Afrikan

Well the first female spat today and the fry look nice and healthy One was doing spirals tho, tail hadn't quite formed properly. But mum is back recouping and fry munching down on brineshrimp. Hoping to get some nice pics of the dominant male this week, he's lovely :bounce:

Well I have taken the fry and raising them myself, parents seemed to have had domestics over their fry :lol: They are happily tucking into decap brineshrimp and very fine ground flake. Took a small movie clip of the fry with parents so will put it on You Tube and post link sometime this week

Yeap as above as Brad said can be a strong possibility. However in my case with the Johanni male it has been a breeding dominance behaviour. He is the only one to do it and it has been always when he has been busy pit digging and in breeding mode. But that is my case and may not possibly be the case with other peoples fish... definately never hurts to test your water, better to be safe than sorry

Welcome to the forums

YAY!! Congrats :bounce: Sorry for the late reply, haven't been on often the last couple of days, been flat out Keep us posted!!!

My Johanni male does this and I have noticed he only does it when he is trying to entice a female into his pit for spawning..

Yeap they came in with no variant stated so just A. jacobfreibergi. I have 2 females holding already and the dominant male is looking stunning, hopefully will get some nice shots with a borrowed camera this week sometime

cichfanatic - Sorry to get back so late.. I got some from a fish keeper in Welly, I will let him know you are after some if you like And see if he has some available, might purchase some more from him myself, I had some more floating ready to plant out in a holding tank with a few bristles and yes well, let's say the Vallis is going to have to grow back just a little :lol: They are J. marlieri Sounds like you may possibly have had J. transcriptus?, much more of an aggressive little torpedo than marlieri, I have found marlieri to be much more laid back and well behaved compared

Oh I really feel for you fishboi, so sorry to hear your tragic news

Yikes just noticed the.. 3cm??? I didn't think even the males coloured up at 3-4 cm.. mine didn't colour up till at least 4 inches.. Are you sure you don't mean inches?

WOW Awesome stuff, heaps of "full term holding" vibes your way!

YAY Tiden! :bounce: :bounce: So rapt for you adodge - I presume she either bred by herself as in layed eggs and scooped or she scooped stones as she was so desperate to breed. I then sold her on to Tiden as she turned into a real tart.. and started getting aggressive, major hormonal moments.. so thought she was better off with someone for breeding. Once again, rapt for ya Tiden

That's why I always get at least 6-8 peacocks from each species of peacock that come in on one consignment, and keep them as breeding colony. No good buying from different shipments and mixing even if they state same species. As Brad said different variants of Jacobs etc

That looks excellent bulldogod... they should do very well I keep Lionheads aswell as a few other African keepers... I have some in a tank set up of their own and they definately love the rockwork and good current. Actually Blue I also had some of mine in a Malawi tank however as of yesterday stripped the whole tank down due to revamping the whole tank. The ones I kept in the Malawi setup thrived! Not only did I find all the big healthy fat critters but we found their family of young who are in beautiful condition and are now in a grow out tank. My Malawi tank had a powerhead running and the mbuna and the Lionhead tank mates loved it! Other keepers have had the same success keeping them in with Malawi setups.

Most suppliers will send a weekly list. Depending on when they quarantines are released each time, depends on list changes. The LFS will normally tell you what is available in regards to species available. And would give you their retail price on what the fish will cost.

Are you sure you just couldn't squeeze another tank in somewhere :lol: Africans are well worth another tank set up :bounce: :lol:

Pays to get a broad spectrum test kit, JBL and Sera do them.. if I remember rightly JBL does 3-9ph readings. Also you can buy hardness test kits. I don't believe that Aulonocara should be kept in with South American species. Africans do alot better in their required water conditions, and also alot have different dietary requirements. What do you feed your americans? Alot of the foods put on the market for the larger cichlids contain rather alot in mammal/meat products. I do know that some keep people choose to keep Africans in with American species of fish, guess it comes down to choice, just not what I would do JMO 8)

I have at times done 50% water change myself and never had a problem. Usually when I want to do a crash spawn attempt.

Often see these floating around from time to time, so definately available

:lol: :lol: Yeah just my luck and they will try and set up camp in there... Actually they are right down the other end and have established a little home already... seems that being around the end of the tank I usually feed at.. go figure :lol:

Thanks guys, yeah can't wait to add the final touches to the tank Yep but try telling the suction cups that :roll: Once submersed the filter seems to be far to heavy for the suction cups to support. Might be a case of placing a rock underneath to keep it pushed up, is on the thing to do list, hubby's day off work tomorrow so will be seen to. Being fully submersed doesn't damage the filter it just doesn't act as effectively apparently, who knows, it is still filtering fine. At least it's running in and can fix it with rock, of which will look natural enough. I read the part stating "heavy duty suction cups" and YEAH RITE :lol:

Yep you will always have a piglet amongst a group of fish :lol: PS: Your ones didn't come from this pair either, just in case you thought they might be the parents. This pair were virgin Dempseys :lol:

Here are a few pics of our Tanganyikan Tank, there are a couple more add ins that have to be made, we are purchasing some tall thin slate pieces to place at the back of the rock work etc, to hide the view of heaters, and intake pipes etc Oh and a heap more large strain Vallisneria to add. We also are yet to put rimu tongue and groove panelling and also a hood is being made. We have yet to redecorate lounge, wallpaper etc, will be the last room to tackle. Should be interesting :roll: :lol: In with our Frons we have 2 fryeri boys, 1 Lelu, 1 Alto comp, African Syno and 4 J. marlieri. The fryeri think they belong with the Frons :roll: Will have some better pics when we do eventually shell out for a new camera. The one that took these is on it's way out and doesn't focus like it used to. Full tank shot... (900) litres. Fryeri boy when first introduced, trying to blend in to substrate.. :lol: And a few of our Frons. Finally starting to settle in and colour back up again.. And Alto checking out the new residents

Here are a couple of pics I took a while ago when they came back from hubbys work, pics taken before tank landscaping started and finished, hands were safe in there landscaping.. :lol: they are big softies... the male is a very big boy. Sorry about the quality of the pics, think our camera was even on it's way out back then :-? I have read so much info from other Jack Dempsey keepers and alot are not the overly aggressive fish that the species are made out to be Mine have only shown aggression with breeding, and that being the female, the male is a softy, when not spawning these two are as soft as cheese.

Hiya davidb Do you mean size tank or water parameters? Sorry :oops: