Myaka myaka

[cornbread_5]

I was about to get about five of these rare cichlids that i am growing out and i cant seem to find out to much info on them

 

[Joe Gatchell]

Try searching myaka myaka. Looks like you added an "a".

 

[aquaticclarity]

They are swimming pigs that will eat any and everthing that fits in their large mouth! Give them some space to move as they are active and aggressive. The shippers/imports don't bring them in often because of the aggression...heavy losses during shipping if the fish aren't drugged or bagged seperatly from each other.

I have a small group of wild Myaka that are in my 210 Barombi Mbo tank. At a quick glance they look like a female Stomotipia pindu with a mouth full of fry. Unfortunatly I think I only have male Myaka so I need to track down some more.

 

[tjudy]

Who has them that you may buy them from?

 

[cornbread_5]

my friend got them from some supplier in new jersey not sure who though but it wasnt jeff rapps

 

[Troy]

I too wonder who has these available. Are they wild caught adults or juveniles? I'd love to know who spawned them.

I have a wild caught group of 5. Not 100% sure of the M/F ratio but I have seen, and have video, of them trying to spawn. At one point in time I am sure they spawned but the female was no longer holding the next day. I didn't actually see the eggs being laid but forwarded pictures to Dr. Anton Lamboj and Greg Steeves who both felt the pics showed a holding Myaka myaka. I should have caught her immediately and tumbled the eggs but I guess hindsight is 20/20. Lots of shaking going on since but no dice on successful spawning. They are making me nuts as they are about the only cichlid in my fishroom that I have not gotten to reproduce.

Jeff is correct. Give them lots of room. When I first brought my group of 10 in, they were a a few inches in size and I kept them in a 50 gallon breeder for about 2 days. I lost 3 in that short time. Super aggressive if not given lots of space. I keep mine in a 125 gallon with 11 Pungu maclareni. The Pungu spawn fairly regularly.

Dr. Paul Loiselle told me at the ACA Convention in 2010 that his Myaka myaka spawn regularly and he keeps them in something very small like a 29 gallon or 40 breeder!! Kudos to Dr. Loiselle! He seems to be the only one with the magic touch. He is in the New Jersey area.

Jeff, I would love to get more of these in so if you ever see them on a list...buy them all as I will take them (or will I have to fight you for them?). LoL I haven't seen them offered for a couple of years.

Good luck with them if you get them and shoot me a message if you want to ever get rid of them. Very wicked fish! I just love them.

Peace,
~Troy

 

[tjudy]

Paul Loiselle is spawning them. He delivered fry to some people at ACA 2010 last summer.

 

[Troy]

Thanks Ted.

Dr. Loiselle is the only one I've heard of that has gotten these guys to spawn. I am supposed to send him some of my P. maclareni fry in exchange for some M. myaka fry. I think I'd better give him a call and set that up as well as find out his secrets!

I got both the P. maclareni and M. myaka in at the same time a couple of years ago. I was under the impression neither had been spawned in captivity before when I made the purchase. I couldn't resist the challenge. Seems he , and others in case of the Pungu, beat me to the punch on both counts!

Peace,
~Troy

 

[peterK]

Lucky those who keeps any of the Barombis, especially M. myaka. I hope to get some, as my friend is in contact with Cameroonian exporter

BTW, isn't it the same rule as with Victorian species, I mean to give them not too many shelters, and rock hideouts, just to decrease their agression/territorial behaviour? And how do they together with Pungu?

Thanks!

 

[tjudy]

Jeff keeps them, so he can be more specific about their behavior if tanks. In the wild, M. myaka is an open water species. According to Dr. Loiselle the problem with spawning them is that in all likelyhood we have not been getting both sexes (most likely just males). He says that his pair spawns frequently and without much difficulty, but they look quite a bit alike. It is possible that when they are collected the males, which are out and about looking for mates, are netted while the shier females are not. They are only collected during one brief period each year.

Pungu in the wild are not very rock oriented either. They graze on the surface of large rocks, but do not run for the crevices.

 

[Troy]

I find the Pungu and Myaka to be perfect tankmates. Neither species seems to even notice that the other is present. Only when Myaka myaka are courting do they seem to mind the Pungu and they only seem to give them a slight shove when they come too near the spawning site. Their reaction to the other male Myaka myaka in the tank is quite the opposite though....they can be brutal.

Although I have not vented them yet, I am pretty sure I have 2 females. That or the males are trying to spawn with each other. LoL. The behavior I've witnessed in my tank is not aggression but typical spawning behavior. Usually on a rock or piece of driftwood but once I saw them going at it in a small pit dug out in front of the piece of driftwood. It was more of a small depression than pit.

Usually the Myaka are swimming in the upper parts of the tank and the Pungu are doing "headstands" picking through the gravel. Rarely, if ever, do I see either species exploring the rock caves that I have created for the synodontis that are also in the tank. I have never seen a Pungu hold a territory of any sort except for the brief time that they are in the act of spawning. The Myaka will when they are courting and it is usually a rock or piece of wood. When the Myaka last tried spawning the three males split my 125 into three 2 foot territories and the two females swam about the three territories. I saw both females visit all three territories and courted each male. Only the one time do I think they actually spawned though.

The tank is mostly open with a few pieces of driftwood and a pile of rocks running along the back for the synodontis.

Hope this helps.

Peace,
~Troy

 

[peterK]

Thanks a lot for the answer, Troy. I hope it would be helpful for me one day.:wink:

Pungu are doing "headstands" picking through the gravel.

So you find Pungu behaving more like Pelvicachromis than Mbunas in search for food? That's interesting!

BTW, Ted, maybe you can change the topic title, into actual name of the fish? That would make searching easier.

 

[tjudy]

BTW, Ted, maybe you can change the topic title, into actual name of the fish? That would make searching easier.

Took a bit... but I figured out how to get it done.

 

[cornbread_5]

as matter of fact my friend who got me them said that they came from Paul Loiselle pair

 

[Troy]

as matter of fact my friend who got me them said that they came from Paul Loiselle pair

That's really cool, isn't it? Having some offspring from Paul Loiselle's pair in your fishroom. Almost as cool as saying you have some fish from that Jeff Michels guy....:biggrin:

I've never tried just keeping a pair of Myaka together. I and everyone else I talked to who kept them have kept them in groups. I saw two Myaka courting last night over a rock as I did water changes. The female would ever pick up "invisible "eggs from the rocks surface. The male shaking like mad. Maybe I'll try moving just a pair into a 40 breeder. I wonder if there is just too much going on in the tank with the Pungu's activity. Hmmmm.....

Yes, the wild P. maclareni, and thier progeny according to people I've sent them to, will spend a great deal of time in a nearly vertical position picking at the sand and gravel. They don't really "sift" the sand but they more pick through it and scrape the algae from the larger pieces of gravel or small stones. Give them a sand or really fine gravel for substrate ans see what I mean. It's reall neat to see 20 or so Pungu doing "headstands".

Peace,
~Troy

 

[peterK]

Yes, the wild P. maclareni, and thier progeny according to people I've sent them to, will spend a great deal of time in a nearly vertical position picking at the sand and gravel. They don't really "sift" the sand but they more pick through it and scrape the algae from the larger pieces of gravel or small stones. Give them a sand or really fine gravel for substrate ans see what I mean. It's reall neat to see 20 or so Pungu doing "headstands".

Yes that must look great!

 

[tjudy]

In the wild the Pungu forage in large schools grazing on the sponge and aufwuchs of the rocks. Konia eisentrauti are mixed into the schools, and the fish look a LOT alike while they are swimming together. Schools of Sarotherodon species (mostly linelli, but probably caroli as well), are in the water column above the schools of Pungu/Konia. The stomotepia are very bottom-oriented in the lake, and males defend territories in sandy areas between structures (rocks or sunken wood).