Decided on mainly Malawi Predator Haps please help me add to list
- Thread starter Wharf
- Start date
Yeah it's hard to imagine just how big some of the larger haps can get, especially in captivity. Suddenly a 180 doesn't seem so big.
List looks pretty good wharf. I don't think you're overstocked but I think you're probably close to where you want to be to have a nice full looking tank once they are adults. It takes quite a while for some of those fish to get full size and some profiles tend to over estimate the adult size of some of those fish. You may end up changing/removing some of the peacocks over time. I have some peacocks in my 240g with my pred haps and I have found some work great such as Lawnada and L.Jake and while others tend to color down when mixed in with more aggressive haps. So don't be surprised if you end up having to tweak the stocking a bit over time.
I agree with Steve as far as having to tweak things along the way. My tank was constantly being tweaked in the first few years. Some fish just refuse to play nice, and they simply had to be swapped out with less hyper dominant specimens. As far as adult sizes, there is the norm, the below norm, and those that fall into the above norm. I have seen them all, including wild caught specimens. A friend from the past spent 6 months working for the late Stuart Grant on Lake Malawi, and one of the first things that he noticed when diving was how much smaller the Aulonocara all were, compared to the peacocks in his tanks at home. He assumed (correctly) that the fish in his tanks were getting fed more food, more often, than any of the wild fish, so over time they simply grew larger than norm.
On the flip side, some of the larger predatory haps far exceeded what one might see in an aquarium. Some were just very old specimens, that must have been living a good life, eating lots of smaller fish. I wish I still had the pic on my HD of a C. moorii that was collected while he was there. It was 11" TL. That fish along with most of the larger, higher $ fish went to a buyer in Japan.
I have seen plenty of larger domestic strains of C. moorii, but never one that was close to a foot long. Definitely an above norm specimen.
On the flip side, some of the larger predatory haps far exceeded what one might see in an aquarium. Some were just very old specimens, that must have been living a good life, eating lots of smaller fish. I wish I still had the pic on my HD of a C. moorii that was collected while he was there. It was 11" TL. That fish along with most of the larger, higher $ fish went to a buyer in Japan.
I have seen plenty of larger domestic strains of C. moorii, but never one that was close to a foot long. Definitely an above norm specimen.
So I added the Champ Caeruleus (Trout), Fossochromis Rostratus, Buccochromis Nototaenia, Chilotilapia Rhoadesii, Aristochromis Christy (Hawk), and Tyrannochromis Nigreventer. So I am done with stocking now...might get a Syno Angelica to add to my Syno Ocillifer and Notatus....or how about Decorus...do you think they will mess with it's dorsal fin? I have a feeling the Bucco Noto and the Rhoadesii are gonna look nice when mature. Hard to tell with the others because they take a while to color up.
Well I had to take the Rostratus out cause it was a female which was holding. Made a nice snack for the Men. I added a WC Mylochromis lateristrig that is around 4 inches, a fairly large Placidochromis johnstoni, and decent sized Aristochromis christyi. Here's a short vid with the 3 new guys....
Funny enough my juvie Bucco Noto and Tyranichromis are both among the smallest fish but are the bosses of the tank. They will be complete jerks in the future.
Funny enough my juvie Bucco Noto and Tyranichromis are both among the smallest fish but are the bosses of the tank. They will be complete jerks in the future.
Well it's been around six months. I got rid of the champ female...it was a "guaranteed male" ...errr. I got rid of the johnstoni cause he was taking a beating. I added a malawi barracuda that's doing well. The 3 peacocks are faring well...no aggression towards them. I added a S. angelicus with my S. ocellifer. I just had fed them before the video so the water clarity isn't great. I haven't cleaned off the rock work in a bit either. I do a 50% wc 1.5 times a week lol. I think I am going to get a Exochochromis and call it on the stock list. My bucco, tyranichromis, and rostratus will all get pretty big...another champ might be too much.
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