Julidochromis Transcriptus

[AlanaRose]

I have two julidochromis transcriptus in a community tank and they are fiesty but not aggressive.

I have been asking questions in the general discussion about community tanks as i am quite new to keeping tropical aquariums and have been getting conflicting information on my two julies!

Are the aggressive?? And if mine are ok now, as they get older is the possibility of them becoming aggresive high???

Is there anything else i should know??!!

 

[kj23502]

I believe Julies are pairing fish. Do you have an established pair? They are/can be aggressive. They are African Cichlids. They are born to fight to defend their territory. African's are not recommended for a community tank

 

[Colin_T]

As far as cichlids go, Julidochromis sp are relatively peaceful. They will chase other fish away from their territory but are unlikely to go out of their way to kill everything in the tank.
They come from Lake Tanganyika in Africa and require hard alkaline water, (GH about 350-400ppm and PH about 8.5). However, tank bred fish can live happily in softer water with a more neutral PH, (GH about 200ppm & PH about 7.6).
They grow to a couple of inches and hang out in and around rocks and caves. They don't eat plants but sometimes dig around them and this can cause plants to be uprooted.
They eat most commercial fish foods and do really well in most tanks.
There are a number of different varieties of J. transcriptus and these should be kept in separate tanks as they occur in different localities around Lake Tanganyika. The different forms have slightly different colours and markings.

 

[kj23502]

As far as cichlids go, Julidochromis sp are relatively peaceful.

Yes, for cichlids. I'm assuming the community fish that they are with aren't fish that are used to these??!! They are still aggressive cichlids. Not as aggressive as others, but still they are cichlids. A better community fish option would'be been the Kribensis. And even those can get territorial.

 

[rossyboy]

I've kept these fish a few times. I do see one thing emerging each time though, as someone mentioned they are pairing fish and will ultimately pair off for life.

I got myself 5 of these, unsexed (LFS man couldn't sex them) and I've now got two established pairs who will fight off the biggest/nastiest fish in my setup and usually do it in pairs.

Unfortunately for one Juli, he/she has no partner because of the pairing off and often gets picked on by the pairs, with his fins being ragged, etc. I'm going to be taking him back to the LFS for his/her own benefit.

In summary i'd say they were relatively peaceful, but can definately hold their own, especially against bigger fish!

 

[AlanaRose]

i have two in my tank!

If they dont stay really close together in the tank does this mean they won't pair>or are not pairing?? one likes to hide around the driftwood on the bottom of the tank and the other hangs about 30cm higher up the top with my hatchetfish. The julie who hangs at the top is not as aggressive and is smaller than the other julie but only by a tiny bit.

How do i know if they are male and female!?!?!

 

[Colin_T]

It depends on how old they are and how long they have been together. It could be you have 2 males and one is bullying the other one and keeping it away from the rocks and caves.
Julidochromis are hard to sex but males get a bit bigger than females. The easiest way to get a pr is to buy a group of 6-10 fish and let them pr off. Once you have prs move them into their own tanks and sell off any surplus unwanted stock.
If they are new then give them a couple of weeks and see how they go.

 

[AlanaRose]

6 to 10.... i am in South Australia and they are $80 AU each!!! (that is roughly 34 GB pounds each!)

No way i would buy 10 haha they would kill all my other fish even though i love the two i have

Just fingers crossed mine are male and female now!!!!! Thanks for your help!