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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.
If you’re like me, you rely on myriad resources to get your cichlid information. I subscribe to multiple serials devoted to cichlids, I search the Web regularly, and I have some of Ad Koning’s books. I’m also a member of multiple cichlid groups on Facebook. In aggregate, these resources have provided a plethora of species profiles and information about both popular species and lesser known fish.
Cichlidophiles know very well that tanks containing multiple cichlids will invariably have a tank boss. This will be the apex cichlid, the one that none of the other cichlids can bully, but it won’t necessarily be the largest in the tank. Among other things, who the boss becomes will depend on the mix of species in the tank and their genders.
My 75g is no different. It’s a mixed Tanganyikan tank that, at present, contains 5 different species of cichlids (A. calvus, N. leleupi, T. vittatus, C. macrops, J. marlieri), three species of dithers, and a couple of species of bottom dwellers. The tank boss is a male Altolamprologus calvus, one of three calvus in the tank (2m, 1f). However, I’ve discovered that the tank has an associate tank boss…and it’s not a calvus.
At the top is a photo of the associate tank boss. What he lacks in size, he makes up for in tenacity. He just generally has a bad disposition. As far as I can tell, he hasn’t really carved out a territory. He just roams the tank doling out cichlid justice to pretty much anything that crosses his path. He’s not killed or injured anyone yet, but he’s certainly sent the entire population in a panic when he zeros in on someone…except the boss calvus.
Fresh from the “every cichlid has its own personality” department is the news that I just added five new juvenile cichlids to the 75g – two Neolamprologus leleupis, two Telmatochromis vittatus, and a single Callochromis macrops. I picked them up last week from my LFS (I special ordered the vittatus).
I checked on the new additions once after a couple of hours to make sure they survived the initial introduction and weren’t getting harassed by the other three cichlid occupants, Altolamprologus calvus. Everything seemed in order. Photos of all but one of the leleupis are below. I apologize for the poor quality of the photos. I was in a bit of a hurry to get some shots, so wasn’t as patient as usual.
Also surprising me were the vittatus. I sat quietly for about 20 minutes before I saw the first one, and it was another 10 minutes before I saw the second one. Neither came out in the open, preferring to remain near the rocks and hug the substrate. I expected to them to be more outgoing right off the bat, however they behave a lot like my experience with newly introduced Julidichromis transcriptus….cautious and shy.
Fast forward a week and the new additions continue to surprise me. I suspect the leleupis are the same sex because they don’t tolerate the same space very well. They both still stay in the open and are quite active. The macrops seems much more comfortable playing in the sand where he/she does a lot of sifting and jets about from tank end to end, seemingly without a care in the world. The vittatus are still a bit skittish and, like the leleupis, don’t seem to care much for each other. They don’t share the same space very well either. Furthermore, one of the leleupis is a bit aggressive toward the vittatus, chasing them around when they cross paths. The vittatus still stay close to the sand and still hug the rocks pretty closely.
Fortunately, the calvus don’t seem to pay much attention to the new additions. Of course, the new cichlids are juveniles, so the situation may change as the newbies grow and mature.
I got the new 55g tank set up today, but it is currently empty. It too will house some dwarf Tanganyikans, which I’ll have shipped to me direct in the next few weeks. That’s a post for another day, so stay tuned. UPDATE 1/13/16: I elected to go with mbuna cichlids from Malawi instead of Tanganyikans in the 55g. Read more about that here.