Fish Profiles; Taiwan Reef Cichlid

[Carl]

I added a profile to the Taiwan Reef Cichlid which includes a "pop up" map highlighting the area of Lake Malawi that they are found in.

Contributor notes can still be added here as well. I also need to compile information about the Kyoga Flameback as well.

Fish Profiles; East African Cichlids, Taiwan Reef

Carl

[brenda]

Oh, that would be me...Sorry Carl, I have been meaning to put something together for them. I promise to work on it.

[jonv]

You know, speaking of Protomelas Steveni, I was going to post a quick blurb yesterday and fell asleep. I moved all the albino juvies from the 100 to the 180, my count was quite low in estimate. Actual count was 61 moved, and 2 did die in the last 10 days, so give or take possible deaths in the 15 gallon, that brings her first spawn total to 63!!!!

I believe this is a lake Malawi Hap, but might be found in other lakes. I'll have to do some reading up on that. I'll carry this over to profile notes later this week, but basically, this is a dimorphic species, with the males displaying a very deep cherry red along the main body when courting females, and females remain with a grey looking color on the body only. Males get significantly larger when growing out in a brood, and remain that way as adults too. Male growth is much faster then those of females, and final sizes are probably about a good 7-8 inches in full grown males, and about 5-6 in females. Female mouthbrooder for breeding, and very low on the aggression scale overall. I find this species to be extremely peaceful and probably would be willing to say it's more peaceful then Labidochromis Careleus. You do need a tank with decent space, probably minimum would be 40 gallons for a male with 3 females, and preferrably normal dimensions, as you'd want to have some decent height in the tank with this being a hap.

[Carl]

Thanks Jon and Brenda for the response.

Jon, could you send me a document with what you would like to add to the Taiwan Reef Cichlid profile, or is what you wrote here basically the jest of it?

BTW Jon, totally off subject, did you look over those website on solar generators I sent you while I was in LA 10 days ago?

Carl

[jonv]

I did but I'll be going over that again as I was talking to one of the engineers I used to work with and he's actually going to try to market a smaller scaled system geared specifically for cooling systems, and the information you gave might very well prove useful for the inverters usage/applications.

I'm still surprised at the sheer amount I pulled out of that 100 Carl. I mean, this is from a female I bred myself, now adult, so she's not really full grown or mature all the way really, just a very young adult now, and to have such a large brood makes me wonder if say a couple years from now, she won't start putting out about a 100 at a time.

[murdock6701]

Jon, you say you found a species as mellow as the labs that have color? am confused - which ones are we taliknug about here? - I'm changing out my SA I think to African

[goldenpuon]

Carl, thanks for the update. Unfortunately, I don't know much on cichlids as I have never kept them. I wish I could contribute more. But as I can use to learn more, I'm going to read about them now!

[jonv]

Carl, there needs to be one minor adjustment on the TR main page from :"*Natural Habitat: A Mbuna found in rocky habitats free of sediment in gnerally only three locations of Lake Malawi; Taiwan Reef and in Tanzania at Higga Reef and Mbamba Bay Island" to a Haplochromis. The TR is not a Mbuna.

John, the TR's I find more mellow then yellows overall given they tend to dwell in the mid levels of the tank, they are not often staking out real estate on the bottom and fighting over it. They will go lower in the tank to spawn as they prefer to spawn on a flat area making it easy for the female to pick up the eggs, but I have seen them spawn in the substrate also. Basically, about the only time you should expect to see most any Hap or even Peacock in the substrate areas would be during spawning or looking for food if they get hungry.

[Carl]

Dec 30, 2008 22:50:52 GMT -5 jonv said:

Carl, there needs to be one minor adjustment on the TR main page from :"*Natural Habitat: A Mbuna found in rocky habitats free of sediment in gnerally only three locations of Lake Malawi; Taiwan Reef and in Tanzania at Higga Reef and Mbamba Bay Island" to a Haplochromis. The TR is not a Mbuna.

Thanks Jon, thanks for looking over my shoulder

A Protomelas is a member of the Haplochromis family (Haplochromine).

Carl

[jonv]

Not a problem at all Carl and I'd hope if I made a mistake on an ID or something, you'd do the same for me. I think that Mbuna are just that popular in the hobby and sold such large numbers in stores, that's probably the most talked about group of Africans and is almost natural to list an African as a Mbuna. I know you wouldn't have done this intentionally or out of any ignorance either because you are well experienced in cichlid keeping. From time to time as well, Bill will bring up something I forgot about care and keeping, as does 8. I can say though, this is a very very peaceful species, but much of that will be reflected on the tank size. As with almost all the Africans, so long as the tank needs in terms of size are accounted for, you see little to no aggression out of this species.

I'd almost reccomend this as a beginner species if it weren't for the larger sizes they tend to get to when full grown. This would have been a great fish for John to start with, but in a 20 that's not going to work out quite as well as the Mbuna would. If we were talking about a 40 gallon, then I'd have probably gone with this species instead. I have 3 different species of Gourami in the 180, so they are occupying the upper parts of that tank, and they hardly ever get bothered by anyone. I'm not positive the effects of small dithers would have though, since I don't use them anymore, but when I did, I found that I ended up with some rather aggressive glofish and white clouds. They lasted many months, but unable to determine if this was from the Africans or they just didn't last long due to health. I'd think or be inclined to believe, that in like a 55 gallon tank, you could have a group of this species, and keep Glofish and White Clouds, and they won't be eaten.

[bikeguy33]

they have to get caught to get eaten....they are very fast and almost thrive on being chased.....at least from what i have seen

[brenda]

Here's a little info for the Kyoga Flameback...

Size-5"
Omnivore
PH-7.2-8.6
Water-hard
Mildly Aggressive
Come from Lake Nawampassa
minium tank size for a colony is 40 gallons
scientific name-Xystichromis "Kyoga Flameback"

[Carl]

Got it Brenda.

Could you expand a little though (so as to separate our profiles from the rest with just basic information) in areas such as feeding and add some contributor notes as well?

Thanks ;

Carl

[murdock6701]

he wants you to write an article - it's fun! I did it! be sure to include your own personal interjections and observations as well - good luck and have fun doing it!

[brenda]

Yeah Carl...I had/do plan on it. I just wanted to at least get you something right now so you didn't think I had forgotten.

[Carl]

Thanks again John for your wise clarifications and thanks again Brenda as well.

There are many profiles on the internet, many are quite good (such as Cichlid Forums.com and Big Sky Cichlids) and others not as good, but either way I would like ours to be unique and hopefully have some content that can not be found elsewhere, even the better ones such as I noted above.

I will start a new page for Tetras next week, so any thoughts profiles for this can be started any time.


Carl

[goldenpuon]

Well done Carl. I wish I could contribute more but I feel like I could not give information because I have not kept these fish and a good deal of information I might find on the internet may be false. Sorry, wish I could help more.

[Carl]

Jan 2, 2009 19:00:14 GMT -5 goldenpuon said:

Well done Carl. I wish I could contribute more but I feel like I could not give information because I have not kept these fish and a good deal of information I might find on the internet may be false. Sorry, wish I could help more.

While much of what is on the internet is incorrect or at least misleading, there are good sites to glean information on and more importantly the fish profiles section is also about member or "Contributor Notes" of which you have already helped in the Goldfish section and your contribution is appreciated.

Carl