Benitochromis ufermanni

[Nebraska_cichlids]

Hi! I just received two pairs of wild-caught B. ufermanni from Dave Schumacher (www.davesfish.com). Great-looking fish and a first-timer for me. I believe the ufermanni are sold out now, but it might be worthwhile double-checking. I'm sure some of you have already picked up some of these beauties. I think Toyin still has them available.

As far as Benitochromis species are concerned, I have hands-on experience only with nigrodorsalis and sp. Eseka. Both have spawned for me repeatedly without too much effort on my part.

Does anyone out there know if B. ufermanni has needs that are distinct from other Benitochromis species?

Thanks,

Janos

 

[eranu]

You've included the right parenthesis ')' in your link

 

[Nebraska_cichlids]

Thanks, I fixed it.

 

[aquaticclarity]

I had a wild caught group that resulted in a pair a few years back. I got that stock through Atlantis Tropical Fish on the east coast. The pair lived in a 20 gallon high tank by themselves where the spawned on several occasions. A great species that doesn't get very large and doesn't have the normal aggression that most of the larger Benitochromis do. That said, I ended up losing the female via suicide...she jumped out of the tank or was forced out.

I was happy to see them imported again and jumped on another group through Toyin. It's such a great fish.

Janos, to answer your question B. ufermanni doesn't have any special requirements beyond any of the other Benitochromis and in fact I've found them MUCH easier to keep and breed.

Jeff

 

[Nebraska_cichlids]

Jeff,

right on, the ufermanni appear to be outstanding fish! My two pairs are currently being housed in a 29G quarantine tank. They exhibit very little aggression and the females colored up really nicely within a few hours after being released into the tank. Absolutely no comparison to the Benitochromis sp. Eseka, which I got from Steve T. (aka Freshwaterfishfan). He gave me a group of six juvies last year and they beat up each other really badly. I ended up with one single mated pair in a 40G breeder. These guys are spawning like crazy, however. I typically give all the fry away for free; well, even the fry kill each other at a very young age.

Did you also get any of the riomuniensis that were listed by Dave and Toyin? I didn't take any, simply because they are harder to sex, and I didn't want to commit the resources and tank space to start with a larger group of semi-adults and later split them up one pair per tank.

Good luck with you ufermanni!

(On a side note: I have a fairly large number of loennbergii fry, just in case you are still interested.)

Janos

 

[aquaticclarity]

Janos,

Yes, I picked up 5 or 6 of the riomuniensis from Toyin several months ago. They are still young, 2 1/2-3" and are currently in a 30 breeder with a bunch of S. gibbiceps until I have the space to seperate them.

I'll let you know on the C. g. loennbergii. I'll dig through the tank and see what's left this weekend.

I'd love to get some sp. Eseka from you!

Jeff

 

[Nebraska_cichlids]

Benitochromis sp. Eseka

Jeff:

Not a problem with the sp. Eseka, but I'll need to send some juvies to Steve first. He wants to start working with this species again and is the one who originally gave me the fish. Let me send him the six juvies that I have right now. I also have about 8 fry swimming with their parents and could grow them out for you over the next few weeks. Well, there was 8 babies last night but I haven't checked yet this morning. I'll try to catch as many as I can and separate them from the adults.

Janos