before, I had mentioned that I would like a couple frontosa fry. She said they were able to catch 3 fry and the owner took 2 of them home. He though the 3rd had gone down the drain. He thought wrong and there it was in all its glory with dozens of other fry in the shop tank. The cashier said she would not mention it to the owner who was coming by that day and if he didn't see it she would save it for me. Fast forward to yesterday I checked in to see if the little fontosa was still there.

It was, and now it's in my 29gal fry tank. It's barely 1.5in. I don't really plan to keep it forever, just till it is a young adult then I will trade it back in.


I also bought another young 3in adult male. He's definitely a cross-breed. Looks very similar to a rock kribensis, he's actually kinda ugly. I'll take pictures when he stops being shy.

 

[Demeter32]

The OB mbuna a got a while back is finally large enough to be tossed into the main tank. I took a quick measurement of him (just over 2'') and put him/her in yesterday after a large water change. Not sure on gender yet, but there's a lot of vibrant egg spots on the anal fin. The other mbuna is also getting more egg spots and his pelvic fins are getting pretty long.

Something unfortunate occured during the water change....

I made a huge mess and spilled 3+ gallons all over the kitchen floor. I had carried the 5gal bucket up the stairs, was nearly to the door to dump it outside, and the handle broke. Luckily the bucket didn't land on my foot, but I had a fun time soaking up all the water. Good thing we hadn't re-done the kitchen floor to wood yet.

 

[Demeter32]

I discovered a pleasant surprise today. I noticed that the big one-eyed female peacock had been holding for a lot longer than usual. She's only every given unfertilized eggs which she usually holds for about a week to 10 days. I decided to grab her and strip the eggs but found a few dozen fry instead. She must of spawned with either the OB male or possibly the blue Ahli. Good thing I stripped them because in a couple more days they probably would of been released and then eaten in the main tank. I wasn't the least bit prepared for more fry so they're in a little breeder box floating in the 10gal with larger fry.

 

[NickAu]

Babies, cool

 

[Demeter32]

Yep, should be interesting to see how they turn out.

Another good development has occurred. The chronically ill female first generation cross-breed that I've had for 2 years and has been sick for more than half of those years has finally died. This may sound bad, but I'm glad she's gone. I've kept her in a 20gal alone so now I can finally use it for something else, after a few water changes and a good cleaning of course. Should be the perfect tank to move the new peacock and 3rd generation fry into.

 

[Demeter32]

I've got update pictures. I also traded in 2 of the older cross breeds that were in the main tank. A male and female.

I've just woken the fish up so they were nice and calm for picture taking.

This mbuna has turned out looking great. I hope he doesn't develop aggression or he'll be booted out.

My pastel 2nd Gen. male, who doens't look pastel when he's in sleep mode.

That new guy I mentioned a while back, the ugly one that looks similar to the rock krib. I promise he has color when he's awake.

My little orange OB boy(probably). I'm hoping to breed him to the oldest OB fry once they are old enough. The males are just starting to show color. I'll get some update pictures in a moment.

 

[SeanTrollope]

nice

 

[Demeter32]

Updates for the some of the fry. The Frontosa is looking good. It's putting on weight and has a nice blue.

This is one of the male OB juveniles. I think there's 3 males so far, but this one has the most color.

 

[Demeter32]

Well past time for an update. I was dumb yet again and threw in some of the 2in OB fry. There's 2 left now, one being the male from above and the other seems to be female. The blue ahli is killing me. I traded in pretty much all of the other older OB peacocks to make room for the latest batches.

The big, old one eyed female peacock died recently. She was weak from holding all those fry and the others picked on her till she died. It actually happened within 24hrs, I found her all beat up and took her out and threw her in the 29gal as a last ditch effort but she didn't make it.

The ugly cross-breed rock krib started beating up on my pure rock krib to the point where he was getting thin. I threw him in the 29gal and he's been coming around nicely. Not sure what to do with the bully. His color has come in really well, there's a red outline to his fins and he looks lovely. I like them both but might have to choose who to keep.

Blue ahli (baby killer) and the mean rock krib.

The pair of mbuna I bought a good while back are doing great. The one is an ice blue zebra and the other an OB fuelleborni, or something similar.

Upper right corner is the OB mbuna

Ice blue

OB peacocks

Everyone

I plan to remove a few more fish and toss in the frontosa here pretty soon. The less lovely blue ahli, 2 of the female cross breeds, and maybe those two female peacocks that I bought thinking they were males.

 

[Demeter32]

I did a big water change and complete rescape with the rocks yesterday. The big OB peacock and the tank boss decided to hash it out. No one got hurt too bad and Mr. OB just spawned with his lady friend today.

I added the little frontosa about a month ago. He/she is doing just fine, only a nipped anal fin.

Managed to take a few decent pics of some fish that never cooperate. Don't mind the water spots, I could care less about wiping the glass down after every water change.

I've been slowly whittling down the fish I want to keep. I plan to trade in 2-3 more fish and maybe the ahli. He's such a killer and I don't want to see anymore of my favorite fry torn to bits. The third generation hybrids and another OB fry (which isn't marbled at all) are just about big enough to not be eaten by the ahli. I'm also keeping my eye out for a new Victorian or peacock when I go shopping. I've been so busy with my bettas I now want another new African.

 

[Demeter32]

I've been wanting to add some red to this tank, so I will. I'll be making room be removing 2 fish that just aren't coloring up well.

2 Red Empress, surely one is a male right? I picked the boss of the tank and a medium sized sibling with the most red on it's fins. Boss is 2.5in and has long pelvic fins. Red is 2.25in and has nicely pointed anal and dorsal but shorter pelvic fins. These guys are not cooperative at all.

Seeing as my late female dragon's blood peacock died from being egg bound, I decided to get another when I saw this promising little one. Nice fish, eats eagerly.

Completely forgot to mention something of importance. About 3 weeks ago, the female white tail acei was trying her best to lay eggs but could not pass them. I've learned from when the dragon's blood had this problem so I netted her out and I guess the struggle must of done something as a few less than healthy eggs came out. Took a look at her vent, did a bit of palpating and tossed her back in the tank. Added a half cup of epsom salt and she seems to of recovered just fine. It seems all the females are on the same cycle. The hybrid female also spawned at that time as did the OB mbuna. OB peacock spawned about a week ago.


Some of the one eyed peacock's fry are coming around. At least 2 have egg spots on their anal fins, all have this weird tiger striping going in. The OB peacock fry that are not showing the OB blotches have normal vertical striping but these guys are a bit different. At least I can easily tell who is what.

 

[Demeter32]

It's been a while, or so I feel, since my last post. I traded in the blue ahli and the ahli hybrid about a week ago. The tank got a major rescape and big water changed and then I added in the dozen or so smaller peacocks I've been holding off on. Now that there's no danger of the ahli eating everyone everyone seems right at home. They should start growing faster in the bigger tank. I believe the hybrid boss was dethroned by the blue male OB after the re-scape. I only added a ton of fake plants to provide cover for the fry.

If you look back a few post the when I bought a promising peacock and the ahli hybrid, that little peacock is finally showing male coloration. A blue face and yellow on the body, not a terrible pretty peacock but that's alright. He scratched his eye pretty bad a couple days ago but it seems to be doing ok.

I caved in yet again and bought 3 new fish, one is an albino zebra, looks like an ice blue. Two are peacocks, one of which seems to be a lesser grade OB, it's mostly white with a few specs here and there. This is what happens when you work at a petshop, a fish catches your eye and you just can't say no after looking at it all day.

I moved the orange/pink OB male and the 2 mother/daughter females to a 20gal in hopes that they breed. The blue OB always spawns with them but now I want to see how the other boy does.

 

[NickAu]

I love the rescape.

 

[SorryEh]

In the third to last picture what is that cichlid at the top? I have a similar one I have been trying to identify

 

[Demeter32]

@SorryEh The fish with the yellow on the body and the blue face? That is a peacock of no specific breed. He's the ugly duckling who tricked me into thinking he was a she for months. Post a picture of your fish and I may be able to ID it. That or make a new thread to get more people's opinions.

@NickAu I wish I could take a decent picture of the other half. The LED strip lights don't work anymore, probably has something to do with accidentally dipping the end into soapy dish water while rinsing off the hood in the adjacent sink....