I have a question. I have two livingstoni, I am not sure what sex they are though. One of my livingstonis is sitting at the bottom of my tank and seems to be breathing hard. My husband is SURE that SHE is holding lol. but I am not really convinced. I see something in her mouth, but I dont know if it is normal or not. The reason that I am not convinced that she is holding is because I have been reading that the male turns blue during breeding. Neither of my fish is blue. Not even a tint of blue. Any advice. If you need anymore details I would be happy to provide it.
nimbochromis livingstoni help
- Thread starter brandi77
- Start date
You might not want to consider being a wedding photographer 
. Of course you probably take better pictures than me. From what I can see they are N. livingstonii. How big are they? They look small unless you have big gravel. I wouldn't think they would be spawning until about 4 inches. N. livingstonii do "play dead" in the wild as a way to hunt their prey. IME, I've had farm raised and even wild-caught, and I have yet to see this happen in an aquarium. I've seen videos by Ad Konings showing them in the wild. My thoughts are they are too lazy to actually hunt in captivity. The breathing hard part would make one think to check your water parameters for any problems. It could also be that one is being bullied and hurting. A holding female would look like she had a double chin and mouth would be closed. I have had fish that got pieces of food (krill, shrimp pellets, etc.) lodged in their mouths for some time. Breeding males do get a bluish coloration.
. Of course you probably take better pictures than me. From what I can see they are N. livingstonii. How big are they? They look small unless you have big gravel. I wouldn't think they would be spawning until about 4 inches. N. livingstonii do "play dead" in the wild as a way to hunt their prey. IME, I've had farm raised and even wild-caught, and I have yet to see this happen in an aquarium. I've seen videos by Ad Konings showing them in the wild. My thoughts are they are too lazy to actually hunt in captivity. The breathing hard part would make one think to check your water parameters for any problems. It could also be that one is being bullied and hurting. A holding female would look like she had a double chin and mouth would be closed. I have had fish that got pieces of food (krill, shrimp pellets, etc.) lodged in their mouths for some time. Breeding males do get a bluish coloration.thank you very much. how can you tell the difference betweeen the male and the female. Before the male turns bluish that is.my larger liv has blurred colors. the brown and cream colors seem to blend together. The colors on the "unhealthy" one are more striking. Also, to answer your question, they are about 3 inches long. Thank you for the wedding advice, I wont be looking for a photogropher job any time soon lol
I really need to invest in a good camera.
I really need to invest in a good camera.
Im sorry,
but from the looks of your pic it does not look like it is holding.
In the wild they tend to act as if they are dead to attrack small fish close to them. They use this method to eat small fry and fish that think its a quick meal.
Now... If you think this could be a breathing problem i would add a air pump into the tank to break the surface of the water.
saying that it will not spawn until 4 inch's is wrong! i stripped 2 females at work with live fry in their mouth and they were barely 3 inch's.
Cory
but from the looks of your pic it does not look like it is holding.
In the wild they tend to act as if they are dead to attrack small fish close to them. They use this method to eat small fry and fish that think its a quick meal.
Now... If you think this could be a breathing problem i would add a air pump into the tank to break the surface of the water.
saying that it will not spawn until 4 inch's is wrong! i stripped 2 females at work with live fry in their mouth and they were barely 3 inch's.
Cory
how big are they did you notice any breeding activity in the last few days like extreme aggression towards tankmates by the pr. the male does tend to help protect an area for the spawn as I've never seen them hold as mbuna do. they usually only pick up egs once & awhile. Man I have to get more tanks. I also have to upgade on technology & get a camera so I can post picts. great livingstonii as you see males tend to have a more solid pattern females blotched. males can also have a greenish hue to them while females are reddish(to me). Great fish