Gobiocichla ethelwynnae

[Nebraska_cichlids]

It looks like Toyin received a shipment of G. ethelwynnae. Have you guys ever kept this species and can tell me something about it? I am hoping to learn about your first-hand experiences as opposed to getting a reference to Lamboj's book. Thanks.

 

[Randall]

Hello Nebraska,

Very little is known about the captive husbandry of Gobiocichla ethelwynnae, and as far as I know, this species has not been successfully bred in aquaria. Pretty much everything that is known about this interesting rarity is cited in Anton Lamboj's book.

As their body shape suggests, in the wild Gobiocichlia are rheophilic (current loving) fishes that feed on algae and the aufuchs contained in algae. They are pair-bonding cave spawners (not confirmed for G. ethelwynnae) that live among rocks, and are found in soft but alkaline water. G. ethelwynnae is a tilapiine cichlid that was named after the great ichthyologist Ethelwynne Trewavas, formerally of the British Museum (Natural History).

Why don't you get yourself some G. ethelwynnae and share your findings?

Good luck!

Randall Kohn

 

[Xanathos]

Following Randall's suggestion, here is my experience with gobiocichla ethelwinerae so far

I got 6 individuals that are currently hosted in a 40 gallons tanks. I received them at about 2-3 inches and now the bigger one is approchaing 4 inch. They truly look like a popsicle stick with fins and 2 eyes on the top of it. A few of them even show some red color in the dorsal. Sexual dimorphism is easy to see: the males just grow much bigger and larger than the females. According to this, I have 2 males and 4 females.

They eat just about anything that I have to offer: flakes ( a mix of artemias, regular and veggies ), spectrum pellets and a range of frozen food. They are supposed to be algae grazers in the wild. Lamboj cites that he saw them swimming over boulders and rock to graze off the algaes and I too witnessed this behavior as well. They aint plecos, but they did clean a few rocks covered with crusty green algae here and there.

About their behavior, they are agressive but i've seen far higher agression levels with , say, steatocranus or even some Nannochromis. I think that having a lot of caves and rocks piling up to make tunnels and other hiding places help me a lot. A pair seems to be in formation, I have 2 individuals ( a big and a small one ) that are currently hanging together under a cavern made from river rock. Maybe it's me but I think that I also saw some digging Maybe i'll be able to breed them

i'll keep you posted with my experience but so far, it's a very easy and interesting fish to watch.

Phil

 

[Nebraska_cichlids]

Thanks for the info! After starting this thread last February, I had the opportunity to get some G. wonderii and bought six of them. They are still pretty small and I cannot yet sex them.

They are pleasant little fish: no signs of aggression & eat about anything I throw in the tank (75G).