Pelivicachromis coloring

[GoDSMiLe]

Hey all,
Haven't posted in abit, but have been lurking for awhile. Two days ago I bought a wild pair of P. pulcher "red". The fish are understandably alittle scared, and their colors have paled. As I have read that wild W. African dwarf captures can contain multiple species, I was interested in getting them IDed, and sexed also. The "male" has a rounded dorsal like a female, which i attribute to the handling, but has the more subduded coloring of a male, hence my interest in sexing. I would also like to get a male before my LFS sells out if I need to.

My main question is how long should I expect until my wilds feel at home in their new surrounding, as taking pictures of them now seems foolish to me. The tank is covered in african wood to create lots of caves, so it'll prob take me awhile to get some decent pics anyways.

Mike

 

[alias]

euh the duration depends but if the eat well, the fear will go a way whit time. Mine were alive and kicking after a week er 2,5.
good luck

grtz alias

 

[GoDSMiLe]

Thanks. I don't know about eating well, as right now I'm only feeding a staple flake to make sure they take to it, as I'm alittle nervous abouth them being wild caught. They do seem to be eating that when its within reaching distance of their cave however.

Mike

 

[alias]

hello GoDSMiLe

Mine were not wild caught but I have a rule that I'm using and that is when there eating, there are doing fine. De rest comes later. Eating is for me primairy. If they don't eat, you won't get fry so....
good luck with youre wild caught, have to edmit that I'm a bit jealous :lol:

grtz alias

 

[Randall]

Wild Pelvicachromis pulcher

Hello Mike,

Like Alias states, it might take a week or two until your new fish are acclimated and start to color up. To help matters, it might be a good idea to include some live plants that are positioned away from the wood caves. This should make your fish feel more at home and may coax them out a bit. Adding some small dither fish to the mix should achieve the same end.

Rather than feeding them flakes exclusively, some other foods (live or frozen) is advisable.

Good luck!

Randall Kohn

 

[alias]

yes randall I olso prefer live and/or frozen food. I nemer give flakes nevertheless that they eat it.

A couple of small fish may be helpfull. I prefer the fish that swim in the upper or half layer of the tank.

grtz alias

 

[GoDSMiLe]

ok, sounds like a great idea. i got freeze dried daphia and bloodworms to feed as well as flakes. I also have several anubias barterii in there as well, plus I'm looking into getting some killies as dithers. Thanks for all your help so far. I tried taking some pictures today but I only can get the males face in the cave he likes to hide in. I'm pretty psyched so far.

Is there any fresh food, such as fruit, that my pulcher might appreciate by any chance? Any other foods they especially like? Any help would be appreciated.

alais> i've been jealous of everyone of this forum since I joined, so I know how you feel. But with this pair (hopefully) and my new wild A. agassazi, its receding alittle. I'm sure you've got your fair share of fish that make me jealous =D

Mike

 

[alias]

woho thanks mike.

euh about the fruit question. Some fich take a little but not all of them. I think that the Pulcher won't eat such things. I think in summer you have fresh living daphnia and stuff but for now I would stick to the frozen food such as the larves and krill and mysis(good for calium) and daphnia and big artemia(frozen). The big artemia is really powerfull food and all fish eat that normaly.

grtz alias

 

[Randall]

Feeding Pelvicachromis pulcher

Cher Alias,

Merci bien pour ton bon mot! Bravo!

Amicalement,

Randall Kohn

 

[alias]

c'est rien but I'm normaly speaking dutch as in flamish and not really frensh. But hey like the words you put there man :lol:

My friend here on the forum is olso from Belgium. Its svennovitch.
He and I are in the same club of fish keepers. Were on the board of the "siervis"(its in dutch) in Brugge. Maybe you've been there??
lovely city btw.

grtz alias

 

[Randall]

Feeding Pelvicachromis pulcher

Leive Alias,

Zo, spreek je Nederlands? Ik heb viel Nederlandse vrienden, dus spreek ik een beetje Nederlands. Welkom in apistogramma.com!

Groeten,

Randall Kohn

 

[alias]

wow dat is echt leuk om die vertrouwde taal terug te zien.

tof jong in het nederlands. :lol:

tof hier te zijn op apistogramma.com echt een site naar mijn hart.

hopelijk kom ik je nog veel tegen op dit forum.

grtz alias

 

[GoDSMiLe]

AHHH! My post got taken over by people speaking another language. How did this happen? I can't read any of the advice.

j/k

Mike

 

[patrick1]

my language is netherlands as well but we are going off topic

 

[GoDSMiLe]

Well, I've been snapping pictures all week, and these are the best I've got, which isn't saying much. If possible, would you mind taking a look and seeing if you can confirm if they are indeed P. pulcher "red" and that the male (larger, less red) is indeed a male. I tried linking to individual pictures, but I can't figure out how with shutterfly as they use javascript to open each picture in a new window *sigh*. Well, yo can view my album here if you'd be so kind. And the flash makes their faces green, but in reality they look much more blue under normal lighting, especially the male, whose pelvic fins also have two or three metallic blue lines in each of them. If any further description/clarification would be helpful, please don't refrain from asking.

Mike

 

[Randall]

Pevicachromis 'pulcher'

Hello Mike,

Like you write, the heads of your fish--both the male and the female--photograph with a lot of green coloration. You also write that their actual head coloration is blue. Are these your fish?

http://blackwaterfish.com/sacrimontis.jpg

Please note the blue coloration on the checks and opercula. Pelvicachromis pulcher doesn't exhibit this head coloration; P. sacrimontis does, however.

Tag, you're it!

Randall Kohn

Addendum:

Mike,

In all of the photos, your fish are resting on the substrate and have clamped fins. Do they always do this? If so, they may have a parasitic infection. The recommended treatment is formaldehyde.

Good luck!

R

 

[alias]

hey Mike,
little late but randall is right. The P. Pulcher doesn't have a blue coloration on the head but more,like in the picture, a red head.

So maybe you should look in the big book of cichlids for the species that resemblance to you're species.

grtz alias

 

[GoDSMiLe]

Ok, assuming the one to to left in the picture you refered me to Randall is the female, I think thats the female I have. It also lacks the red on the face seen in the picture, which is only concentrated on her belly and pelvic fin. Her white and black striping on her side and face aren't nearly as pronouced as those in the picture, as the white lines are thinner and darker than those in the picture. Im going to guess thats because of the stess of the move still, and the fact she isn't in breeding coloration.

The "male" looks nothing like that fish, hence my interest in identifying him. He has a drab olive colored body, that shows alittle dark/light contrast when under good light. The contrast is more patchy, not striped like most pelvicachromis pictures I've seen. Also, the metallic sheen goes from the operacle to the lip, and from right beneath the eye to the bottom of the head. Its quite striking, and I'm surprised I haven't been able to find anything quite like it. The picture P1010253.JPG in my photobook really shows its coloration quite well, although it is alittle blurry. I never noticed the pale line on its sides until I saw the picture.

Randall> I believe you are the person to contact about the newest West African dwarf cichlid book. Considering the mystery on my hands right now, combined with my healthy thirst for knowledge, I would like to consider buying this book as soon as it becomes avaiable. I have seen no mention of price on this website, and as I'm low on cash (college and all), I would like to know the price before I make a commitment to buying it. Is there a price set yet?

Thanks for all the help so far, i'm going to go through another round of searching right now. Boy I like a good mystery.

Mike

EDIT: just saw what you said about the clamped fins. They only do that when I'm sitting there watching them, otherwise, the show full finnage. I assumed it was just because they were shy, and I haven't been able to find the dithers I wanted yet. Can I find formaldihyde in my LFS, and if so, is it dangerous to use if there isn't a parasitic infection? I always er on the side of caution, and would gladly treat them for possible parasitic infection if there would be no detrimental consequences, even if they don't have it.

 

[2la]

Ok, assuming the one to to left in the picture you refered me to Randall is the female...

Actually, the female is on the right. Note the shape of the tail fins and length of the pelvic fins...

 

[Randall]

Pelvicachromis sp.

Hello Mike,

Tula is quite right; in the photo I furnished, the male is on the left. With Pelvicachromis males, the first ray of the pelvic fin is always the longest. With females, however, the second or third ray is the longest, giving the fin a rounded appearance. From my perspective, this sexing method is accurate 100% of the time, is even evident in sub-adults and takes precedence over color pattern.

Mike, you either have Pelvicachromis pulcher or P. sacrimontis. The colors on both species are quite similar, so please don't knock yourself out trying to find photos that may or may not be accurately labeled. If I had a nickel for every misidentified cichlid photo that I've seen, I could retire in style. Also, please know that something as superficial as coloration is not always a good way to ID a fish. Coloration is mood dependent and can correspond to population, diet, social hierarchy and, most likely, a myriad of other factors.

Here's the bottom line: Do your fish exhibit iridescent blue coloration on the cheek and opercle that is consistantly present? If yes, Pelvicachromis sacrimontis (aka P. sp. affin. pulcher); if no, P. pulcher. To accurately sex your fish, please have a good look at the configuation of their pelvic fins. Their coloration may or may not tell you anything relating to gender.

If you don't think that your fish are suffering from a parasitic infection, then it is probably not necessary to medicate with formaldehyde (Formalin). This chemical is a proven carcinogenic that quickly depletes oxygen from water. Please use it only if you perceive that it is necessary.

Unfortunately, we don't have an exact price on Dr. Lamboj's new book yet. We are expecting to have the book in hand by late June or early July and will post further information about it here in the forum and on apistogramma.com.

Good luck!

Randall Kohn