Pelvicachromis pulcher?

[tootsie]

i bought a pair of fish that i could not remember the name of, and i put them in my south american cichlid tank because i was told they have the same requirements in terms of pH, water hardness, et cetera. they are cave spawners, in fact i just got them yesterday morning and they are spawning now. i believe they are Pelvicachromis pulcher, but i am not sure.. they look simular to apistogramma agassizzii to me. they both have a horizontal stripe, the male has a little bit of orange on his top and bottom fins. the female is rounder than the male, has a bright purple belly, and her fins are bright orange, the top one has two black dots on them near the end

if anybody could help, that'd be super great
thanks

sarah

 

[tjudy]

Sounds like a pulcher to me... if you bought them at a LFS for less than $6 a fish, I bet they are P. pulcher.

 

[kribs]

I agree with ted. they run anywhere from 2.99 to 8.99 at LFS also if there are no spots on the tail then they are definately pulchers as u might get nigerian reds for the same price at some stores.

 

[kribman]

Yes probably pulcher. Pulcher may or may not have spots on the tail. One of my males has 7 spots on the tail and another 3 or 4 on the dorsal fin. I have seen female pulcher with spots on the tail also although it is very rare.
If they are starting to breed you should be aware that they may become moderately to extremely aggressive towards their tank-mates when the fry are born. They can kill fish larger than themselves and move with surprising speed when attacking other fish.

 

[kribs]

They have spots on the tail. The spots have a different pattern than that of the taeniatus.

 

[Blackshark667766]

Pelvicachromis pulcher (Kribs)

Happy New Year to all.

Spots have a great deal to do with identification, and it is for this reason that I point out that many people here in the U.K. have been bemoaning their loss from recent specimens offered for sale. I am no expert, but I know my pulcher from my taeniatus and subocellatus.

The most spots that I have ever seen, were from on a male 'F2' derived from some sort of Nigerian hybrids - needless to say the 60 or so all - male species survived only into sub adulthood.

Just for the 'record', there were 5 spots on the caudal and 8 on the ventral fins of one particular specimen. Sadly, neither fish nor photographs (thereof) remain, owing to a filtration disaster.

Astoundingly, I have also found that these fish can also be 'quite' happily kept with Tilapia mariae, provided that the tank is large enough (300 litres+)




Nick