Pelvicachromis taeniatus 'Moliwe'

[Emokidz]

I think they should be. The one of the left should be female and the one on the right, male. Unless the left one is a sneaker... I think it's a female though, from its rounded pelvic fin edges and pinkish-red lateral spot. Just much thinner currently due to a lack of good food. Could be wrong though. Then again, even if they were a pair, we can't tell if they are compatible too. Have to leave that to luck. Haha!

[Emokidz]

Just dropped by c328 today. The tefe is gone. Bandi worki still there. But now there's a Nigerian red pair too. Haha.

[bernie]

Back to this topic, my young mother and her fries. http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/...e/d838366d.jpg

[stormhawk]

Looking good Bernie. I think the biggest problem with these fish is that they look too similar to the common Krib, which happens to be pretty hard to come by now.

[Emokidz]

Back to this topic, my young mother and her fries. http://i1159.photobucket.com/albums/...e/d838366d.jpg

Wow! I miss those times when mom used to sherpherd the fry around the tank. Great looking female you have there.

[Emokidz]

A little update on the little guys (and girls ).
They are starting to colour up now and have reached, on average, 2.5 - 3cm. With the largest ones being 4cm thereabout. The large ones dominate the caves and constantly hide in the hard to reach corners though.

One of the more dominant males which started colouring up just recently.

Colours on some of the more dominant males starting to show...



There's a good mix of males and females too.. Females colouring up nicely with the purplish-red laterals.

[Shi Xuan]

Alluring fishes you raised there. I like the first three photos, especially the third one, which shows the colors and patterns on the caudal rather clearly. BTW, there's another species which is as beautiful, as I find, that is Pelvicachromis subocellatus, especially for the odd color pattern on the female's flanks, though I haven't seen any in the LFS before.

Keep them going, whatever it is, Pelvicachromis are nice cichlids to have around.

[Emokidz]

Haha.. Yea, I can't wait till they fully mature and develop. Wow, the colours on those other pelvicachromis are really nice. Problem is, even if the LFSs do bring them in.. I don't have any more space

[Emokidz]

I guess the pictures posted previously do not capture the subtle beauty and colours of the fishes. Afterall, they are all crammed in a grow out tank. Hence, I gave taking photos of these fish a second go by transferring a few of them to my planted tank. Not surprisingly, they immediately colour up and appear to be much happier with all the new-found swimming space. Though I must admit that the new pictures are still far from acceptable (by the standards of any self-respecting photographer), I'm still quite happy with them - considering the huge improvement from my last attempt and the fact that they were captured using an 8-year old sony T30 cybershot digicam (which has 2 rows of dead pixels). I should really invest in a DSLR soon...

A little blurry, but do enjoy...











Thanks for viewing

[Shi Xuan]

Looking from these photos, those fishes I've seen previously at your house have grown considerably. They are quite beautiful, considering the fact that you took them with an 8-year old sony T30 cybershot digicam. Anyway, are you going to spawn them anytime soon?

[Emokidz]

Yes they have really grown and are beginning to reach their full potential. Probably not going to breed them any time soon. I'll just let the rest of the juveniles grow up for now.

[stormhawk]

The colors are really beautiful. Are you intending to try the other species Bernard?

[Emokidz]

Thanks Jianyang, I definitely will if I can find them around at a reasonable price. The only other ones I've seen are the Bandi wouri pair and Nigerian red (which I think the female had hole-in-the-head) at C328. Really interesting group of fish, in my opinion.

[stormhawk]

They had Nanochromis dimidiatus locally at one point but I didn't get any since you can't exactly sex fish that are exhibiting stress colors.

[stormhawk]

Bernard, managed to finally get some pics:





The pics don't do justice to them. For some reason, they are shy, maybe because the lights are quite bright. In any case, one of the females is the most adventurous one.

[Aquanoob]

Stormhawk, where is this 2 picture taken in which LFS or you are keeping them?

[doppelbanddwarf]

Very nice fishes bernard. All well fed and plump. Wouldn't they dig up your planted tank?

On a side note, I think one of the most interesting female breeding colouration among Pelvicachromis taeniatus variants have to be the "wouri" variant. I lost a wild pair some time ago and would grab at the chance to get that variant again.

[stormhawk]

Aqua, I took the photos in my community tank, where the group of 3M/4F currently reside. They co-exist peacefully with my other fishes. Occasionally some skirmishes with the Rams but nothing violent. They are quite shy. Only the females will come forward to feed openly. The males take time to move out. They dart back into the plants if I make any sudden movements.

I got them from Bernard at GC after the shrimp talk by Silane. They were in excellent health. For those who are keen to purchase them, get them from Bernard. Rest assured of the quality and vitality.

[griffinkid]

Indeed! They are the stars in my planted tank as well. I think they are one of the most colorful variants of the p. taeniatus. If you want a stunning fish with lots of characteristics- this is what you need

[bernie]

A video speaks a thousand words for this species.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=p88xZhi...?v=p88xZhi70m8