E. lucanusi questions

[ryansmith83]

A month or two ago I purchased a couple very small Enigmatochromis lucanusi on AquaBid. They've been growing out in a 20 gallon long. I got them at roughly .75 - 1" and they're now probably 1.5 - 1.75".

These particular fish are "F-whatever" according to the seller because he's tank-bred a few generations of them and has lost track. I know that wilds really prefer the soft, acidic water for spawning but I am currently growing them out in a higher pH.

My big questions:

1. What is the maximum temperature for this species? Everything I read said to ditch a heater or set it very low, with the fish preferring the mid-70s Fahrenheit. They're probably at 76 - 78F or so now.

2. Can they be kept with South American dwarf cichlids? I am not a strict purist when it comes to mixing cichlids from different parts of the world, as long as the parameters are similar. I am growing out a group of seven Dicrossus foirni F1 in a 55 gallon and their temperature is around 80F. I was wondering if that was too high for the E. lucanusi, and if it would be possible to mix the two species? Neither seems particularly aggressive (except mildly so toward conspecifics) but I'd hate for anything to happen to my Dicrossus.

Some information I've read about the E. lucanusi suggests that you can treat them as you would kribs, while other sources seem to suggest they're less adaptable or more sensitive. I also can't seem to find anything about their aggression levels. I did see some pictures on a French site where lucanusi were being grown out with Apistos of some sort.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be welcomed!

 

[Melanochromis]

Hi. I'm not an expert on this species but I have some experience with keeping and breeding it. Please allow me to answer your two questions.

1. I live in Bangkok, Thailand. My room temperature is around 28-32C most of the time. That's pretty high. The fish are doing fine and spawned for me, although I wouldn't be able to make comparison with those who are keeping them at a lower temperature.

2. The tank I keep the Blue Fin also has Dicrossus maculatus and Dicrossus filamentosus, along with Congochromis dimidiatus and a number of Apistogramma species. This tank is really a mess in term of origins of the fish, and I'm quite embarrassed about it. But most of the fish species get along fine. The Blue Fin seem to have very little or no interaction with the Dicrossus. In fact, they just enjoy swimming around and don't seem to care for other fish at all, but they do chase each other sometimes. Both Blue Fin and Dicrossus species have no problems competing for food as they are much quicker than Apistogramma and Congochromis at feeding time. A pair of Blue Fin formed and bred in this tank, as well as maculatus and any Apistogramma species that have members of both sexes. I usually pulled the eggs out and artificially raised the fry because the tank is crowded and already is a big chaos without a female aggressively guarding her fry and wrecking havoc.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

PS. I'd love to see pictures of your Dicrossus foirni some time

 

[ryansmith83]

Thanks for the reply.

I had also emailed Oliver Lucanus and he suggested that I shouldn't mix the two species. He said the lucanusi would eventually destroy the foirni.

I went ahead and took the chance since they're small and mixed them. There was some chasing initially -- the foirni would run them away from food during mealtime. Now that the lucanusi have settled in and claimed a few clay caves as territories there are no issues. So far, so good. I did end up dropping the temperature to about 80F, though.

 

[ryansmith83]

It looks like I have a pair of E. lucanusi forming. My water hardness is only moderately hard but I have a high pH. I have three females and two males. I didn't expect any spawning or pairing based on my current parameters, but my tank-bred female has taken interest in a wild-caught male and she's now turned dark purple. They are chasing all the other tankmates away from a corner of the tank where I've placed a clay cave.

I just got an RO unit to start preparing blackwater for my D. foirni so maybe I'll drop the pH/hardness in this community tank and see what happens. I'd love some little lucanusi fry.