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SELECTION
CRITERIA ~ VERY IMPORTANT ~ PLEASE READ ON
When
selecting fish for your tank you should stop and think first.
Otherwise you will have to run later, and, surely, you are going to
regret that. It is better to house either mbuna or non-mbuna. These
two worlds do not mix well. After all, even in Lake Malawi, the
latter feed on the former therefore you don't want this demonstrated
in your tank, do you? But the Lake is millions of gallons of water
with tons of rocks and infinite numbers of hiding places, your tank
isn't. Therefore some things that would happen in the Lake will
never take place in your tank, while other things, never happening
there, will take place in the limited space of any tank. In the end,
it is not just keeping them alive. It is more like choosing which
species will live happily thereafter ! Some criteria I have set and
may provide you with a starting point are listed here.
1.
Dietary needs. Mbuna are herbivores, non
mbuna are insectivores, carnivores or piscivores. In short :
correctly feeding some of them will harm the rest and vise versa. It
is not only feeding the right food and meeting the nutritional needs
of the various species, it is also avoiding the often fatal Malawi
bloat which most times is the result of wrong feeding (too much food
or the wrong kind of food).
2.
Size. You must take fish size into
account. A small female Nimbochromis venustus will be chased by all
males in the tank AND the grown up females whose color, shape and
pattern resemble hers. In short, if not dead within a week, a really
unhappy fish - and shortly, a sick fish. Needless to say, never add
a male which is considerably smaller than an already existing male.
Better still - never add a second male. For species which are really
aggressive (Melanochromis sp., most Pseudotropheus sp., Nimbochromis
venustus etc.) a second male will trigger uncontrollable fights and
deaths. Even males of the most peaceful species will chase rival
males all day long if not just kill them.
3.
Cross Breeding. Keeping species that have
the same color combination is a sure bet to end up with fry you
can't possibly tell which was the father ! A good example is
Aulonocara species. Though males may differ significantly, females
usually don't. It doesn't take a genius to see the future. Choose
fish that have different colors, if possible different shapes and /
or different patterns. My male Nimbochromis livinstonii will not
even take a second look on the female Nimbochromis venustus. The
differences in shape and pattern are enough even though the colors
(of the females) are pretty close. One of my "mistakes" is
the Chilotilapia euchilus combined with the Protomelas taeniolatus.
Though males differ a lot the females look very similar. I couldn't
resist it ! I just hope the females will look at the courting male
before giving in ! A very special note on this one : NEVER sell or
give away fry if you have the slightest suspicion that it may be a
hybrid. These hybrids are fertile
for a couple of generations - at least.
You are not helping nature - you are destroying it. Either keep it
yourself or dispose it.
4.
Aggression. Of course a 25 cm spawning
male Nimbochromis venustus will not tolerate any other fish near its
spawning site. If the nearby fish is of the same size and behavior
the spawning male will react in a much better way (milder). If it is
a 7 cm fish (no matter what species) its reaction will not be the
same. If there is a lot of spawning going on in your tank then any
small, mild species will have a really bad time.
5.
Study before - buy afterwards. Get to know
your fish before adding it in your tank.Netting a carrying Cyrtocara
moorii in a tank is not an easy task. Usually you just insist too
much and the result is that the female will spit the fry. The fry
will still have the egg sack attached, therefore it can't swim. So,
every other fish (including the male Cyrtocara moorii) will have a
snack with your precious fry. If you know (as I do, now)
you just try to catch the female as gently as possible. When it
spits the fry, you just don't panic. Transfer the contents of the
net in the raising tank and you may have a 90% survival rate.
Spitting is all too common with these species. Nimbochromis species
(both venustus and livingstonii) are notorious for this. Just keep
in mind the simple rule above.
6.
Surf the net or buy a good quality Atlas for cichlids (see
the Books
Review section for some
recommended titles). Most haps do not develop their breathtaking
final coloration until they reach sexual maturity which may take as
long as two years. A fish at that age, besides being too big and
possibly dangerous to the inhabitants of your tank (especially if
considerably smaller in size), is also very expensive. Find a
reputable dealer or breeder and buy the fishes at younger ages.
7.
Temperature. The lower the temperature (25
degrees C) the less the aggression, the less the appetite and the
longer your fish will live. As we move to the upper limits (28
degrees) you get more of aggression and appetite but less life span.
A note for you : the average carrying time for any mouthbrooder
female is calculated assuming an average temperature of 26 degrees.
If your tank has a lower temperature than carrying will take longer
(4 weeks instead of 3). If your tank is at 28 degrees, then your
female may release the fry on the 16th day (it happens to me
regularly, during the hot Greek summer months - the water
temperature may reach 30 degrees).
8.
A final word : I hope this site provided
you with something you didn't know before. I will try to answer all
questions sent to me (either directly or through the African cichlid
mail list visit www.onelist.com to subscribe). People keeping
Africans for years, will help you. Half of my problems were solved
by them - just be sure you are keeping Africans.. Many people in
this list (me among them) have been sick and tired of answering
questions about sick oscars and firemouths - these are American
cichlids, not Africans.
9. Useful information. Quite recently,
Dr. Michael K. Oliver
gave his insight in the correct use of the words "mbuna" and
"utaka" the latter being erroneously used to mean "open water
cichlid" : "Mbuna" is
used only for cichlid "rock fish," not non-cichlids that live over
rocks. Synodontis njassae, for example, is not considered "mbuna."
"Utaka" is NOT used to mean "open water fish" -- it excludes such
open-water fish as Usipa (Engraulicypris) and Rhamphochromis spp. ("Mcheni").
Rather, "Utaka" is used (by Africans) exclusively for the cichlids
that scientists currently call Copadichromis. Natives (ones that
fish the lake, anyway) can definitely tell a Copadichromis from a
Protomelas (although they don't know or use those names, of
course). They can tell, because their livelihood depends on a good
knowledge of the biology of the fish they catch. Protomelas species
do not do what Utaka do -- form large feeding and breeding shoals
off rocky shores. It is these shoals that Utaka fishermen employ
specialized methods to catch (for food). What I'm saying, in brief,
is that African native fishermen, and scientists (and aquarists who
have read such books as Fryer & Iles's classic) use "Utaka" in
**exactly** the same correct way." Therefore the term "non-mbuna
cichlids" or even "Malawi Haps" are proposed for those
cichlids which don't live on the rocks, while "utaka" should be used
for the Copadichromis species only. Lately, Ad Konings has included
some Nyassachromis species in the "utaka" group although this has
yet to be accepted by ichthyologists. |
