Pelvicachromis taeniatus Njanje

[Nebraska_cichlids]

I was wondering if anyone on the forum got some Njanje from Jeff or Toyin? Mine started showing some courtship behavior and I would like to adjust the water chemistry similar to that in thier natural habitat. Right now if keep mine in a 50/50 mix of distilled water/tap water. Any insights or advice? Thanks.

 

[Bill C]

I received two pair of Njanje from Jeff on Wen. I have them in 6.7PH, 75TDS
and 76 F. This is a little higher PH than the "Blue Fins" that have spawn for me. I'll let you know if anything happens.

Bill

 

[tjudy]

I separated all my njanje to condition them. Compared to other taeniatus I have found them to be very aggressive. After a few weeks they are in good enough condition to photograph, and I got a few good clicks on my small male last Thursday. I will try to post pictures soon.

The problem with the fish is that we do not really know where it is coming from. The collect told the exporter that he was exploring for new sources of fish near Muyuka. The known Mukuka population was extirpated a decade ago. The water in the rivers in that area are higher in conductivity than in other areas, IF they are in the same watershed I visited when in Muyuka last February (TDS 250 mS, pH7.1). The collector is unclear exactly where the fish came from. He describes the stream and spring fed that disappears into the ground in a large forested area. A stream in that area could feed into the Mungo River system (no known taeniatus), the Wouri River system or into the coastal area south of Moliwe. No one knows. In the rainy season the stream probably runs over ground to a river... but which one? Knowing that would give a better clue as to what this taeniatus is related to.

The males I have are very similar to Moliwe in every way except the number of caudal ocelli (fewer than Moliwe). The males look a LOT like the Nigerian populations. I have had people tell me that they look like wouri females, but I have not seen that yet. They males in no way look like Wouri.

 

[Nebraska_cichlids]

Interesting, Ted. My pair is not aggressive at all. Perhaps I just lucked out. I might increase the percentage of distilled water somewhat, based on what Bill suggested.

Janos

 

[Bill C]

It looks like my water is OK. I have a pair that look like they are ready to breed. I put each pair in a seperate 10 Gl tank with Sponge and small HOB, Temp 77. I'll keep you posted.

Bill C

 

[Nebraska_cichlids]

Bill: I also keep my pair in a 10G with a sponge filter, at least for right now. I do not have any dithers in the tank. They are doing great with lots of digging around in the sandy substrate. I checked my water parameters after I got home from work today:
Nitrate = 10 ppm at most (actually nothing to see on the test strip)
Nitrite = not detectable
pH = 6.5 - 7.0
KH = less than 80 ppm
GH = less than 100 ppm
Conductivity = 190 uS/cm
Temperature = 24.3 Celsius

I'm still in the process of increasing the percentage of RO water in the tank. I rather do this over a period of a few days than in one single 100% change.

Janos

 

[Bill C]

Janos
My 10's' 15's &20H are set up side by side and I don't use dither fish due to the fish being able to see others on either side. One of the females loks to have isolated herself in an upsidedown small flower pot base eith a slot cut in it.
Bill

 

[m keijman]

Regarding the Pelvicachromis taeniatus "Njanje"

Hello there,

So now and then I am looking at this forum and I saw that the P.taeniatus "Njanje" arrived in the US. I caught this species together with my 2 Camerooninan friends who discovered this type recently. I myself braught this type back from my last collecting trip to Cameroon last April- What I can tell about these beatiful colored fish, is that they are very easy to spawn. I allready have 2 spawns in seperate tanks to get them grown. The locallity of this type is almost not to find. My friends keep the exact place secret, and will catch this fish only on request and deliver them for instance to REHOBOTH AQUATICS, U.S.A. P.O. BOX 62071 HOUSTON,wich had delivered the first box for the USA. Attached a photo of my Njanje in breeding colors.

Regards

Michel Keijman

 

[m keijman]

Answer to Ted Judy regarding the "Njanje" place

Hello Ted,

As I was reading your comment where these types are coming from, I want to tell you following: As I explained in my 1st reply, the Fisherman is not telling to anybody where he found this type. I went with him and his friend last Aprl to the spot. And I can tell you following: I would have found this spot never !!!!
It is thru that he found them in the area of Muyuka. And we also found the Muyuka type again. Not in in the Muyuka area but in the Kumba area, where a guy placed some types of the Muyuka strain in a small stream in teh area of Kumba. And they are well an we brought them also back from our collecting trip. I will put some pctures of the Muyuka's to this reply soon.

Regads

Michel Keijman

 

[tjudy]

Hello Michel... welcome to the forum! Thank you for the information about the collection of this fish. When we were in the Kumba area in February we did not try to find the location where Muyuka had been released, but i did see the fish the Anton is maintaining (where those from you?). Knowing the exact location for Njanje would be nice, but I would be happy just knowing the river system that they are found in. As you are aware, 'near Muyuka' could mean a lot of drainages. Lower, western Mungo? Far northern Wouri? A coastal river south of Moliwe? Do you know that the larger river system is?

The Njanja we all have here in the USA were exported by Cyrille Dening to Toyin (Rehoboth).

 

[m keijman]

Regarding "Njanje"

Hello Ted,

The riversystem where the "Njanje" are form is flowing into the Mungo. Flowing in from the West. And I know that they where exported by Ceriel. My friends are catching fish for Ceriel. You know Ceriel is only gahthering the fish. He does not catch any fish at all. He just send out people to do so for him, therefore he could not know the place where they where catch. I promised my friends in Cameroon not to tel the exact location where "Njanje" is from. As you will understand, I cannot tell anything more about it then this. I hope you understand this !

It's nice to know that there are some more people going to West Africa to catch fish. What did your last trip brought you? We found 2 new species of Parananochromis, and also P. longirostris.

Greetings Michel

 

[tjudy]

That is what I needed to know. Thank you. I do not need exact locations, but knowing the river system helps eliminate some relationships (such as the rumor that the fish are from Wouri, but do not resemble Wouri taeniatus).

I went to Cameroon with Anton Lamboj in February. We also located a new Parananochromis, but were only in that area of Cameroon for a day. Most of the time we spent visiting the 'classic' locations since this was the first trip to Cameroon for everyone on the trip except Anton. It was more of a holiday than a hard-core collecting trip. The highlight for me was collecting and bringing back the Ndonga population of P. pulcher and a very pretty Benitochromis ufermanni from Mundemba.

 

[m keijman]

So you where together with Anton in Cameroon. we found the Ndjo also and also a Parananochromis in the Ntem area, very near to the Gabon border. Almost at the same location as P. longirostris. I will see Anton in a few weeks, when he is in Holland. He wil stay a day at my place and the next day he will give a presentation. Let's keep in touch. By the way, I hope I will get a Cameroon shipment to Holland in the coming 2 months. With some nice fish.

Greetings Michel

 

[Nebraska_cichlids]

spawn

My pair came through for me! This morning I spotted a cloud of wrigglers (see picture below) -- probably at least 30 - 40 fish. The female still looks a little worn out in the picture. Let's hope they are good parents. The water parameters changed slightly compared with my previous post:
GH less than 60 ppm
KH less than 40 ppm
pH 6.5
Nitrite not detectable
Nitarte not detectable
Conductivity 276 uS/cm
Temp 24.5 degrees Celcius

 

[tjudy]

One of my pairs on on wigglers now too.

 

[Nebraska_cichlids]

Great! I guess Michel is right and they are not all that difficult to spawn. How many wrigglers did you count?

 

[tjudy]

Hard to say. I only see a few through the small opening in the cave. The female has a very interesting color pattern in this stage of reproduction. The dorsal strip that runs along the top of the body is jet black, as is the suborbital to lateral line stripe. The space between is a very iridescent yellow that is stronger over the abdomen than it is to the anterior or posterior. THe abdomen is pink and the throat is white. The breast and caudal peduncle under the lateral line are light colored, whereas they were black during courtship. I still think the female of this morph looks a lot like a Nigerian form. I am told by Anton L. that the images I sent him remind him strongly of Muyuka, but I have not seen that variety in all reproductive stages.

 

[Nebraska_cichlids]

Muyuka would be great! Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to observe the parents in the cave. My pair ignored the flower pot I provided, but excavated a huge cave (judged by the amount of sand they moved) underneath a rock plus adjacent driftwood. So far my fry seems to be doing okay. Currently, I am feeding Hikari First bites, but I also started an artemia culture this morning; should be ready tomorrow.

Janos

 

[tjudy]

Images

 

[Nebraska_cichlids]

Just put up a batch of 7-week-olds for sale on Aquabid, in case anybody wants to give this species a try.