Approaching adulthood

One of my juvenile Melanochromis dialeptos is changing from the juvenile colours seen here to his adult male colouration (which is midnight blue). He’s not quite there yet, and is currently a rather unattractive shade of brown:

The survivors

Here is a pic of the Metriaclima pyrsonotos girls that are left. Fortunately I will be getting another 2/3 males and 4 more females to go with them – should make a nice breeding group!

Pyrsonotos Update

I have been asking around forums, looking for input on what may have killed my Metriaclima pyrsonotos. Unfortunately it seems likely that it was ‘bloat’ rather than bullying. Bloat is a catch all term for a issue in the digestive tract, the first symptoms are a lack or absence of appetite – the balloon like swelling doesn’t occur until much later on when its too late. There are number of potential causes but stress and an overly protein rich diet are the main ones.  Once a fish has succumbed to bloat, it can spread rapidly to other fish so I will have to be on the lookout. I have also got some Octozin to use if I need it! Fingers crossed I don’t….

Special thanks to Colin @  Natural World and Mike Whitaker for their help and advice.

Labidochromis freibergi

I recently set up a 3ft tank for my Pseudotropheus minutus as they were looking a bit sheepish in the big tank with the big fish. I also got a pair of Labidochromis freibergi. These are cute litte fish, the males are blue with diamond barring and the females are similar in silver. 

Unfortunately the male is in rather a hurry to have babies and was really giving the Mrs a hard time so hes back in the big tank for now. When the female is looking plump and ready I will repatriate him for a brief liason.

Melanochromis dialeptos

I have what I think is a trio of these neat little fish. They closely resememble Melanochromis auratus but very much smaller and dont have the attitude problem.

I say I think I have a trio as the dominant male is starting to take on his adult colours and is fighting with the larger of the two female looking fish. Its possible that the fish he is fighting with is also a subdominant male. Next time I drain the tank I guess I will have to take it out and vent to know for sure.

Here is a picture of a juvenile taken a few weeks ago:

Ndumbi Gold Female

Managed to get a cracking picture of one of my Ndumbi Gold Females who incidentally, is now holding. Here she is before holding:

Tropheops sp “Makokola”

Here are some of my first wild caught specimens. They are a pair Tropheops species collected from Makokola Reef which is right at the southern tip of Lake Malawi. The female is an Orange Blotch variety and is absolutely gorgeous. The male is more aggressive than I would like, especially towards the female but its not bad enough to warrant removing him (thank god!).

Their behaviour is noticeably different from my tank bred fish. They spent much more time grazing algae from the rocks and are yet to develop a keen taste for spirulina flake but I’m sure that will come with time. Excitingly they showed breeding behaviours with the female taking a keen interest the males display just the day after being introduced to the tank. Unfortunately it didn’t come to anything and nothing else has happened since apart from a bit of chasing. Fingers crossed for the future!

Unsung Heroes

Labidochromis hongi is one of my favourite fish in the tank, mostly due to the startling purple and red colouring of the dominant male. Unfortunately, the females are usually a functional if drab brown. This evening I saw one of the girls sporting a rather more fetching purple and blue coat and was lucky enough to grab a photo.

Flowering Fish

My Pseudotropheus sp “Ndumbi Gold” are finally showing their adult colours. Out of my initial group of 11, 3 went blue quite quickly and began to bicker over who was top fish. I was able to find homes for 2 of them leaving me with the most dominant. I still have at least 3 other males in the group but they aren’t yet prepared to challenge the dominant male for his place and aren’t really a problem.

Tank Update

heres how she looks right now: