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Post by barbara on Apr 8, 2009 7:55:50 GMT -5
Jon, from the information I have, the Menarambo is very aggressive, and must be kept in larger schools in larger tanks. The Polleni seems to be a pair bonding species, and is really aggressive towards its own kind. The Oligocanthus is probably the mildest that you have mentioned.
I know very little about any of these, but I'm trying to learn. There is a guy local to me that is going to try and mentor me a little on these types of fish. He has some baby Paretroplus kieneri that are not ready to go yet, and I really like those too. I'm going to have to limit myself to just a couple of species, because of the larger tank requirements.
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Post by barbara on Apr 8, 2009 18:26:19 GMT -5
Just to make a great day better, my heater broke on my 75 with my Paratilapia. They are prone to ich, and now the tank is cold. I have a new heater in, warming as we speak...and added salt to the tank. From what I got from an expert, standard ich treatments don't work on them. Sigh.
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Post by Carl on Apr 8, 2009 19:37:54 GMT -5
Just to make a great day better, my heater broke on my 75 with my Paratilapia. They are prone to ich, and now the tank is cold. I have a new heater in, warming as we speak...and added salt to the tank. From what I got from an expert, standard ich treatments don't work on them. Sigh. Sorry for your rough day Barbara Did the fish break the heater? Did the expert say why "standard" ich treatments would not work, as this seems odd, especially with some of the newer formulas and I assume these Paratilapia have scale structure similar to most Cichlids? Carl
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Post by barbara on Apr 8, 2009 19:41:29 GMT -5
No, just that they didn't work well. That I was best served by bumping the heat and adding salt. I'm doing that now...we'll see how it goes.
I have no idea how the heater got broken, but I noticed that it was a little cool this morning, but thought not much about it. This afternoon it was rather cold, and the female was hanging at the top.
If I have to, I've got a larger heater that I can pull off of my 90 gallon, and heat it higher and faster. I'll keep an eye on it.
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Post by jonv on Apr 8, 2009 21:05:25 GMT -5
Barb,
The one and only case of Ick I've had was in the tank where I had the Polleni in, which was that 100 gallon tank, and I'm pretty sure I know what, it was just after I added the new Aeneocolor's. It's safe to say it migrated in from Vin's tank in this case, but what I want to let you know is that I treated that by temp raising, it already was a brackish tank, which shocked me, and I did use Copper Sulfate and quick cure. Needless to say, Ick was not showing anymore in the fish by 3-4 days. It might be a case of someone comparing wild caughts and it didn't work? Like I said though, I've only had this one case, but the temp and copper did work well in my case.
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Post by barbara on Apr 8, 2009 21:20:10 GMT -5
Well, I added a cup of disolved salt, and have the heater set to 80. I'll know by tomorrow if they have ich. But, I can say, their color is still really good, and now that the temp is rising, their behavior seems a lot more normal. They are looking for food, and not hiding. So, I'll keep an eye on it, but I'm hoping this will pass.
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Post by murdock6701 on Apr 8, 2009 21:21:26 GMT -5
Barbara, you sound more like me every minute - when it hits the fan, it hits the fan! by the way, I have a tank w/ flame von rios, harlequin rasboras and an opaline gourami and a gold gourami (both large females) and a clown loach - was striikngly familiar on your other thread earlier today....
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Post by barbara on Apr 18, 2009 22:12:36 GMT -5
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Post by goldenpuon on Apr 18, 2009 22:33:58 GMT -5
Nice pictures. I like their coloration. Each one has a different looking black stripe on their bodies making them each look unique. Great fish!
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Post by barbara on Apr 18, 2009 22:45:51 GMT -5
Interesting you said that, my husband compared it to a finger print...a unique way of IDing them. I can't tell them apart yet, but they are starting to not be as shy. From what I understand, they (the maculatus) came out of a 30 gallon grow out tank, so they have tons of room in comparison. I'll move them to a 125 before too long.
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Post by brenda on Apr 18, 2009 23:26:36 GMT -5
Congrats on your new species Barbara...I am excited to watch them grow!!!
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Post by barbara on Apr 18, 2009 23:34:04 GMT -5
Congrats on your new species Barbara...I am excited to watch them grow!!! You and me both Brenda. One of the promises I made upon receiving the donation of the Paretroplus maculatus was that I would spread the good word, as I have tried to do on Victorians. I'm much less knowledgeable on Malagasy cichlids, but I'm trying t rectify that by study. I'm very interested in them, and the conditions for their survival don't look good.
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Post by eve on Apr 19, 2009 2:54:18 GMT -5
interesting looking fish, congrats my dear
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Post by jonv on Apr 19, 2009 9:00:24 GMT -5
The only disadvantage in this case Barb is that most of these if not all Madagascars are substrate spawners so it makes it very difficult to keep them with Mbuna. They almost need a tank just to themselves really. I see in the pictures you listed, not sure if that's the Maculatus or Grandideri, but I do see the Tang like appearence in the face of these as well, similar to the Menarambo's. I've also noted when I've been looking at my Placidochromis Electra, the face is quite sloped also and I'm wondering if there is a way to find out more about this trait of a fish.
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Post by barbara on Apr 19, 2009 9:10:08 GMT -5
Jon, they do and will have a tank to themselves. Right now it's just a growout tank, but their final tank will be a 125.
I have no idea, I do know they like to sift the substrate like some haps do. I think the fish you are referring to is the maculatus (the one with the spot on the side, sort of orangeish), it is a close cousin of the menarambo. The maculatus are supposed to be less aggressive than the menarambo.
To be totally honest, I don't know a whole lot about these species of fish. Water perimeters, tank sizes, spawning methods...but that's nearly all of the info I have at this point. I will be borrowing a book on them shortly and hope to learn a lot more. I do know they will shred plants and love snails...and fairly aggressive fish.
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Post by brenda on Apr 19, 2009 10:42:05 GMT -5
Jon, remember Barbara has the luxury of having a million tanks. It is not an issue for her.
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Post by barbara on Apr 19, 2009 11:24:58 GMT -5
LOL Brenda. You are funny. How come I'm low on tank space then?
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Post by brenda on Apr 19, 2009 11:27:11 GMT -5
You may be low on tank "space" but you still have a million tanks...They are just full of fish.
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Post by barbara on Apr 19, 2009 13:37:13 GMT -5
LOL. OK...not quite a million...not even 100 tanks. But I do have a few, and they are full of fish. I'm having to make some hard decisions now on what is staying and what is going. Certain things will obviously stay, like my Mads, and some of my more exotic Vics, but I'm going to have to make some cuts if a few fish I want are going to come in.
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Post by goldenpuon on Apr 19, 2009 13:54:29 GMT -5
Carl beat you then. lol Once when he had more time in the aquarium business, he kept and maintained over a 100 fish tanks. I have no idea how he managed to do that. If I had 100 big tanks, I'd be working 24/7 to maintain them. lol He had quite an accomplishment, keeping that many.
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