herefishiefishie

You can raise the fry on their own now if you want to. Mum will be fine to if you want to seperate her from them. She will eat now too. In situations like this, if you leave mum with fry. & if for example, their tank is in a multiple tank room, I feed them last. As in I just drop a bit of food in their tank & leave the room. With you gone she should release the fry & eat the food. But I would take her out now. Will be tricky if she is taking back the fry. Good Luck. Frenchy

Not bad for a mbuna. Not as bad as most, but of course will have enough Kahunas to stand up for itself. Whats the plan? just one for a display or buy multiples for breeding? Either way should be great, but if for a display remember to try & mix & match colours with mbunas, eg; a johannii & maingano will probably fight. Frenchy

:lol: One of White Calvus{non breeding} with couple of others... Frenchy

The tank has settled & going well.{TW} Few girls holding, couldn't get pic of female yellow, dam shy & the dom male aceii hard to shoot, bugger won't sit still for a second... Firstly, one of the albino bristlenose... Female aceii, holding{Ngara} Dom male Aceii, hard bugger to shoot A couple of Demasoni's, breeding already too last pic, dom male demasoni, electric yellow & an aceii Frenchy

I can pick these up off a local breeder for $5 each at 3-5cm. Very high quality too. Retail for around $10-$15each in the shops. The picture I believe is off a wild caught one. As u said about the brightness, that is usually the case too, with the ones that you see around here in Aussie. Frenchy

Hmm, colours, stripes??? Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos or common name Maingano, it looks like a Johannii in a way & are in Australia Frenchy

Yep should be. Just have a read of what ingredients there are on the containers. Most of the vegie products are fine, there is also a vegie frozen food, spirulina wafers...they eat duck weed too. Frenchy

Thats bad. :-? I dont know/think over cowding the tank will work in this case. I hope I am wrong, let us know how you go. Frenchy

That is probably your problem. Cichlids usually fight amongst there own species, similar shape or colour{in this case} Otherwise its usually just a male defending a spawning site, then all other fish{except females} are kept away from an area. How bad is the fighting, if it is one always chasing the other, then the one getting chased will stress out, die, disease.... if they keep locking lips or similar one will get a really bad injury... Usually one will step down, showing off is enough to show ones dominace. {Fighting is bad, so is usually avoided} But if they continue, you may have to take one back. Frenchy

Could be, hard to say. Female zebs can pick on one another. If one is holding, easier target.. Frenchy

Cool, let us Know how she goes. Don't be suprised if she spits early again. Hopefully she goes longer... Frenchy

Leave her in there, unless she is getting harrased to much. I prefer to strip at 2 weeks, so that the youngens are free swimming... others nearly straight away. The first few times can be a concern as mums are learning the trade. I like to let them do there thing....Flamebacks are usually great breeders too. {touch wood} Frenchy

1. Depends on high strong the light. Just general globe/fluro, should be fine. 2. Easy, usually you can tell fish apart from their own markings. Some have a thicker black stripe{yellows}, may have an egg spot, a different shading... Another is to go by the size of the saggyness under the mouth. The bigger the sag, the longer they have been holding{generally} Everytime you note a female holding right down the date. 3. Either swallowed by mum or.... Spat out & eaten by whatever else is in the tank. or gone off & died. Frenchy

Very good photos Gee Tee {starts clapping} Male is looking good too. Frenchy

Take a note of when u first see the females holding. Strip them at 2 weeks, that way the fry are free swimming. I would have the airation just under the net, only have it on lightly, so to keep the young tumbling slightly as this is what happens in the mums mouth. I know guys who strip early, they place eggs...in a flour sifter, & have an airstone just under them slightly bubbling away. Frenchy

That could be difficult, I read that they are secretive spawnersLike a nice big cave to spawn in. :roll: That be right. I took the aceiis out today, similar shading...so just them & the yellows in the 4 footer, looks nice. Frenchy

The Gold Coast must be special then, no chloramines in the water, just chlorine. Brisbane has both but is just up the road. Different dam but. I use water conditioners & airate the water. No chlorine is good really. Frenchy

Let me see all have different water requiements. A betting man could run a few books here, :evil: Who kills the neons first. What fish will die from parasites first. {passed on from gold fish} Then the guppies & mollies will be harrased by the tiger barbs. What idiot would sell 2 cichlids to her too, as Brad mentioned the size part aswell. This is a really F..... Is there an authority to report to here Brad. Frenchy

I bought myself 5 of these guys yesterday. I think they are a beautiful cichlid, nice to have a mbuna with a purple shade, get away from the blues. They are in with my smaller aceis & yellows{4-6cm} in a 4 footer. So {touch wood} should go great guns. They have not long been in the country, so I had to pay $35 each for them. The lfs are getting more in later next week, so will have to get myself a few more. Try & get a nice sized colony up & running. I had seen them on a couple of forums, one inter state for a bit dearer. Dosen't worry me if the market drops out, these are keepers. Frenchy

Well that sucks, :evil: don't worry same thing happens here & to often too, it's like here u go pretty fishy for you catch ya later. I get the horse part, my first Border Collie came from a pet store & not one question was asked about my lifestyle, size of house....lucky being a kiwi & all, we know our sheep dogs :lol: That is one good thing about Brad{Freaky Fish-owner Aquariums Alive}. He remembers his customers; therefore & he does give good advice & because of it gets good sales as people trust him.{deviant looking bugger though(jok) :lol: } Any new customers who look at tankbusters get asked a couple questions first, or at least told about there size potential, eating habits.... Frenchy

Giant Gouramis are quickly picked up here when on sale. As long as people know the potential growth & move forward with the fish as they grow whats the problem. The same for jaguars, if they are 15-20cm for example, 3 footer be fine for now, upgrade will be needed & hopefully the LFS said so. :-? I know "ideal world syndrome" this dosen't happen often enough, I have seen a few oscars with overshot gill plates, hunched backs... :evil: from being in to small a tank. Try a Murray River Cod or a Barramundi. These are easily sold here when available. I hate seeing them for sale. If they live long enough, they end up at Farms, or water worlds...if they are lucky. The boys had a Barra in a 10.5ft tank & had to pass it on At least a Jaguar or Giant Gourami can be housed in a nice sized tank. GG-6 footer for example. Frenchy

I lost 2 more yellows.The 2 I thought were shot. Some still arent 100%, but will just have to monitor the tank for a while. One yellow is holding :roll: Frenchy

Sorry to read what has been posted. One pet hate of mine is the reliance on the mechanical side of things, heaters, pumps... Just feed te fish a bare minimium for a while. Once every 2nd day is heaps, being bigger sized cichlids they will be fine. Add a heap of val plants. Plants aborb some waste. Val is one of the best so I have been told. {good thing is they are on the cheaper side} Seachem do a good bio booster product. {name escapes me} Keep up small water changes. Keep salt handy incase of a nitrite spike. {I would use salt anyway while cycling a tank} Keep up the airation too. Good luck. Frenchy

:lol: @ Jude. How true, oh how very true. :lol: I like to add Stress out instead of cry :evil: Another useful site, http://www.fishhead.com/articles/ventsex.htm Frenchy

Used to have a breeding pair at the first lfs I worked at. Kept in a 3 foot tank with no worries, bred all the time. Bigger tank will be better for them. With what has probably happened is that the male will want to breed again, as there are no babies, the female isn't ready. Also new surroundings.... Try a divider until they are comfortable, or she is looking ready to breed agian. The pair at work were so cool. Great markings, defended the tank so well, against the customers :lol: Bred like rabbits and then some. Frenchy