Pet Forum / Aquaria / Cichlids / June 2005

hi,

It looks like you have a trio of Melanchromis Auratus, which are typically
highly aggressive african cichlids from lake Malawi, and have been known to
decimate tank-mates.
Maturing males will change to a darker color and tend not to tolerate other
males.
As with most mbuna, you'll probably want to add more, at least twice the
number you have now (with a high female to male ratio).
They're most compatible with other highly aggressive african cichlids with
lots of rock work  in tanks 55-gallons are larger.

kay-bee

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dale" <-->
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria.freshwater.cichlids
Sent: Sunday, May 29, 2005 22:22
Subject: help identifying new fish

Hello dale

Melanochromis Auratus would be my guess
Theu are attractive but violent cichlids from Lake malawi...
have a look here so you feel confident of the identification

http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/aquarium/mbuna_auratus.html

I don't know how big your tank and what the filtration is like

but some general rules

Make sure the fish in the tank want the same conditions and
food. Mbuna are 95% herbivore and grow to about 3-4"

probably best not too mix the predators and the prey usually
fish with upturned mouths eat other fish! Avoid anything torpedo
shaped as it will be a swinmmer and need open water...not Mbuna
rock faces

If you already have fish of a particular colour and body shape
new introductinns should be different in colour/stripes - it
lowers aggression

In a Mbuna tank overstocking stops territories being formed and
so dominance....means you need heavy filtration

If the melanochromis form a pair and attack the third......take
it out and trade it an at your local fish shop

either remove all decor and put in some 1.5-2" diameter plastic
pipe in 6" lengths to get lots of hiding places for new fish.
when you have your fish, then aquascape properly. doing this,
stops any of the fish forming a territory...as they will kill
anything that enters their territory.....if you add them all in
to a new aquascape...they all have to do the best they can

I use little lengths of pipe and no substrate before putting
them in a nice rock and sand palace....the filters are run on
the bare tank to make sure they will accept the ;pad when you
put the fish in to the aquascaped tank

I take the fish out and put them in a rubbermaid box with the
tank water and filter.....aquascape the tank then transfer the
fish back

Put them in the dark and they will go to sleep

Thanks for the advice and the identification.  The identification appears to
be dead-on (double points for deciphering those blurry pix :)

Of course my first time out looking for more agressive fish, I manage to
pick something in the top 5 killer scene.  Other than the coloration change
when they atart to get older, is there a way t sex these fish now?  I'd love
to be able to avoid males killing each other if I can avaoid it.

Right now I've got a 30 gallon tank, so I definitely don't want to overstock
it.  I'm working on adding lots of rocky terrain now for these guys.  It was
indicated I should add more of these if I can (I'll see what I can find
around here) or fish of equal size/agression - any specific suggestions?

-Dale

Dale:

You have 3 Melanachromus Aurotis, one of the few species of mouthbrooding
cichlids (they rear their young in their mouths).  The aquarium looks set up
perfectly for them.  You may also find that putting a small flower pot with
a hole in the bottom upside down provides a nesting place.  They are a great
species!

Wes

Thanks to everyone who helped out.  The tank is doing grate (other than a
slightly high amonia level I'm working on) and the Melanchromis Auratus
appear to be quite happy and I'm pretty happy myself.

Go team you-guys!

-Dale