blackwater tank cycling?

[Mike Wise]

No, new blood in all of that time. In 2012 I collected and brought home 3 specimens of each sex. I got 2 breeding pairs and a lot of offspring. These were crossed with the 2 unpaired fish and with different broods. All bred true to the wild form for about 6 generations (~5 years). Then I would find find an occasional fish that showed 2 lateral spots, or only 1 on 1 side, instead of the one like on the holotype and my original fish. These were never used for breeding. Yes I still get some with 2 spots but with proper breeding the fish I use for brood stock conform to the wild form. I wonder (if I were unethical) if I could sell the 2-spot A. wolli as A. payaminonis for big money.

 

[anewbie]

a few pictures from one of my blackwater aquariums:

Start (feb 2025)

and tuesday feb 10 2026:

The very best thing about blackwater is growing plants.

 

[anewbie]

This is a 48x100x18 (inch) aquarium i have setup; ec is below 35 and ph is below 6; those are a group of n marilyn to the upper right. You can see the difference in behavior with the tucano scattering while the n. marilyn spend most of their time in a tight group.

In theory there are 8 a. gibbies but who knows they only come out when they want something from me.

 

[anewbie]

Just another picture showing a fish in a leaf - had a better one yesterday but didn't have my phone (differen tank with different fish in a folded leaf (pig in a blanket). Leaves are important for cooking fish not for tannis.

She normally hides in the back but she doesnt' run from me and ate gobs of frozen brine shrimp; she doesn't even run from the male - she just likes to hide.

 

[rasmusW]

What species is that?

-r

 

[anewbie]

What species is that?

-r

female enigmatochromis lucanusi. The male is in there usually he is up front but i guess he wanted to give her space this morning.

 

[rasmusW]

You have a few west africans, now right?
How do you find them in comparison to apistos? If that is possible.

-r

 

[anewbie]

You have a few west africans, now right?
How do you find them in comparison to apistos? If that is possible.

-r

Not enough experience yet but most of them are pair forming - i hear different things as to if they pair for life or can break up. Pair forming are easier once the pair forms as you don't have this m/f cycle of aggression. Also i find the africans more willing to make a cave if they can't find one with some apisto you have to provide a bit of help. As for personality - of the 4 species i have they have a range in aggression level and hiding/out going.

Historically the kribs i find pretty robust and the biggest problem is they can raise spawns without assistance (bbs et all) which can be problematic. They also can do an excellent job of double teaming anything they dislike.

I can't comment on the other 3 species for at least a year. Also 2 of them are very crowded in small tanks and am debating what to do about it. Mostly i'm trying to suck up experience before i move so i get things right when i setup the aquariums. I'm thinking a 8ftx5ftx18inch with kribs and elephant fishes but a bit undecided if this is a good idea. Also i could swap the kribs with one of the other species i have.

So not really answering your question but i might have a better answer in a year. What i really need is a nice stand that will comfortably stack 3 20 long. Probably one of those metal things and but boards across it but they are too large to fit in the space i have i think.

 

[anewbie]

You have a few west africans, now right?
How do you find them in comparison to apistos? If that is possible.

-r

I should give a narrower answer: The species i have:
p. kribensis lokuenji - male was hyper aggressive but has calmed down he is about 1/2 grown and the female 1/3 grown with 7 jelly beans in a 10. Long term the 10 will be too small but not sure what i will do there.

p. kribensis polongwe - pretty close to full size in a 40b with some non-breeding dwarf cichild. So far no significant comflicts the past 5 weeks. These are much more laid back then the lokuenji.

1pr n. transvestitus - these are in a 10 and near adult size - very little to no violence or chasing but obviously the 10 is way too small for them and i'm thinking i will move them a new 29. I really didn't want to setup another aquarium but i don't think i have a choice here - i didn't realize how large they would be - the male and female like to play cat and mouse with me but show no real fear and been pretty docile with each other - no clue if they have bonded. I hope to setup the new 29 in the next 3 weeks - they have been in the 10 for 7 weeks.

n. lucanusi - these are also in a 10 again no real m/f violence seen the male is almost always out esp at feeding time - the female less so but she comes out once every couple of weeks. They have been there for about 10 weeks. They will probably be stuck there for a while - if the a. ladisalo age out i might put them in the 40 - the ladisalo have never bred to my knowledge - either my chemistry is wrong or something else and they are getting old.

1 pr n teugelsi - these are the smallest yet ended up with in a 29 i also like them the most - the female is always out the male plays cat and mouse with me - i was totally shocked when they bred as i never saw any obvious breeding indication or even pairing behavior. Also giving the frys bbs has been difficult (not sure they need bbs); they looked several days old when i first saw them - the past 2 days i didn't see them at all and though they died out and then this afternoon i saw 20 or so and they licked up all the bbs. People say they can be very difficult and picky but i didn't have to do much with them and they didn't seem that picky or difficult. I was worry i would have to lower the ph to 5.2 and was going to wait to see if they tried breeding before resorting to acid or something but of course they didn't even show obvious breeding behavior. Neither the male nor female ever vanished for a couple of days like apisto i've had sitting on eggs.

The two sets of krib is more of any eye candy thing with completely different colour schemes - in truth i find kribs kind of boring and problematic in some ways. The other 3 species i've never owned and it was more of for experience but right now i'm pretty happy with the n. tuegelsi and n. transvestitus. I'm not unhappy with the n. lucansui but their behavior so far is a bit less interesting. The biggest issue with them is how to get them into a larger aquarium.

In terms of eye candy the lokuenji do not have full colouring yet but will be much more red the polongwe are much more tan though the male is really a hand full of eye candy - i posted a picture somewhere - and the female is far nicer than common krib - the light is far dimmer in this tank messing a little with colour balance - female first followed by male. I can post pictures of the lokuneji when they get older.

also i want to stress it will probably be a year before i have much more to say with confidence. It takes a while to bake - one thing is i don't know i'm just lucky or if the fishes are much easier to deal with then what i've read.

 

[rasmusW]

Thanks. Great to hear some first impressions.

-r

 

[anewbie]

Another wc krib with different colours - the seller (jeff) tells me he has a way to go to fully colour up but nature does weird thigns:

 

[anewbie]

The power of leaves:

 

[anewbie]

 

[anewbie]

This is a 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 year old a. ladisalo; i moved him with the female i think he paired with to a 15 in hope they will breed (they were in a 40b with some other females).

 

[rasmusW]

Nice looking fish.

-r

 

[anewbie]

Nice looking fish.

-r

He is i hope they breed but they are also on the old side of things. The female is pretty ragged.