Psudo Luwala?

[BzztYeow]

Bought a couple of fish labeled "Psuedo Lawala" but cant seem to find any info about them on the internet- in fact google doesn't return ANY results for just plain "Luwala" at all.


They seem to be doing fine with my other small chiclids- all relatively new (about 1-1.5 inch) but i'm wondering what they will grow into if anyone knows- or even just what they are.

They have a semi-dark blue body with yellow see-thru fins, very lite (as juveniles i assume).

It could be hybrid or just an undocumented species (as there seem to be many form Malawi). Any help would be appreciated- they look quite a bit like these fish only smaller- and i can't find any english documents about them

http/www.cichlidae.ch/artikel/acei/acei.html

Be gentle- its my first post and first aquarium in 10 years Thanks for your help!

After using the (quite hilarious) google translation function- i am tempted to beleive that the Acei is what i really have. Again any help identifying or pointing to a good care / expectation site would be very helpful!

 

[Ferris]

Your fish are Pseudotropheus Acei, Luwala refers to the area of Lake malawi where they can be found in their natural habitat.

Here's a link with some pics

LINK

and here's another with some info

LINK2

 

[BzztYeow]

Hey Ferris,

I meant to say thank you for your info- but i was a bit embarrased that i couldn't find this info on my own You seem to be one of the really knowledgeable posters around these forums and i thank you for the reply!

They are definatley Acei. I am keeping them with 3 other species of Psuedotropheus and and some Yellow labs. Only have two of each atm since i don't know enough to reliably sex them at such a small size (1-1.5 in)

They are all doing great, with the kenyi's dominating the tank (of course!) but not really dangerously aggressive (i think since there are plenty of hiding spaces in my rock work).

I'm looking at upgrading to a 75-125 gallon tank sometime soon as i know that these fish will GROW. I have had this tank going for about a month and a half now and am very happy with it- the advice on this forum has been invaluable from everyone!

I do have a single problem though that i would like to ask about.

One of the yellow labs i have is not growing nearly as quickly as the other and seems to hide and not eat quite often. The black markings on dorsal and anal fins are much thinner than the other fish and so i assume this is a female (they were pretty close to the same size when i bought them).

I can't decide if it is a harrased female or just a male who is not dominant. Today i noticed a brown spot just behind it's gills (about 4 MM away and circular- about the size of a #2 pencil lead)) and think it might be a wound.

Anyway this fish hides ALL DAY LONG and when it does try to swim around the larger Yellow immediately swims on its tail very tightly until it hides again.

This is not the aggressive behaviour i have seen between the two male kenyi's (they are just starting to turn yellow- one a bit faster than the other) where they will "kiss" and posture at each other establishing territory i assume.

I have read a bunch of sites which talk about cichlid behaviour and they all say different things

Some sites say that this Kenyi "kissing" is related to mating, but it seems aggressive to me while the Yellow lab chasing, but not facing-off, against another Yellow may just be over-active hormones - driving her to seclusion.

I thought she might be holding for a few days (despite her young age), but i could see no bulge in her mouth- and she started eating again today quite well after only a week and a half of this behaviour. She is still hiding all the time though.

My guess is that i need a few more females to take the males attention away from this singular female, but is there any way to tell for sure what this behaviour means?

I hope this post makes sense to someone. I'd like some pointers on cichlid behaviour. Everyone seems to have a different opinion

 

[freddyk]

My guess is that i need a few more females to take the males attention away from this singular female, but is there any way to tell for sure what this behaviour means?

All of your problems lie here, so you've figured it out. These fish are all harem breeders, the more females the better. 'Kissing' is actually liplocking, and it's a fight. Some fights are bound to happen, but anything regular is stressful on the fish, so something would best be done about it. You'll only have room for one of those Auratus and one of those Kenyi males unless it's a really big tank, these are both among the most aggressive mbuna.

 

[freddyk]

edit, I missed that you're upgrading. Now that the males are maturing it's time! (woohoo!)

 

[BzztYeow]

Thanks for your advice Freddyk- it fits with my observations.

One of the most common pieces of advice i have seen is to "overstock" your cichlid tank and also overfilter it. This i have done, but it's quite obvious to me that 10 cichlids and a few small inverts cannot be kept in a 20 g tank beyond the 1-1.5 inch stage even with double filtration.

I'm getting a 125 gallon tank this weekend but will not be moving any fish who are not "stressed" yet. Hopefully it will give the less aggressive fish time to grab some territory before i move them all over!

I'm also thinking of keeping the 2 Kenyi seperate as they are sooooo aggressive.

Luckily i have the means and room to set up several tanks if need be. I was a bit fooled thinking you could keep even this small number of *dwarf* malawi's in this size tank. While i can keep the chemistry of the tank in the correct range, the more aggressive fish are obviously in a state of constant defense. I really have to wonder why my LFS recommended them as a starter fish

Certainly they have great personality, but it is almost exclusively limited to chasing the other fish, or each other

Anyway- i hope the larger tanks help- and i have plenty of rock to set them up right. If anyone has any other tips on behavior modifications, let me know! I try to change the rock formation every week to forestall territorial aggression, but have had only limited success. They are all still alive- but certain fish are definately on the bottom rung of the food chain.

The larger fish get larger and the smaller just seem to hide more.

 

[Ferris]

Great advice from freddyk. Sounds like the yellow lab is very stressed probably because of the Kenyi, you have pretty much the 2 extremes of Mbuna there, yellow labs are mildy agressive and Kenyi are extremely agressive. They can work together but as freddyk says, only in a big tank, whcih goes for the 2 male kenyi together also.

If you are getting the 125 gal tank, that should ease your problems as its a huge tank for Mbuna with loads of room. Even if territories are established by the Kenyi, the other fish will still have plenty of space.

 

[freddyk]

If anyone has any other tips on behavior modifications, let me know!

Yes I do. Don't use any plecos, then leave the lighting on a little extra and try to promote good algae growth on the rocks. Sure you'll need to put a little more elbow grease into it to keep it off the walls and stuff, but algae grazing is a natural behavior that algae free tanks miss out on, and it helps keep them busy.

 

[BzztYeow]

edit- removed...

I lost one of the yellow labs due to Hexamita (I think- it stopeed eating and developed a hole behind the pectoral fin- then died one night) but the rest have survived the move to a new 60 gallon tank (the 125 fell through unfortunately).

I will be adding fish to establish "harems" and possibly moving other fish to other tanks as it seems necessary with growth. I know i did not start off in the ideal manner with these fish, but i hope to slowly steer them onto the correct path.

Thankfully i seem to have all the species that interest me and are available in local stores. Don't need to be mixing more until i find stable populations and tankmates!

I am officially a cichlidiot after only 2 months or so- i love these fish and wont hesitate to get them the set up correctly with multiple 50+ gallon tanks

This site has been a great help in starting out- I'm sure i'll be back with more questions- and thank you all for your time

The biggest problem i have had is that there is SOOO much information, and much of it conflicting (i even found a site that declared Pseudo Demosani to be peaceful and non-aggressive!).

I have about 12 hours per day to read up on the net and with books about fish at my current job, and I'm using it all (night security here ). I'm also looking at grabbing a part time job at a local fish store to increase my first-hand experience with other species.

I'm hopelessly addicted- and happy with it! I wish i had never stopped with aquariums as a teenager, but -meh- we all know how teenagers get