70 gal Malawi tank, A Journal.

[darkdep]

C44's are from Lake Victoria as Steve_2 said.  Lake Victoria is slowly being destroyed by humans and personally I think keeping something from that lake is a very Good Thing.

C44's are pretty feisty little things.  They are quite aggressive and I would absolutely not put them with Moorii.  I have them with young Ruben Red peacocks and M. Cyaneorhabdos (Maingano). 

[groan]

Aw to bad they are like that.
I really want the moorii so the C44's are out. I'll edit my first post to reflect my 'want' list

thanks for that info!

[pegasus]

Groan.. you did get good advice from both DarkDep and Steve_2 and some very good valuable observations from them.

I presently hold 3  6"+Blue Dolphin in a 75 gal  THEY rule the tank!  2 5" male Baenchi and 3  5" Phenochelus are no match for them and the demasoni will not show if they feel the waves are too big.
But they are not killers. The secret to grow them is simple.... give them a lot of water to move in, they don't grow well in a overpopulated tank.

C44 is still one of my favorite. I had some killers alright. They don't inflict deadly wounds but will keep cornering all the fish they can bully. The only big C44 that I kept is being check by a bigger Red Empress. If you want to keep a pair (because that the only way I sell them now  ) make sure they are not the biggest in your tank. So SRE, + Dolphin should be enough to keep them in their place until the 3 days in the month where the C-44 will show all his colors and take 3 square feet of territory. Not to worry... his soft lips are no match to mbuna's teeth's. Your yellow should be find with them all.

(From Pegasus) Stuartgranti, Red Empress, Lithobates, Maleri Sunshine, Crabro, moorii, Copadichromis mloto Midnight, Protomelas steveni Taiwan Reef, BN Pleco

In your case I would stay away from the Lithobates (hey.. those that I'm selling are great... I grew them just to see if they would get their yellow crest) I came on the forum to upload pictures of them for another buyer... Now if I would tell you why, them I would not be selling many of them.. right?

I have 4 breeding tanks of Red Empress and 4 tanks of juvies. Does that tell you anything?

Choose your peacock well because you should only have one variety. Of mine, there is no dough that should be getting my Red or Orange Eureka even if I'm trying to sell 2 nice trio of Baenschi. I took a great shot of the Eureka tonight , will upload tomorrow.
The Maleri would be my second choice but I don't have any fry.
My crabro are pending, will be breeding more maybe in the spring.
The Taiwan Reef fry are doing well and should be for sale in about 2 months. I may have some bigger and extra males but expecting a hight price for those. pictures were taken this weekend and should be in the gallery soon,
The Mloto are not a good choice for you if you go Red Empress and Dolphin. Of the fish I got from a breeder in Toronto, of the 3 males only one was of the deeper color variety. A few weeks after the first batch I lost my good male and had allready sold the other two. Question is ... who's the father of that batch? 

goodnight

[groan]

Wow, Thansk for all that info. lots of fantastic stuff here.
I know I want the moorii so that's a given.
Why do you suggest I go with the Eureka? do you have any pics? I looked at the profile on CF and it is a beauty. I also love the Red Empress.

I will not be necessarily aiming for breeding, but if they do i'll be letting nature take it's course, probably, but I do have a fry net if i happen to be able to get them in there.

anyways, the moorii will have lots of room. the afras and labs mainly use the bottom of the tank and there will only be one other type of fish in the tank.

so with that in mind, how many moorii and how many eureka or Red empress would you suggest? - I just noticed that above you mention that perhaps I could get 3 more types in the tank, is that right? I'm trying to figure out how much more I can fit comfortably.

thanks again everyone!

(Oh, do you have any moorii available?)

[pegasus]

When I had 4 Dolphins in the 70gal chasing each other you would see all other fish hide just to get out of the way. With 3, the 2 Baenschi trio and the 6 Demasoni can't breed anymore. What I saying is with your labs and afra 3 dolphin would be enough.

The nicest setup may be to only put one dolphin, a pair of Red Empress (need a female to get this male to parade more often) and a pair of peacock.

My extra Dolphins are to a size and price over the psychological limit so I'll be keeping them for breeding. 

As for the Eureka, I'll put up a picture of one of them tonight

[groan]

Great,
thanks for the reply. Maybe I'll pass on the moorii for now and just concentrate onother types of open-water inhabitants. I'll talk to you on saturday about my many options. It will be easier for me to make a decision when I see the fish.

Cheers,

[groan]

Given I am not getting the moori maybe I'll go for the C44's.
I saw the pic of the Eureka and I love it! (I hope I am the pending purchaser you note on the classifieds!)
I like the idea of having a fish from a lake that is going down the toilet. makes me feel like i am lending to preserving the memory of a once great lake.

anyways, I am sure I will have lots to decide tomorrow. I'll need your advice, Pegasus. I am still learning!

[groan]

I am the new proud owner of a pair of Peacock Lemon Jake (Female holding! Thanks Pegasus!) and a treo of Red Empress.

Thanks alot to Pegasus for spending the time with this newb (and it turns out we knew each other from my school days!)

Check out the new fish in my gallery
http://ovas.ca/index.php?action=gallery;su=user;cat=61;u=788

[sniggir]

have you thought about tang cichlids or you only like malawi

[groan]

I'm trying to stick with a Malawi only tank. Maybe someday i'll set up another tank for Tangs, but for now i am loving this tank.

[sas]

I'm trying to stick with a Malawi only tank. Maybe someday i'll set up another tank for Tangs, but for now i am loving this tank.

I think we should take bets on how long til groan sets up another tank

[groan]

lol!
I think i may use the 30 gal as a fry tank, or put the mommy into the 10 gal with the shrimps (only have 3-4 left in there) till she spits...thoughts? I would feel bad if she spit into the 70 and all the babies got munched...

Oh and I'm now changing the name of this thread to reflect this is now going to be just a journal...

[pegasus]

Oh and I'm now changing the name of this thread to reflect this is now going to be just a journal...

And your status also changed to BREEDER. Congratulation! 

[groan]

ya but you gave me a boost on that one.

I am going to move her to my 30 gallon tonight once i transfer over the filter floss from the 70 gallon. i have an apple snail and 2 small bristlenoses (longfinned!) in there now (Thanks Ottawadiscus!)

I want to provide a nice first home for those babies once the mommy spits.

[groan]

Thge female Lemon Jake is now in the 30 gallon with some nice new slate and a chunk of granite or something.

checked in on her this morning and she seems OK. I think she misses the crowd across the room
She can see the 70 gallon 6 feet away from her.  Im going to cry.
excuse me...

[groan]

At Superpet last night I got 2 peices of wood for the tanks. I was told that the plecos like to have wood in the tank (ottawadiscus credit) and he was right. So does the shrimp.
for the fry tank i got regular wood attached to a piece of slate. for the main tank I found some malaysian wood at SP. a small but not too small piece was under $10! I was surprised to see it at all, mind you i've never looked for it before so I suppose it could be commonly available. it is currently soaking to release some of the tannins before I put it in.

[groan]

Mommy Yellow Jake released her babies this morning!
Well at lest they were out of her mouth and swimming around. the lights were out so i didnt get a good look at how many there were.

Does this mean that they are out for good or will she take them back in? when I went to look they did not race back to her.
I did not see her mouth open while i was down there so i suppose there could be more inside.

[repeej]

Time to get a turkey baster and some frozen baby brine shrimp.

[pegasus]

If they still have their yolk sack then you have a few days before having to feed them. I feed mine, even with their yolk sack, micro-worms and even crushed flakes.

[groan]

i didnt see any yolk sack on the 3 or 4 that i saw.
I went out and bought NLS grow but the grains look like they may be too big yet for these little ones. I'll start with crushed flake i guess.

so same feeding schedule? I feed my main tank once a day in the evening.

I only want the best for my new babies. is micro-worm better than grow?

HELP! I am a new mother and have no idea what i'm doing!
I wasnt made for this!