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Lionheads


Afrikan

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In reply to your question re Lionheads davidb :D

It's Blue who has his in a river tank..?? I have mine in my Malawi display of which they are thriving and breeding in.. I don't have room for a rivertank at this stage, too much going on with other species tanks :lol:

Who else keeps the Lionheads?

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I have mine in a Congo tank with Leopard Ctenopomas (so obviously no fry will survive if they breed) and they had some lovely huge Congo Tetras as company - until the tetras were sold to a breeder.

I noticed that they seemed skittish and stress-barred when they were in the Malawi tank at ryanjury's and in other Malawi tanks I've seen them in. They're now very deep shades of blue and grey with amazing turquiose eyes like I've seen them at Wet Pets (also in a 7 pH tank) and they've started to grow considerably in the few months that I've had them.

In the end, they have the temperament to kick it with Malawis and aquarium bred and raised fish are pretty versatile in being able to cope with just about any pH we throw at them - provided they can adjust relatively slowly to the change.

I know aae1 keeps and breeds them in Malawi tanks, and Afrikan reports that she does the same. Not much different than the many reports of breeding discus in pH of 8 sucessfully. Fish are versatile creatures that can survive many conditions. I strive to give my fish as close to the natural environs where they are found in the wild as possible. That's a personal preference and doesn't need to be law or widespread opinion, though!

This is the website that I refer to for them - http://fish.mongabay.com/species/Steato ... arius.html - but I'd like to mention that they grow much larger than 7cm in good conditions. The ones at Wet Pets are close to 12cm and mine are growing fast!

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K, so I've returned home after nearly 2 weeks and gotten back into the fish room. Happy to say that a pair of large Lionheads have taken residence in a large flower pot on the end of the tank and are defending the area. The male is guarding one third of the tank and the female spends most of her time fanning her lil caudal off with only her head visible through the top entrance of the pot. When feeding, the female came out briefly and I could see a well defined ovipositor. Safe to say I have a breeding pair that are happily going at it. I'm in the mindset to give them their own tank, but really don't want to accidentally split the pair (they pair for life) or disturb them in the middle of things. Problem is, there's a pair of large Leopard Ctenopomas in there that will eat anything smaller than an adult betta.

Here's the obligatory pic of momma doing her thing - lionheadfemale.jpg

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Hi Chaps and "Warren."... :wink:

I was just wondering what you fed your Lionheadas on?

I have just aquired about 10 of these great fish and have put them in a tank of their own but they seam to be fading away on me.

There are in a bare bottom tank with some large shells and "holey" bricks.

Tank is about 25 deg and has light to mod flow of H2O

I am currently feeding Algae discs and JBL flake. Fish range in size from 3-7 cm and a mix of sexes.

Sorry to hijack the post :oops:

Navarre

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:lol: You are not hijacking at all... :D

Mine get fed on Spirulina, Sera Granumeat (of which is an excellent product, shrimp based), frozen Mysis Shrimp they go nuts on! Good Flake mix... have a suck on the odd Pleco Chip.. overall varied diet :)

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Many thanks,

Have spent a bit of evening and some of today watching this tank and methinks that in a struggle to set up territories that some fish are not getting much food. So will seperate "pairs" out this pm. Do youthink this might help?

Thanks in advance for your advice

Navarre

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How big is the tank they are in? Not enough space to set up a decent amount of rock work, caves etc? I have found with Africans (inclusive of the Lionheads) as soon as even one cave or pot or whatever you use for territory is put in the tank they will all start to niggle... YET I have quite happily grown Africans in a tank with no rock work, no nothing... just substrate and not one fight as they have had nothing to fight over. Seems to me that since putting in caves etc as you said there isn't enough territory space for each and everyone to have their own little cranny.. so the fight begins :D Either seperate them out like you said, or if you have the room, heavily rock up or cave up to give more territory options for all... or try and raise them without anything for them to squabble over.

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