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I have had the N. similis and L. caudopunctatus for a couple of months and they’ve settled in. Each species has its own 45g custom tank. I posted shortly after I got them about providing multiple shell options.
Early yesterday evening, I was looking through the fish list of one of my favorite online vendors. I always eagerly look forward to new fish lists when they come out. After keeping cichlids for more than two decades, I still get excited about the thought of buying new fish. When I look at these lists, I see fish that I would love to work with. Then I am reminded why I don’t. Many years ago, I established a cichlid keeping niche and I’ve stuck to it. Why? Keep reading.
Feeding fry in any kind of tank can be a challenge. Whether a community tank, species only, or even a small segregation tank, getting food directly to the fry can take some effort. Such foods as baby brine shrimp, crushed flakes, and infusoria are great options. However, since these foods can be so tiny for fry intake, any little bit of water movement can quickly carry them away from the fry. As a result and like regular fish food, they can easily foul a tank if enough is not eaten. Unless you’re using a breeder box in which the fry are confined to a really small space and tank current is reduced, you need to get creative. Either that, or you need to simply power off the filtration.
A few days ago, I posted about the new ‘Lamprologus’ caudopunctatus tank I set up. I’ve only had the fish for about six weeks.
Tonight I went down to feed everyone and, in that tank, I see what looks like a little cloud of pepper floating near the sand. Fry!!!
A little over a year ago I picked up a 30g rimless tank (called Symbolic) by Mr. Aqua. At that time, I had intended to make it a species-only shellie tank of ‘Lamprologus’ ocellatus “gold”. I got the tank set up, cycled it with some existing media, and was off to the races. But as the saying goes, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry,” which is exactly what happened. My plan didn’t pan out for a variety of reasons.