P. taeniatus Moliwe video

[tjudy]

I posted a blog entry about my P. taen. Moliwe colony I am trying to establish. I notice that there are a few new members working with P. taeniatus... awesome!... and I thought this post/video might be useful:

www.tedsfishroom.com

 

[Joe Gatchell]

Hey Ted, this line didn't make sense to me in your blog: "The trick is to provide enough space, and enough other fish, so the pair will single a fish out and kill it."

Is that supposed to be "won't" single a fish out and kill it?

 

[dconnors]

Beautiful fish and great looking setup! I have been really enjoying following your blog as well. Thanks for sharing with all of us.
Dave

 

[Shernutz]

Moliwes

Oh wow! Nice camera work!

Those must be the pleco burrito caves. I saw it on the website but could not figure out about the oval opening. Thought it would be too small. But the female P. taeniatus just tilts and enters the cave!

So if one has 2 pairs, the colours would show better?

What are disadvantages of only keeping one pair in a tank?

The "trio" concept. Could you please explain that?

The "mirror" concept. Could you please explain that? I assume that the mirror "tricks" fish into pretty displays?

If using a mirror -- where did you buy the mirror that would be safe for aquarium.

I have 20L tank cycling, and just want to "study up" in order not to "screw up" before adding any P. taeniatus.

Your aquarium water color is nice and clear, even with driftwood. Did you boil the tannins out before placing them there?

There are no dithers. on purpose?

They are GORGEOUS! STUPENDOUS! FABULOUS!

I envy....

Laters!

Lisa

 

[tjudy]

First question... that sentence is missing a 'NOT'. I will fix it. Thanks.

Other questions...

Tank size is key to trying to keep P. taeniatus as a colony. A 20 gallon is too small, in my opinion. I will do it in a 48" long tank, or a 36" x 18" tank (bottom dimensions).

Female kribs show their most intense colors to other female kribs. Males to males. The colors are a territorial display. Courtship colors are more intense if there is a rival in the area. A trio will work, but then the pair has a single fish that they can pick out and torment. I prefer colonies in M:F ratios of 1:3, 1:4, 2:4, 2:5 or 2:6. The greater the number of fish the greater the need for space. Right now the 33 long in the video has a ration of 3:3, but that is because one of the males is really small and looked like a female at first. I was trying for 2:4.

Spawning caves... I like the burrito. Some people do not. Whenever I have kept Pelvicachromis species with several choices of cave, the pairs picked the burrito at least 80% of the spawns. The whole should be just large enough for the male to squeeze into and the female to lock from the inside with her face.

Mirror... good for taking images if there are no others in the tank to trigger the territorial color patterns, but the reaction will not last very long. A mirror with a plastic frame... or not frame at all... is aquarium safe.

Driftwood... I like tannins. Those pieces are old, however, and the tannin load is gone.

Dithers... the wonders of video editing. I use killifish as dithers. THere are six adult Aphyosemion celiae 'Mandamba' in that tank.

 

[Shernutz]

Water parameters

Thanks Ted for info

Could you also briefly comment on the water parameters of your tank for wild caught P. taeniatus; especially the pH for when NOT breeding but where they can live happy, and pH for optimal breeding behaviour (i.e. the parameters are for wild caught, and not tank-raised). I ask only because my tap water pH is 8.0 which is probably a no-no unless I haul water from somewhere else.

It is almost impossible for me to find any tank-raised P. taeniatus sp region like Moliwe or Kienke. I understand that tank-raised may be more easy to keep. Myth?

20L tank ok with a pair and 6 dither fish?

Which is your favourite P. taeniatus region? How about your list starting with your favs and why?

Cheers and laters.

 

[tjudy]

I see tank-raised P. taeniatus on AquaBid occasionally. There are not any there now, but this is the wrong time of year for shipping anyway. We have also just gone through a year or more of slow imports from Cameroon. I do not know why. In 2008-09 we saw a LOT of fish coming in, and that results in there being a lot of tank bred fish around. I do prefer tank bred fish if I can get them.

pH 8.0 is not optimum, but it will not kill them. If the pH is that high, I suspect your hardnesses are very high also. If you have access to R/O water, I would consider cutting your tap water 30-50%.

In the wild... the waters of every location we found P. taeniatus in (Moliwe, Kienke, Lobe, Wouri, Lokounje, Dehane) were less than 25 ppm TDS and pH 7.0 - 7.2. This was in the dry season. In the rainy breeding season it is probably softer and a little more acidic. Sex ratio issues usually occur outside a pH range of 6.5 - 7.5. If you can keep the pH in that range you should be ok. At pH 8.0, your KH is probably over 10... that may present fertility issues.

20L tank is good for a pair and some dithers.

 

[peterK]

Nice Ted, I'm still on my way in setting up the almost 50gal. tank. If rubrolabiatus will not be available, I'll give a try with some wild forms of taeniatus maybe 110cm long tank will be sufficient I think.

 

[fish-n-chips]

Great video and a very informative article, Ted! I was thinking of selling my other pair of F1 Moliwe, but now you have me thinking. My problem was not with the males, They would meet in the middle of my tank occasionally where I have driftwood to provide a break in the line of sight, but it was nothing more than some flaring. My problem was that the dominant male kept switching femnales. After the first spawn, he switched and bred three times with the other female. He then switched females again and bred once. The switch happened only after the fry made it to the free swimming. I am now thinking of keeping them although all that I have at the moment is a 20long.
I have a 36" tank but it is currently in use soaking some driftwood that I collected. Again great video and article!
~FNC~

 

[Robert Paul Hudson]

One of my favorite videos on your blog Ted. Very cool