Want to keep a small cichlid species with a big personality? Look no further than Telmatochromis temporalis.
Small cichlid, big personality
Telmatochromis sp. “temporalis shell”
Find your niche
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.
More pebble mischief by the Telmatochromis sp. “temporalis shell”!
If you recall the post from April in which I revisited a previous post on cichlids and play, you’ll remember I pointed out that one of the two cichlids in my 40g breeder was moving pebbles. This is a weekly thing. Each week when I do maintenance on the tank, I put all of the pebbles that appear in the sand back in the pebble section behind the rock wall. And each week, there are inevitably five or six pebbles that end up back in the sand.
Do cichlids play – revisited!
In 2017, I wrote a post about cichlids and play. In that post, I pointed to some research that suggests cichlids do engage in what we, as humans, would describe or characterize as play.
A pugnacious little fish
Throughout my fish keeping journey over the past two decades, I have kept many species of cichlids. We know that every cichlid has its own personality. We also know that the size of the fish is not indicative of its aggression level (e.g., not all big fish are mean and not all little fish are friendly). In fact, some of the nastiest species I’ve kept are dwarf species.
Cichlid enrichment
Permit me to anthropomorphize with this post. So, I don’t necessarily believe in animal “happiness” and other emotions, as we (humans) define them. However, I do believe that animals can reach a state of contentedness, just as they can a state of excitement.
Better go looking if you don’t see someone….
Anyone who follows the blog knows I’m partial to dwarf cichlids since that is what I keep, which includes shellies. If you’ve been reading for a while, you know I purchased some fish way back in the spring of this year. Included in that purchase was a group of five Telmatochromis sp. “temporalis shell.” These are wonderful little fish, but I find them to be extremely territorial for their size. This may be more a product of the small space I’ve kept them in (20g longs), but that’s a post for another day. Though the little fellas only get about 2.5″ long, they just simply don’t like being around conspecifics of the same gender. IMO, they’re more aggressive than ‘Lamprologus’ ocellatus.
Quarantine chaos!
Even the best made plans can go awry! Revisiting my recent fish order and the subsequent quarantine plan I implemented, a little problem developed. Thankfully, the problem wasn’t a health issue but rather a behavioral one.
A new cichlid tank, pt. 2
If you read my post on May 9th, then you know I ordered some new fish. They delivered on May 15 and still look great. Currently, they’re all in quarantine. Yes, I quarantine all my new fish regardless of where they come from. My typical quarantine is 4-6 weeks. Many illnesses and maladies will reveal themselves within that timeframe.