Give me the results?

[Mikeinco]

I had to leave the convention on Saturday to drive back to Denver. Can anyone give me some of the show results? Did that giant Panamensis win anything? I so wanted that fish.

[fishfarm]

No, I don't even think he places, Sandy Crowles won BOS with a lithobates, Ron got reserve with C. beani, other best of Divisions were Gymno labiatus, Pundamilia nyrerei

[bobrfish]

Mike Sheridan tank buster was awarded to Parachromis dovi shown by aquaticlarity

[Mikeinco]

Did the P. Polleni place at all? I thought that was a beautiful fish.

[Dan Ye-Jennings]

Did the P. Polleni place at all? I thought that was a beautiful fish.

He got 3rd place, I think!


Dan Ye-Jennings

[Big_Kill]

Mike did you get any of your fish before you left?

[Mikeinco]

Mike did you get any of your fish before you left?

Hey Kyle, it was good seeing you even though it was brief. Yeah I finally got them and they are now in there tank loving the sand and all the space. I ended up only getting 5 Menarambo so I'm worried I don't have a big enough school. The Polleni male is being very aggressive towards his woman so I may need to get some dither fish in the tank this week. I'm hoping the guy I bought them from gets back to me about picking up a few Kieneri to break up some of the aggression. Lets stay in touch man.

[bobrfish]

P. menarambo do not school. A group will appear to school at feeding time but it is not a school. P. menarambo will tolerate each other until they pair off (about five years old). At that point, they will become territorial and attempt to remove all conspecifics.
IMO, Paratilapia do not belong in same tank with Paretroplus until Paretropleus are 5-6 years old and are aggressive themselves. Paratilapia mature much sooner and become aggressive sooner. Their level of adult aggression can easily surpass that of Paretroplus including P. nourissati which is most aggressive Paretroplus I have kept.
Dither fish for Paratilapia can be aggressive Lake Malawi haps and perhaps CA cichlids too.

[Mikeinco]

P. menarambo do not school. A group will appear to school at feeding time but it is not a school. P. menarambo will tolerate each other until they pair off (about five years old). At that point, they will become territorial and attempt to remove all conspecifics.
IMO, Paratilapia do not belong in same tank with Paretroplus until Paretropleus are 5-6 years old and are aggressive themselves. Paratilapia mature much sooner and become aggressive sooner. Their level of adult aggression can easily surpass that of Paretroplus including P. nourissati which is most aggressive Paretroplus I have kept.
Dither fish for Paratilapia can be aggressive Lake Malawi haps and perhaps CA cichlids too.

Thanks Bob. I was under the impression that they tend to school together but wasn't seeing this from just observing them in the tank. I will keep a close watch on the Paratilapia but so far I don't see any aggression towards the Paretropleus just the male showing some dominance over the female. Oh, by the way do you still have yours? I seem to remember you were trying to sell them a while back. Michael

[bobrfish]

I have five adult menarambo. Could sell one but not the others.
Currently do not have Paratilapia but would like to try the small spot some day.

[Mikeinco]

I have five adult menarambo. Could sell one but not the others.
Currently do not have Paratilapia but would like to try the small spot some day.

I really like the small spot and they have a great personality. Do you have any issues with your 5 menarambo? I guess the reason I referred to them as schooling fish earlier was because everyone mentioned that I needed to get a large number of them in order to have a successful set up. Unfortunatly i was only able to get the 5 that I brought back from the ACA. After spending more time observing them they do tend to stay together in a group so is it possible that to a degree they will school together? At least until a pair forms from the group?

[jgentry]

I really like the small spot and they have a great personality. Do you have any issues with your 5 menarambo? I guess the reason I referred to them as schooling fish earlier was because everyone mentioned that I needed to get a large number of them in order to have a successful set up. Unfortunatly i was only able to get the 5 that I brought back from the ACA. After spending more time observing them they do tend to stay together in a group so is it possible that to a degree they will school together? At least until a pair forms from the group?

They are not particularly schooling fish but you will not likely have success without keeping a good sized group together. If you only buy a couple of the them you will end up with one. I have never had success keeping any of the paretroplus as pairs. I have also not had any issues with keeping paratilapia with paretroplus that range in size from 3" to adults. It really just depends upon how much space you have. The Paratilapia mature and breed a lot earlier and are more territorial but with enough space you will not have issues. The Paretoplus tend stay more in the open areas of a tank while the paratilapia will guard a pot or corner of a tank. Keep in mind that mine are in 300g of water though. The paratilapia still charge out and chase any paretroplus that gets next to there area but there is never anything more then that or any damage done. The only missing scales or split fins come from the paretroplus bickering back and forth. My polleni breed a couple of times a year in this setup with no issues as well.

[bobrfish]

Two years ago, I kept six adult menarambo in 180 gal, then one day, there were two pairs breeding and two fish trying to get out of tank. Those two were removed. A year later, there is one pair breeding and other pair is trying to get out of tank. That pair is removed.

When I say breeding, I referred to laying of eggs and careful watch for a few days, then parents eat the eggs. Occasionally wigglers are seen but raising wigglers is a lot of work and I do not have time for it anymore.

BTW, all these adult menarambo are close to seven years of age.

A 300 gal tank would make a difference, there is not doubt larger amounts of real estate is the key. Proof is large outdoor ponds in Florida.

[jgentry]

Two years ago, I kept six adult menarambo in 180 gal, then one day, there were two pairs breeding and two fish trying to get out of tank. Those two were removed. A year later, there is one pair breeding and other pair is trying to get out of tank. That pair is removed.

When I say breeding, I referred to laying of eggs and careful watch for a few days, then parents eat the eggs. Occasionally wigglers are seen but raising wigglers is a lot of work and I do not have time for it anymore.

BTW, all these adult menarambo are close to seven years of age.

A 300 gal tank would make a difference, there is not doubt larger amounts of real estate is the key. Proof is large outdoor ponds in Florida.

Great info bobrfish!! Are your paretroplus terrible egg eaters as well. Mine seldom get to wiggler stages. Usually the eggs are eaten within the first day. What size are yours at that age? Any at the 10" mark?

I would agree that I haven't had issues with paratilapia mixing becuase of my extra space. I would think a paratilapia pair could easily protect half of a 125g or maybe even 2/3 of it if spawning. I think a 125g could work for both of them but it also might not work. Hard to say for sure. The more space the better though.

[jgentry]

You also mentioned that they paired off and you moved them to different tanks. Did they stay as compatable pairs from then on? I have not experience this yet. Mine are only about 3 years old though and have really just started laying in the last 6 months. They are all around 7-8" or so.

[bobrfish]

4/5 are close to 10", other is markedly smaller.
Pair compatibility has been good with menarambo. In the past I also kept P. dambabe and P. nourissati. Pair compatibility lastly maybe a year with these two species and then male killed female. IMO, both would have done better with larger tank or perhaps a Florida fish pond (haha).

Also, some report scraping eggs and hatching them artificially. I have not done that as many folks admire these cichlids but few want to keep them.

[paracyprichromis]

If you have a fish room. Do you have room for a stock tank? They come in sizes from 50, 100, 150, 200, 300 gallons, etc.

Ken

[bobrfish]

P. menarambo I keep are in 180 gal. IMO, 180 gal is too small for P. nourissati, although there is a report of breeding in a smaller tank (see Malawi cichlid homepage). I have a 500 gal stock tank outdoors but can only be used July through August for Paretroplus due to temperature.
I do not think 500 gal stock tank would pass through door. Further, I would need to remove at least 25% of glass tanks in fish room to place a 500 gal stock tank in the room. It would not be easy to watch these fish in a stock tank either.
Nevertheless, perhaps I will find a huge tank someday and try lamena again.