Have ?'s on Boreli's and Pelv. t. 'Lobe'

[Orchid]

Hello to one and all, I have been reading through your archives and am awed at how polite and respectful you all are towards each other, good job. Many of the other fish forums I have visited/joined can get so rude.

I am not new to aquarium keeping, but I am relatively new to dwarf cichlids, especially the Africans. I have just picked up a pair of Pelvicachromis t. Lobe, three Dicrosa filamentosas(one male and hopefully two females), and four Borelis.

My Lobes went into a planted 10 gal tank that has eight or nine shy Trichopsis pumilus (pygmy gouramis). All seems well for now between the two species, most likely I will move the Lobes to their own planted tank and use this tank to move the male Lobe to and from after a spawning. The female certainly is colorful, but the male is a dull grey color unless he gets all excited about a feeding, then he blushes a bit of yellow/orange. When will he reach sexual maturity and what will his coloring be?
They shake their bodies at each other but I doubt they have spawned yet. I love how devoted they seem to be towards each other, it remindes me of my mated pair of African pipefish in my reef tank. What other behavior can I expect to see when they do spawn?

The Dicrosas and Borelis went into my 55 gal planted discus tank. They all seem very happy and don't bother anyone but their own sp. Since the Borelis are small and from the same spawn, the fish guy picked out two of the largest ones that already have a yellow head and two smallish ones with no yellow colored head assumming these last two are females. I am pretty sure the larger ones are males since they are the ones that always instigate fights. But they also chase the small ones from their established teritories. Is this normal if the small ones are females? Or is this youthful behavior for Borelis? The two small ones don't seem to ever pick fights. Was the fish guy's thinking in sexing them correct? How long until I can definately sex them out?
Also, does anyone know if the Reitzig dwarf cichlid is the Boreli cichlid?

Any and all help to my questions is greatly appreciated, and if anyone knows of sites specific to these species I would also love that, too.
Thank you.

 

[Randall]

Pelvicachromis taeniatus "Lobe"

Dear Orchid,

Thanks for the compliment! We here at the Apistogramma.com Forum are indeed a really nice group of people, and we aim to please.

In your inquiry, you ask a lot of very good questions. Kindly allow me to discuss P. taeniatus "Lobe" with you now, and I will get back to you concerning the others in a separate posting on this thread.

Given a courting pair of taeniatus "Lobe" with 8 or 9 Pygmy Gouramis, your 10-gallon tank may be a little small. A 20-long may prove better. If you do decide to house your taeniatus pair in their current tank, please keep up with once weekly partial water changes, a third to a half ought to do it, and at the first sign of spawning, removed some or most of the gouramis.

When mature, the Lobe color morph reaches about 3.5" for males and about 2-2.25" for females. Don't let your male's current drab coloration fool you. The male Lobe is an intensely yellow to yellow-orange fish with red patterning on the dorsal, anal and caudal fins.

This fish is a cave (actually a substratum cave or concealed) spawner. For breeding, you need to furnish a cave structure, like half a coconut shell or half a clay flowerpot, that allows the pair to dig underneath it. The female will lay her eggs in the cave, and the male will defend the territory. Some males will also help the female with the eggs and, later, with the developing larvae. For these reasons, it is very important to leave the male in the tank. Pelvicachromis forms are pair bonding and conform to a mother-father-family type structure.

When the fry are free swimming, both parents will guard and care for them. It is really a splendid experience to witness.

We'll gladly get back to you concerning your other questions. More to come.

Thank you.

Randall Kohn

 

[Neil]

Orchid,

WELCOME TO THE FORUM

Wow, did you hit alot of buttons with me in just your first post!? First of all, aside from my constantant interest in Dwarf Cichlids in general, I currently have a thing for West Africans and reef tanks (I have a small 30g. SPS tank that I love). But back to the matter at hand. I think that I will follow Randalls' lead and take things piecemeal, as your post has many area to discuss.

...am awed at how polite and respectful you all are towards each other

Me too! I have also seen way too much arguing in other discussion groups over issues that have more than one plausible solution. It has been a blessing that the members of this forum seem to take that concept to heart. Plus, I think that, if most people in a group are showing civility towards one another, it is difficult for one member to insight arguments. Suprisingly, I have never had to delete, lock, warn or threaten anyone for their comments here. I think that is pretty impressive.

...good job.

Thank you! And thanks to all of the other members for warrenting praises like this.

Aside from the good information that Randall is providing, I will add one other thing to the sp."Lobe" issue. As strong a pair bond that many West African Dwarfs get, one can easily be lulled into not paying much attention to them (as far as agression management is concerned). I have found that taeniatus, like many other "Westies", get along spectacularly after an initial push-and-shove period and quite often remain that way. But, I have also had numerous pairs that, after an unsuccessful spawn, ended up as only a half of a pair. If your fish are displaying at each other, they are courting (or else the female is pretending to court to avoid the males wrath). Which means that you are probably not far off from spawning. This is where things can go awry. This is also where it helps, as Randall said, to have a little larger tank with many hiding (and/or breeding) spots. Female taeniatus sometimes take quite awhile to spawn and the male sometimes doesn't understand or appreciate this. So keep your eyes out.

More to follow 2.
Neil

 

[Randall]

Apistogramma borellii

Dear Orchid,

As far as your A. borellii are concerned, when two or more pairs of many Apisto species are housed together, it's not uncommon for interspecies fighting to occur, even in a 55-gallon tank. To minimize it, you might try adding some dither fish, if you don't already have them, like some small tetras or pencil fish. Having a densely planted aquarium with mutiple hiding places also usually helps. With new Apistos, sometimes they experience growing pains. It might take some time until your fish establish firm territories and grow to sexual maturity. Eventually, a dominant pair will emerge and, if the conditions are right, spawn.

Yes, A. reitzigi is a junior synonym for A. borellii.

Good luck!

Randall Kohn

 

[Neil]

Orchid,

...the fish guy picked out two of the largest ones that already have a yellow head and two smallish ones with no yellow colored head assumming these last two are females. I am pretty sure the larger ones are males since they are the ones that always instigate fights. But they also chase the small ones from their established teritories. Is this normal if the small ones are females? Or is this youthful behavior for Borelis?

It sounds probable that the fish guy was right. But it is also quite likely that the small ones are not yet mature enough for spawning. When they get to that point the females will begin to occasionally display at the males instead of running everytime. Then you will know you are on to something.

How long until I can definately sex them out?

You didn't mention how big they were or how old they are, but you should be able to clearly distinguish 6 month-old borelliis. One sure way is when the female turns distinctly yellow, with very few black marks. Not only will you know she is a female, but also that she is ready to or already has spawned.

Neil

 

[Orchid]

The two larger ones are about an inch and a quarter from nose to tail tip. The other one is colorless and only about an inch. The fourth one died this morning, it was always sickly looking anyway. The two larger ones have yellow heads and fins. The dominant male has a very long dorsal fin and will flash a steely blue body when he is "defending" his territory. He is the little Napoleon of the tank! The fish store guy said he had them since they were babies but I can't remember if he told me how old they are.