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| Telmatochromis sp "temporalis shell" |
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| Written by twisted fisher |
| Tuesday, 22 June 2010 18:29 |
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I acquired 7 of these feisty little cichlids in early March of this year and tried to learn as much as I could about them from the internet and other people. I found that all that is really out there is that they are Tangs and that they are extremely aggressive. One person even went so far as to call them “the bulldogs” of the cichlid world. Now I would love to say that he was lying or telling us a fine story, but I too have seen the dark side that would scare a lot of fish keepers that have kept Tangs in the past. Are they the monsters that some people lead me to thinking they are? I think not! Just like every other little fish out there they are just fighting for their little corner of the world to live in. These fish are endemic to Lake Tanganyika in the rift valley of Africa. They prefer a ph of 7.2-8.6 with a temp range of 66-85. They form pairs for breeding, but harems are The 7 Telmatochromis were placed in a 20 long. Since they were not all sexually mature everything was great for a few weeks until they settled in and got ready to do that thing that makes all of us so happy that keep species specific tanks. Courting and pairing up. The large dominant male took his female and moved to the far end of the tank and quickly kept everyone in less than a third of the remaining tank space. I removed one pair and took them to a 10 gallon love nest so that there were only 5 fish left in the 20 long; things settled down a lot after that. I would find out a few days later that “big boy”, as the dominant male has been affectionately named, was just being a good father to be as I had fry all over the place looking like sand fleas. The parents were good parents thus far and have managed to protect at least 6-10 fry up to this point. That was not bad for their first attempt at parenting and they are currently guarding the shell again so I'm looking forward to more fry soon. The pair I moved to the 10 gallon love nest attempted to mate and the male killed the female in the process. As luck would have it, the odd fish in the main tank was a female so I introduced her to him and they are getting ready to spawn as I write this.
I have come to this conclusion about this species of fish; they are aggressive and a bit overbearing in their living conditions, they are extremely intolerant of others of their own species, they are a very amazing fish with their ability to change color from flesh tone to completely black in the blink of an eye, they are hardy and easy to keep as long as you are willing to dedicate a tank to them and them alone. They are a fish I will be keeping for a long time due to the facts noted above and also because there is a huge decline in their availability in the pet trade. So until you look behind the shell to see me again, I bid you happy fish keeping |
reported in hobby setups. They use shells for spawning but after the eggs hatch the fry are raised on the sand bed in a very unorganized manner. Colony life style is reported with this species and the fry do not need to be removed from the parents as they raise them and then in turn help to raise subsequent batches of fry. As with all shell dwellers these fish will guard their shells to the death and will chase a lot of fish three times their size away with little to no thought of self preservation beforehand.