Nannochromis splendens questions

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bobblehead27

Piranha
MFK Member
Apr 15, 2010
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Tampa Area
My LFS has a beautiful group of these in. I have been trying to do some research on them but can't find a lot of info about their habitat. Looking at other West African cichlids, it kind of seems to me more similar to SA, than the rift lake cichlids. Am I correct in this thinking? Should the tank lean more towards driftwood plants and leaf litter than the big rocks of the rift lakes?
Is it blackwater like the apistos?
Would they live well with apistos?
 
I have kept them and had to move and sell mine, so I didn't get to keep them as long as I would have liked. I'd like to keep them, again. Beautiful fish. They won't harm plants. Would probably appreciate either the planted tank or rocks and driftwood branches with hiding places. They do hail from the middle Congo, so to be biotop correct, they would appreciate current, and be kept with other riverine soecies from the Congo. The males with harrass females with chasing. Females will also chase each other, as well as males chasing each other. I seen no harm done, but chasing and flaring. I kept my pairs in a 55 gallon.
 
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trustemedia said:
I have kept them and had to move and sell mine, so I didn't get to keep them as long as I would have liked. I'd like to keep them, again. Beautiful fish. They won't harm plants. Would probably appreciate either the planted tank or rocks and driftwood branches with hiding places. They do hail from the middle Congo, so to be biotop correct, they would appreciate current, and be kept with other riverine soecies from the Congo. The males with harrass females with chasing. Females will also chase each other, as well as males chasing each other. I seen no harm done, but chasing and flaring. I kept my pairs in a 55 gallon.
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Thank you for your information.
I don't necessarily need it to be biotope correct although that's always nice, but I do want to keep the fish in optimal conditions for any species I buy. If the waters are that similar to SA water and temperaments are compatible I think I would just throw them into the tank I'm setting up for apistos and mix them since there's plenty of room, but if not, that's fine. I can set up a second tank.

You had Multiple pairs in one 55? or one pair in each 55?
 
bobblehead27 said:
Thank you for your information.
I don't necessarily need it to be biotope correct although that's always nice, but I do want to keep the fish in optimal conditions for any species I buy. If the waters are that similar to SA water and temperaments are compatible I think I would just throw them into the tank I'm setting up for apistos and mix them since there's plenty of room, but if not, that's fine. I can set up a second tank.

You had Multiple pairs in one 55? or one pair in each 55?
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2 pair, technically 2 males and 3 females because I had one female I had picked up and I was looking for a male for her. Wetspot got them in and only would sell by the pair, so I ended up getting 2 pair. Figured I would separate one pair, if need be, and had a pair extra in case my male didn't make it. (backup). One female really took to one of the males. They were inseparable and she didn't like any other females coming around her man. She made that clear. There was plenty of room for both pairs in the 55, but I wouldn't have added any more. I would say that is max for that size tank, from my experience.
 
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I still can't find any real info on the water parameters of their habitat. Apparently the middle Congo has rapid flowing areas and lacustrine type lake/pools and everything in between. So I guess I am going to go with a SA type tank with decent flow with driftwood leaf litter and plants. Do you think a 50 or 55 gallon is big enough to try and put them with apistos? That would be ideal.
 
Perfered temps might be too low for apistos. Ted Judy as said in our local aquarium society talk on these fish that he has never collected any of the Chromidotilapiini cichlids in the wild at water temps over 74F. I keep mine at 70-74F as a result of this new infomation that I've never seen in a book before.

I don't have a catch description for N. splendens, but N. parilus which is found in slightly downstream states it is found in side streams and slower potions of the main river, among rocks. While it seems they might prefer a little more current than Pelvicachromis species, they aren't full on rapid dwellers like Steatocranus and Telegramma species are.
 
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darth pike said:
Perfered temps might be too low for apistos. Ted Judy as said in our local aquarium society talk on these fish that he has never collected any of the Chromidotilapiini cichlids in the wild at water temps over 74F. I keep mine at 70-74F as a result of this new infomation that I've never seen in a book before.

I don't have a catch description for N. splendens, but N. parilus which is found in slightly downstream states it is found in side streams and slower potions of the main river, among rocks. While it seems they might prefer a little more current than Pelvicachromis species, they aren't full on rapid dwellers like Steatocranus and Telegramma species are.
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I guess that would depend on the species of apistos. I read that borelli like between 68 and 75 so that would fit perfectly. And agassizii is I think low end of like 71. I think most apistos are cooler temps actually, at least the ones from Peru.

That info about the current is very helpful though. Thanks. I will research the parilus and use that as a basis I guess. Thank you.

Any idea on Max sizes. Temperaments seem to be calm based on what I read. Much calmer than the other nannochromis
 
I haven't kept Nannochromis yet, but based on the Pelvicachromis and Egnimatochromis I've kept, I personally wouldn't keep them with the smaller apistos. They can be territorial. Larger apistos like Cac's and Steindachneri would stand a better chance, or the pairing and fiesty Panduro types.
 
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I've been doing my research and everything says that true splendens are extremely rare, but that people mislabel some other species as splendens. If that's true, I just want to double check, is this a splenden?

IMG_20190828_164434.jpg

Sorry for the horrible picture, but it really does not sit still, or show it's whole body for long. It just darts in and out of that plant

heres a shot of the femaleIMG_20190828_165720.jpg
 
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