Thinking Of Changing From Tropical Community To Mbuna Or Tanganyikan

[kiriyama]

Enjoy

 

[elisew]

They are interesting to watch, all the different personalties, I had to resist the urge and go home with a five bar, they were a good size and the colours were very vivd, and a decent price (for a change). The bending thing is cool to watch, the comp fry are doing it all the time, lots of scrapping , that;s why I added the other rocks. I don't think the lelupi will mess with your calvus to much, they are pretty cool fish, good the Multies are moved, your Calvus is a first class shellie predator....

Yeah I read that the calvus would be likely to prey on the multis, it`s because I had moved the multis that I thought the calvus would be ok with the others
Hopefully the leleupi will learn that they can`t bully ALL the other fish now, it`s good to see them come up against one that doesn`t stand for it but to be honest it was only really the multis they were horrible around.....they occasionally give the plecs a shove or nip but the plecs move away quickly enough. Hubby doesn`t really like the leleupi, he says they`re right bullies

The five bar was a no no for me after I`d done some research, I really don`t want anything more than the occasional spat going on in the tank

Enjoy

Love the pic! The shell gives a good idea of the size

 

[bullit]

I honestly think your mixing to many species. Its ok when there young but thinks can go tits up later on. Id ask on cichlidforum for advice on your ideas. Sorry to sound negative

shame you had to move the muilties but lelupi are known to kill shellies

I understand your point and do appreciate your opinions

I promise I wouldn`t add anything that would put the other fish at risk, the only reason I added the calvus is because I`ve moved the multis to thier own tank. The calvus is peaceful generally but can hold it`s own but I am aware that the multis would have been at risk alongside the calvus. I intend to stick with low aggression fish as the last thing I want to do is to start setting up a hospital tank
I will always ask for info either here, at MA where one of the lads has his own Tang setups or I`ll research a lot of sites first

The calvus would be ok with the multies, plus it will take forever to grow. Any fish though will have a go at fry. I would have got rid of the lelupi so you could have kept the shellies in the tank. I think i said before they can be aggressive.

 

[kiriyama]

six bar cichlids


sexfasciatus

sexfasciatus gold

 

[elisew]

The calvus would be ok with the multies, plus it will take forever to grow. Any fish though will have a go at fry. I would have got rid of the lelupi so you could have kept the shellies in the tank. I think i said before they can be aggressive.

Yeah I did read that the calvus take a long time to grow, thier lifespan is apparently 10-12 years?
I like to see the multis in their own tank. They`re completely undisturbed and can breed in peace now

I may yet consider returning at least 2, if not all 3 of the leleupi to MA, I`ve told them that I`m still not 100% on them and they`ve said I can return them at any time if I want to

six bar cichlids


sexfasciatus

sexfasciatus gold

Thanks kiriyama, I think it`s the gold sexfasciatus that MA are getting in. As mentioned above I may look at returning the leleupi (after the fun of catching them) to MA. I`m not convinced yet that adding sexfasciatus will be a good addition as a lot of the profiles say they`re high on the aggression scale
I would like to look at adding a couple of petricola first though and possibly go from there.

 

[kiriyama]

I havn't been able to find much out about them other than they are highly aggrressive, returning the Leleupi might not be a bad idea, at least you have the option, I think the (spelling?) look nice....
I ordered some fish today so finally took the step at not dithering any more
Also have a female Sumbu and a male Multi sitting on standby for me also

Do you know much about the Lucipinnis ?

 

[elisew]

I havn't been able to find much out about them other than they are highly aggrressive, returning the Leleupi might not be a bad idea, at least you have the option, I think the (spelling?) look nice....
I ordered some fish today so finally took the step at not dithering any more
Also have a female Sumbu and a male Multi sitting on standby for me also

Do you know much about the Lucipinnis ?

I too have read that they`re aggressive so don`t really feel it`s a good idea to add them. Advice I got on Rift valley is to return the leleupi, up the numbers on the cyps and ventralis and add a five bar.....not what I personally agree with on what I`ve read as they`re aggressive too

So you finally plumped for making an order...nice one!!

I`ve gotten the general opinion from the answers I`ve had at MA and the research I`ve been doing, that the lucipinnis are very sociable and good tank mates for the majority of Tangs. Obviously as a catfish they`re meant to be pretty active by all accounts. A dwarf version of the petricola but markings are slightly different.
Not known to be like the multipunctatus (cuckoo) in regards to their spawning behaviour, they`re apparently egg scatterers instead. Not good to have just 2, either 1 on its own or a group of 4....... erm, erm trying to remember some more lol
Best places to read up I guess are sites like planet catfish

A couple of pics of the calvus now he`s out and about more, he`s gone quite light in his colouring now. Also a pic of one of the cyps that stayed still long enough for me to take a pic, the colouring just about shows in the photo. Hopefully they`ll be coloured up loads soon

 

[elisew]

I caught a cracking video of the calvus earlier.....it`s reminds me of something out of Predator!! But it`s so cool to watch and the little guy is really growing on me

The colouring of the cyps shows quite well in the video too

Enjoy!
http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=yH6O67FBQyc

 

[kiriyama]

Sweet, I don't think that Calvus will take any nonsense, if I had my bigger tank I would take those Leleupi, very nice, your tank looks better everytime you post something up, lovely, Your Calvus similiar to the Sumbu only your Calvus has nice bluish hues through the curved fins and tail and nice wee spots on it, I'm very tempted.. I think the Cyps bring everything out into the open, that's what I read anyway, my Sumbu fairly static STILL. Seen a tank selling very local to me 72"Lx30"Wx24"H and 2xFluval externals (the great big ones), I think that would crash trough the bedroom floor Your tank looks great, enjoyed the video and after seeing it I'm glad that I ordered some Cyps , they look great,,, keep the pics and videos coming

 

[elisew]

Thanks, the calvus has got some lovely colouring and markings, I wasn`t sure after doing some reading whther he was a Black one or a Pearly/White.....apparently it`s a Black one though

It`s been suggested that I add a compressiceps but I`m not keen as they`re meant to be more for preying on fry than the calvus

Do you reckon I would be able to add another calvus once the leleupi have been returned instead of the previous thought of adding the sexfasciatus? I have to admit I`m really, really beginning to like the calvus and if it was a feasible, workable option I`d like to add another

That 72"Lx30"Wx24"H tank size is a whopper huh?!! It would be great if it could work out for you...nowhere downstairs to put it?

 

[kiriyama]

Thanks, the calvus has got some lovely colouring and markings, I wasn`t sure after doing some reading whther he was a Black one or a Pearly/White.....apparently it`s a Black one though

It`s been suggested that I add a compressiceps but I`m not keen as they`re meant to be more for preying on fry than the calvus

Do you reckon I would be able to add another calvus once the leleupi have been returned instead of the previous thought of adding the sexfasciatus? I have to admit I`m really, really beginning to like the calvus and if it was a feasible, workable option I`d like to add another

That 72"Lx30"Wx24"H tank size is a whopper huh?!! It would be great if it could work out for you...nowhere downstairs to put it?

I imagine another Calvus would be fine in a tank your size, there's anough nooks and crannies for them to hide if they are both males, I havn't kept them myself but have always liked the look of them
Yeah the tank is good size for my next project (not even finished the 4' or the "fishbox" ), she who must be obeyed really doesn't want a tank in the lounge ,she has taken an interest in the fry tank though so I suppose I could "wear her down", the seller is asking to much for it, selling the filters and the rocks as seperates, no wonder us Scots get a bad name for being tightwads , it's not true that copper wire was invented by two Scots fighting over a penny

 

[elisew]

Never heard that one about copper wire before

I'm sure you'll be able to wear the missis down, we fish keepers are good at that a tank that size would look amazing in a living room, once we get a bigger house I fully intend to push the limits to having a huge tank

Not sure on whether I'll be able to have 2 same sex calvus as they're apparently difficult to sex so young so may have to take the risk of ending up with a pair. The leleupi are definitely going to be returned, they've been bloody horrible to the calvus and have even started annoying the cyps this evening, don't know if they're getting fruity which is why they're being buggers but they've really begun to pee me off

 

[kiriyama]

Never heard that one about copper wire before

I'm sure you'll be able to wear the missis down, we fish keepers are good at that a tank that size would look amazing in a living room, once we get a bigger house I fully intend to push the limits to having a huge tank

Not sure on whether I'll be able to have 2 same sex calvus as they're apparently difficult to sex so young so may have to take the risk of ending up with a pair. The leleupi are definitely going to be returned, they've been bloody horrible to the calvus and have even started annoying the cyps this evening, don't know if they're getting fruity which is why they're being buggers but they've really begun to pee me off

I was just meaning if they were the same sex there would be room to hide to avoid clashes, they might be fine
Shame the leleupi have been so bad, they are very nice looking fish, at one point I was tempted getting 4 of them and a coulpe of five bars and that was it, then of they bred I was going to flood all the LFS with leleupi
I think your tank will be better without them now, even if you don't get another Calvus it means he/she can be your centrepiece fish, and you still have those lovely punks to watch

 

[bullit]

looks a really nice setup. I think another calvus would be good. Mixing calvus and comps is not really done cause of cross breeding.

 

[elisew]

Thanks

I must admit I`m doing tha same old thing I always did with Tropicals, I keep wondering what I can do to make the tank look better

I`m hoping to take the leleupi back at the weekdn and I`ll definately add another calvus. The cross breeding thing did cross my mind as they`re pretty similar so I don`t think I`ll be adding a comp