I would love to pick-up 1 or 2 large cichlids but am trying to figure out which to get. Dovii and Umbie both look the part but have way too much aggression for my soon to be community tank. Cichla seems to have many fans on this site but I would like a fish that will eat pellets (without starving them) and I hear they are prone to ick. Next up is B. Microlepis. I hear they will eagerly eat pellets and have the size I'm looking for. What is their personality like? Do they hide or come to the front of the tank? How is their color in person? And can someone confirm that they are only mildly aggressive towards other large fish?
Boulengerochromis Microlepis question
- Thread starter KNH
- Start date
B. microlepis would do very well in a 12 ft tank. The only drawback may be the depth. This is a deep-water cichlid that has a threat response of either diving away from danger or breaching. Chance are you will have 3ft cichlids trying to go airborn. There aren't too many fish you could keep with them since anything that'll fit in their mouths will become food. These are top predators in their natural waters. Still, if you do go with these monster fish, keep us posted on how they do. I had a shoal of 5 years ago. I only raised them to 15" (give or take) before I had to sell them due to transferring to another ship.
Champsochromis caeruleus, the malawi trout is another good choice. This is a mouthbrooding large african cichlid that peaks out at about 14". The females are a little drab but, the males get to be a metallic blue with a posterior shift to yellow. And, when they get their breeding colors in they're as good looking as any saltwater fish. They keep the metallic blue and gain a large orange dot in each scale. Their ventral fins turn orange-red, and their tails get orange dashes them.
View attachment 1112288
Champsochromis caeruleus, the malawi trout is another good choice. This is a mouthbrooding large african cichlid that peaks out at about 14". The females are a little drab but, the males get to be a metallic blue with a posterior shift to yellow. And, when they get their breeding colors in they're as good looking as any saltwater fish. They keep the metallic blue and gain a large orange dot in each scale. Their ventral fins turn orange-red, and their tails get orange dashes them.
View attachment 1112288
Odd is right.
Also, note that cichla will also leap out of the water when frightened.
but that is unlikely to happen with an established fish. a 2-3 foot Micro is going to be a very good "pet" and quite smart like most cichlids.. it will take alot to freak it out, if its established. I say go for it.
Also, note that cichla will also leap out of the water when frightened.
but that is unlikely to happen with an established fish. a 2-3 foot Micro is going to be a very good "pet" and quite smart like most cichlids.. it will take alot to freak it out, if its established. I say go for it.
My shoal had a definite alpha-male with the deepest colors. I had a beta male and the rest were females. I never saw much aggression between them. There were chases around the 900gal but, I never saw so much as a split fin. They took pellet/stick foods reluctantly. Their diet consisted of live rosies, chopped beef heart, raw shell-on shrimp, and chicken hearts. Sometimes I'd throw them strips of squid just to watch them wrestle each other for it. They got to recognize me pretty quickly. If someone went into the room their tank was in, they'd swim around normally. Once I entered the room they would focus on me.
I currently keep B microlepis in a 10x3 x 3 community tank and have never had any problems with jumping, diving or fright response.
I started with 7 and have found intraspecific aggression to be amongst the worst that I have seen in any cichlid - I had a pair form at about 16" after removing all other conspecifics - anyway all was fine until one day the male decided to kill the female - she was 22" at the time.
I keep my B microlepis with pbass and have no problems at all with aggression, both species are actually very similar in their habits and seem to get along fine - the only problems occur when the bass are getting ready to spawn.
Personality wise - pbass have more, B microlepis are a big fish that in my opinion have the personality of an arowana - they know that you exist but don't exactly care .
Males certainly have more colouration - mine has a lot of yellow and blue on a silver base - the fins have interesting spotting pattern, detail on the face is nice too. my male is about 24" currently.
Feeding has never been a problem - they eat like pigs .
carl
I started with 7 and have found intraspecific aggression to be amongst the worst that I have seen in any cichlid - I had a pair form at about 16" after removing all other conspecifics - anyway all was fine until one day the male decided to kill the female - she was 22" at the time.
I keep my B microlepis with pbass and have no problems at all with aggression, both species are actually very similar in their habits and seem to get along fine - the only problems occur when the bass are getting ready to spawn.
Personality wise - pbass have more, B microlepis are a big fish that in my opinion have the personality of an arowana - they know that you exist but don't exactly care .
Males certainly have more colouration - mine has a lot of yellow and blue on a silver base - the fins have interesting spotting pattern, detail on the face is nice too. my male is about 24" currently.
Feeding has never been a problem - they eat like pigs .
carl