Boulengerochromis Microlepis Wild Caught pair (Emperor Cichlid)

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Marius

Fire Eel
MFK Member
I 've been into keeping fish for quite a while and I've been eyeing this specie in particular, not only for the difficulty of keeping them, but for the pain in the butt to get a setup big enough to host such beauties. I gotta say, with the help of a great friend I got myself two wild caught specimens, male is 16"+ and female is 15"+. He used to keep them in separate setups, because the male already killed a "female".. and I chose to take the chance and mix them in my Tanganyikan setup that hosts an array of fish: WC Tropheus Duboisi Maswa, 7 x F1 Neolamprologus Leleupi (yes, still alive, all of them), 10 WC Synodontis Multipunctatus, TR Lamprologus Brevis (6-7 of them, unbelievably dodgy and able to avoid the bruisers) and a few very fast F1 Duboisi fry.Here's a lame attempt to share the beauty of these fish. The story goes like this. I asked Ioan if he ever tried to vent them. He said: "Hell no!" I told him how to, but he chose to take the pictures of the vent and send them to me. I became really interested and asked for them, and two hours after being introduced in my 400 gal Tanganyikan setup the female started clearing up the right side of the tank, a 3'x3' area, covered with some shell clusters. She started moving sand arround, shells and any fish that dared to come in that area was chased out of it. I can trully say I am witnessing one of the greatest spectacles on Earth, the pairing of the "Emperor Cichlid" ...enough words, let's have some bad clips and pictures.
I call this "The Stalker"
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The "Happy Couple"
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The "I want you soooo baaaad"
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The "I hope you enjoyed the show"
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Boulenegerochromis Microlepis is the largest of cichlids, if not second after cichla sp. i read an article which suggested that the parent fish die after spawning due reluctancy to feed due to constant brood care. i think i may still have the article, i'll post it up if i find it. have to say your really lucky, would love to keep a pair!
 
I agree, your very lucky to have the fish and a tank that can hold them. Very beautiful indeed. I love the yellows. I saw a couple lake tang videos once that showed them in the wild. Very spectacular video. I liked them and also a video (same video ??) that showed a unidentified very large black african cichlid with males fighting.
 
That video (jewel of the rift ) was one of the ones i watched, i actually watched several that week. Not sure if it was the one with large beautiful black cichlids fighting each other (males) or not. I thought as i was watching it if i ever made a basement tank room (like the 50,000 gallon tanks LOL) i would get some of those, absolutley gorgeous.
 
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