Congochromis sabinae Parameters

[dfea]

Hi All,

I am about to order a pair of wild caught Congochromis sabinae and I was hoping for some recommendations on water parameters. The research I have done suggests these guys prefer water a bit more acidic than most West Africans with similar conductivity and temperature requirements.

I generally keep my West Africans in 6.95 - 7.1 pH, approx 85 uS conductivity, and at 76 degrees F. I was thinking about keeping the C. sabinae in 6.0 pH, approx 50 uS conductivity, at 76 degrees F. Would these parameters be good?

Any recommendations or suggestions are welcome.

Thanks - Dan

 

[aquaticclarity]

They will happily live in a pretty wide range of conditions...when I get wild pairs in to sell they go into my tap water (7.6pH and aroud 300pm) and do just fine.

Spawning them is a whole different story though! I haven't gotten past the courtship stage with this fish yet-hopefully the one I have set-up right now get further. I'm using straight R.O. water along with some driftwood which is releasing tannins into the water so the pH is slowly moving into the lower 6's. I'm aiming for the upper 5's to see if that will get them to pop.

 

[dfea]

Ok thanks, and spawning them is definitely on my agenda. So I may need to go lower on the params over time. I am planning on using plenty of drift wood, currently soaking in a bucket, so I will move it into the tank sooner and let it take its course.

please keep us updated on your spawning efforts, thanks again - Dan

 

[Nebraska_cichlids]

I have had two failed attempts at sabinae and am currently trying for a third time. I agree with everything that Jeff set and have my tank set up that way. In addition, I'm using some peat moss in the external filter (Aquaclear). The male was harassing the female and I had to separate them for the time being; the female is still in the same tank with the male but inside a small plastic hmaster cage that allows for efficient water circulation. That way the male and female can get used to each other. Worked well for my wild-caught irvinei! I'm getting a second pair of sabinae pretty soon, just to be able to try a variety of things.

 

[aquaticclarity]

Still waiting on the new list Janos but it didn't sound like it would be a problem to get the sabinae.

dfea...let that would soak out in the tank! The tannins are exactly what the fish need in the water so don't waste them.

 

[dfea]

Wood is on its way in now....

- Dan

 

[dfea]

Well it has been a week since receiving my new pair of C. sabinae. They are doing great, eating well and all about the tank exploring. As a side note, the N. parilus in the same order have also settled in nicely.

Thank you Jeff (Aquatic Clarity) for the great fish and excellent service.

- Dan

 

[wethumbs]

My pair has a huge spawn of over 200 frys. Here are a few pics.

 

[dfea]

Wow! nice job Congrats! Could you post your water parameters?

- Dan

 

[wethumbs]

water parameters: conductivity of 65us, temperature around 78F, pH started out around 6.5 50% water change every 3 days with the same parameters

 

[Gabriel]

How do they grow up to now?

I'm very surprised by such high pH!!!

At home they spawn sucessfuly at pH between 5.2 and 5.6 and comparing the sex ratio between both pairs, I think it could be better to decrease a lillte the pH!!!

You have a very different experience as mine with them!!!

edit.

I've read in sell-buy forum you have a lot af young sabinae! So pH doesn't seem to be so important!

 

[wethumbs]

That were just the parameters I kept them at. To spawn them, I get the pH to 5.