This week, I moved a lone female Julidochromis dickfeldi from a 75g tank to a 33g community tank (photo above), which already housed a lone male dickfeldi. The hope is that the two will pair up.
Check your caves
community
A cichlid unknown
One night long ago when feeding one of my tanks, I noticed a very small (~ 1″), solid black colored cichlid venture out from a little crevice and grab a morsel? I stood there watching in utter amazement. Why? There shouldn’t have been any juvenile cichlids or even fry in that tank. It contained no breeding pairs of species…at least I thought. The tank was a 75g community Tanganyikan tank containing leleupis, a male and female Neolamprologus tretocephalus, a lone female Julidichromis marlieri, a lone Eretmodus cyanostictus, two small plecos, some dithers, and three adult Altolamprologus calvus (2x male, 1 female).
Hey, find your own spot!
Territory disputes? With both species only and community tanks, this can be a potential problem. It can be mitigated by overcrowding, i.e., having so many fish that no single fish can claim a territory. Even if your tank isn’t overcrowded, you can still sometimes ease such disputes if you move things around in the tank frequently (e.g., rocks, caves, decorations).
An unfortunate discovery
Though I never posted about it, I ordered some fish back in the summer of last year. In that shipment was six juvenile Julidochromis ornatus. I set up a new 75g tank that would become a Tanganyikan community tank. I put the new ornatus in that tank with plans for them to be an “anchor tenant.” Everything had been going beautifully with them and the other inhabitants (compressiceps, ocellatus, signatus, etc.)….until last night.