Rapps Vieja Melanuras Trio

[duanes]

I agree with dan518, a shoal swordtails might go a long way to making them feel comfortable.
A wild type like Xiphorus mayae would be geographically correct, and their subdued colors would not distract from the color of the cichlids.
And take this with a grain of salt (only because I hate line bred mutants) I'd ditch the BRP, they tend to be aggressive and may intimidate the "real" cichlids into coming out of their shell.

 

[kewpiefishypewpie]

I thought the same thing Duanes brought up, the RBP might be intimidating your Melanuras. It's several inches larger and I'm going to assume the alpha of the tank.

 

[midasman714]

Good point everyone.

I just tested my ph and it's rather high at 8.2. do you guys think this could be a culprit as well?

 

[duanes]

A pH of 8.2 is perfect for melanurus, they come from southern Mexico and northern Central America where the rock below the substrate is basically old dead coral reef, so a high calcium content and hard water is the norm.

 

[midasman714]

A little update on these guys:

My buddy had some very small 1" gold severums he gave me and once these guys were introduced, it was almost like turning on a switch. Everyone is swimming more out in the open, even starting to beg for food.

They have put on a lot of size since I first go them. Here's the biggest one, which also has the best color:




Here's the most agressive trouble maker. He's the most different looking one. He's doesn't have much red on his head and dark patches covers most of his body. Not sure how this one will look when he's an adult:



Third one is camera shy so no photos of that guy but he/she looks identical to the first guy but smaller.

 

[midasman714]

I also wanted to mention I added some almond leaves. This lowered my ph slightl while adding a very nice scape addition. There fish seem to love it!

Although just read severums enjoy lower pH so they may be re-homed.

This tank has finally come to life!!

 

[dan518]

If you want leafs just for tank scaping try beach or silver birch, won't alter water chemistry

 

[dan518]

If you want leafs just for tank scaping try beach or silver birch, won't alter water chemistry

And don't release tannins

 

[midasman714]

And don't release tannins

Thanks for the tip Dan. I will keep this in mind as I do like the look of leaves over sand substrate.

It's amazing how these guys have come out of their shells, thanks to advice on this thread. I know I didn't go with live bearers but the severums are working out so far. They are doing really well.

 

[midasman714]

I got a group of five 1.5 inch melanuras from rapps and they were never shy and were eating like pigs right away. I got the orange/gold/blue 'Laguna Yaxha, Guatemala' race and looks like you got the red head melanuras from him so maybe that makes a difference in their personalities but I haven't had any issues with them being shy. Theyre all pushing 2 inches now. I'm sure yours will stop with the shyness in no time. I do a lot of water changes which seems to make them really happy so maybe you could experiment with that.

I just saw a picture of your melanuras and boy you're right, yours looks way different! Mine looks more like the standard synsp/melanura while yours is different, in a very good way. Interesting to see what they look like later.

I purchased the same "orange/gold/blue 'Laguna Yaxha, Guatemala' race".