Howdy,
A couple of months ago, I started to think about ways to solve a swordtail problem that I had:
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9212
After taking all suggestions into account (thanks again to everyone), I evaluated the situation again and started looking around for the fish recommended to me. I have never bought online, but I was close to ordering from Miles, when I found Altolamprologus compressiceps in my LFS. I never was a cichlid fan, but this was love at first sight. After gathering some info from the cichlid sub-form here, I went ahead and bought two. They got along well in the 15 gal they were housed in at the LFS (they were the only fish in that tank). The lady there told me they were leftover from a shipping a year ago, so I figured they are "friends" by now. Turns out that one chases the other in my 220 gal, but I have plenty of plants for him to hide. It doesn't appear to be a problem for now.
But to come to the subject of this post: I found bodies in my tank this weekend: swordtails. I haven't witnessed the attacks, but it looks like sometimes the Altolamprologus just bit a chunk out of the swordtail and then dropped the rest. They attacked fry of 3/4'' size. The 1'' fish seem to be safe (for now). Anyhow, my gouramis and corys liked the leftovers. My two Altolamprologus went thru ca. 20 swordtails this weekend, I found only a few leftovers. The population is under control now, and no more fry will make it thru the first couple of days of life.
Here's a pic, for more check out my personal gallery
Problem solved.
HarleyK
A couple of months ago, I started to think about ways to solve a swordtail problem that I had:
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9212
After taking all suggestions into account (thanks again to everyone), I evaluated the situation again and started looking around for the fish recommended to me. I have never bought online, but I was close to ordering from Miles, when I found Altolamprologus compressiceps in my LFS. I never was a cichlid fan, but this was love at first sight. After gathering some info from the cichlid sub-form here, I went ahead and bought two. They got along well in the 15 gal they were housed in at the LFS (they were the only fish in that tank). The lady there told me they were leftover from a shipping a year ago, so I figured they are "friends" by now. Turns out that one chases the other in my 220 gal, but I have plenty of plants for him to hide. It doesn't appear to be a problem for now.
But to come to the subject of this post: I found bodies in my tank this weekend: swordtails. I haven't witnessed the attacks, but it looks like sometimes the Altolamprologus just bit a chunk out of the swordtail and then dropped the rest. They attacked fry of 3/4'' size. The 1'' fish seem to be safe (for now). Anyhow, my gouramis and corys liked the leftovers. My two Altolamprologus went thru ca. 20 swordtails this weekend, I found only a few leftovers. The population is under control now, and no more fry will make it thru the first couple of days of life.
Here's a pic, for more check out my personal gallery
Problem solved.
HarleyK
