Rhamphochromis Macrophthalmus

[The Morning]

Came across this fish for sale online the other day and jumped on it as I have never seen it for sale before. I have found some information albeit limited online and wanted to reach out here to get some feedback. If you have kept the fish just like to know behavior compatibility feeding etc....basically any observations that you might have on the care and keeping of this ‘cuda.

 

[duanes]

Because most are from deep waters in Lake Malawi, bringing them to the surface slowly enough to decompress may be why few are commonly imported.
They were occasionally seen from breeders in my former haunts of the Chicago, Milwaukee area.
They are piscivores, so fish meat is a great diet, or a high protein carnivore pellet if they are pellet trained.
Some species can reach 1.5 ft in length, so a large (long) tank is recommended, temps in the mid 70s (the temp of depths in Lake Malawi, pH around 8.

 

[james99]

I had rhamphochromis esox, I think it was, in my all male tank. From what i saw he didnt seem very aggressive at all. I may have a few bad pictures floating around somewhere in this section.

Looking back at my posts when I had the fish, mine may have been macrophthalmus.

 

[The Morning]

Great looking fish. Really enjoying the behavior. Zero aggression at all towards the other fish. Fins are a little banged up from shipping but looking forward to a full recovery.

 

[fishhead0103666]

Reminds me of a sardine, interesting, I’ll be bookmarking this page for future use and watching this thread. Thank you comrade for bringing this rare species to attention.

 

[fishhead0103666]

I had rhamphochromis esox, I think it was, in my all male tank. From what i saw he didnt seem very aggressive at all. I may have a few bad pictures floating around somewhere in this section.

Looking back at my posts when I had the fish, mine may have been macrophthalmus.

I was bored, didn’t have much to do on my 5 mile walk, I saw this post, saw you only had 1,195 posts, decided to look through it, I found it
Post #760

African Cichlid Guessing Game

i thought all appistos were south american. Last i heard :screwy: ??? I dont know I looked up African cichlids and it was under there, so thats why I put it.... I dont know much bout sa/ca ??? oh well who cares guppy you post!

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

You briefly mentioned him on this thread but the full tank shot is gone.

Chilotilapia euchilus

I'm not sure if anyone else keeps these, buts heres one I picked up. I have him in an all male tank. He's not fully colored yet, about 7" right now.

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

2 hours, 59 minutes, and 29 seconds got me to 52 out of 59 threads before I gave in.

 

[jsc]

Great looking fish. Really enjoying the behavior. Zero aggression at all towards the other fish. Fins are a little banged up from shipping but looking forward to a full recovery.

View attachment 1435329

I have what I was told is an esox. How can you tell the difference?

 

[The Morning]

Unfortunately I do not have an answer to your question. All of the info that I have found online seems to discuss rhamphochrromis in general. Even the photos I have found online all look very similar. I am only going by what was reported by the vendor from which I purchased this. By all accounts they are reputable.
seems like a good time to update this. The fish is doing well.As it is a very active fish that spend the majority of its time skimming the surface it is very difficult to photograph. Voracious eater and very personable as it comes to the front of the tank when I am there. It seems like it spends the majority of its time swimming with my Didiochromis Comp.
the most recent picture taken shows a body that is somewhat darkened from earlier pictures. The yellow on the fins have also deepened to more of a gold than yellow.
Would love to see picture of yours. Please post.

 

[jsc]

I have 3 of them, all about 6”. They are always moving. Fins have started getting yellow in the last couple months.

 

[The Morning]

great shots. Thanks for sharing. Mind me asking where yours came from?