P. Sacrimontis

[georgedv]

Can anyone direct me to some information on P. Sacrimontis. I have found basic info on this beauty, but not enough. What I am looking for is biotope info. Ideal water conditions for keeping & breeding. Diet and any other info I can get my hands on.

thanks g

 

[aquaticclarity]

georgedv,

Pelvicachromis sacrimontis is a West African dwarf riverean cichlid. Like all Pelvicachromis it is an omnivore, eating anything from baby brine shrimp (bbs), to flake food, and anything else it sees as food. They will do well in a planted tank with driftwood, caves, and other hiding places. Temperatures between 75-82 are handled well, but 76-78 is where I would aim for. For keeping pH and hardness aren't very important but for breeding and even showing off the beauty of the fish fully a 6.5pH and hardness at 6gH or less would be reasonable.

Be ready for some aggression as P. sacrimontis gets bigger then P. pulcher, the common krib, and has an attitude to match! I wouldn't try unpaired fish in anything smaller then a 36" long tank with a LOT of hiding places and separate territories. Once a pair forms you may be able to keep the fish in a smaller tank, but don't count on it.

That said P. sacrimontis is a stunning animal and well worth a little extra space to keep. It still a toss up for me between P. sacrimontis "red" or one of a few morphs of P. humilus for being my favorite "krib".

Jeff

 

[ed seeley]

Linke and Staeck were of the opinion that P.sacrimontis (P.sp.aff.pulcher as they called it) occurs east of the Niger river in Nigeria near the border with Cameroon. They say those areas have water courses that consist of clear, fast flowing water up to 40cm deep with the bed made up of many stones. There are narrow rapids in places (which I assume the pelvicachromis don't really like to inhabit!). Large specimens of Crinum natans are apparently commonly found. This is paraphrased from page 148 of 'Cichlids from West Africa' by Linke and Staeck.

A tank set up with a bold stand of Crinum natans and some nice rocks could be a really decorative biotope tank of these streams!
Here's a link to alist of species found in the Cross River detailed above; Cross River species
Different locations of all the Aphyosemions and Aplocheilichthys spilauchen and most of the other killis are available in the hobby (sometimes on Aquabid), but this doesn't actually list P.sacrimontis! Maybe P.pulcher was misidentified?

 

[georgedv]

Thank you for all the info. I guess I need a new stand and more tanks.

I didn't realize P. Sacrimontis was that agressive. I read that it was more agressive than its' cousins. From what you are saying they are typical cichlids. Would 2 pairs make it in a 55gal tank?

g

 

[aquaticclarity]

Most likely you will end up with one pair in the end. Maybe a reverse trio, 2 males and a female. Adult females do not get along well at all. Unless the tank is very very well planted and has a forest of driftwood the chances of getting 2 females to live in the same tank and breed is slim. I am able to keep multiple adult females together in a non-breeding setting though. A bare bottom tank with very little cover in it and lots of girls (4+). This way the dominant female can't single out one other fish and also has a terrible time trying to establish and maintain a territory. This works in the short term, say 6-8 weeks. But beyond that the stress levels on all the fish in the tank get the better of them and you start to lose fish.

Jeff

 

[tjudy]

Hi George,

The parents of your fish live as a colony of one male and four females. The male has a preferred mate who is his territorial enforcer, but he will occasionally dally with a different female on the other end of the tank. They are kept in a 33 gallon long (48x13x13) with driftwood piles at both ends and another piece in the middle. There are spawning/hiding caves in all three areas. The dominant pair controls one end and the other females bicker about the rest of the tank. I use medium rainbowfish as dithers (M. parva... but any 'bow, characin or cyprinid that is robust and 2.5-3" will do).

I have kept the water in the slightly acid range, but suspect that the sex ratio shift point in the pH is a little over 7.0. I am keeping them in 7.2 now, but they have not spawned in a few months. Probably too hot in my fishroom, and I hope that as Fall progresses they will start up again.

I have noticed a interesting behavior with this pair. When the eggs hatch and become larvae, the pair will line the bottom of the spawning cave (a coconut shell with a single 1" hole) with fragments of java moss. This is teh only krib I have ever seen do this. I have spawned the species before in the absence of java moss, so I do not know if this is a behavior unique to this pair or not.

I suspect that the aggression of F1 fish will be a little less than that of wild fish, but it is best to give them space once the grow and start sparring.

 

[aquaticclarity]

I have kept wild pairs and groups of P. sacrimontis in a tank with a coconut cave and a sand substrate if Java Moss in the tank and never had them line the bottom of the cave with the moss. I did notice the unusual happening that the eggs always "fell off" the ceiling of the cave after about 24 hours post spawn, before hatching. The female would then tend to the eggs on the floor of the cave. I have not had this happen with any other species of Pelvicachromis other then the very rare occurrence.

Jeff

 

[georgedv]

This is great info. Thank you everybody!!!
Ted you need to start one of your logs on this. I have googled everyday using any name that might have been used in the past, present or future (ESP) for this beauty and found very little.

Once I get these fish set up I might have an extra tank for some roloffi...hint hint Ted.

g

 

[georgedv]

I presently have six sacrimontis juvs in a 55gal bare bottom tank of which 60% of the bottom is covered with java moss about 6 inches tall. With them I have six taeniatus juvs and about 10 cherry barbs. Everybody seems fine. At what age should I start putting them in separate tanks. Also are sacrimontis aggressive towards other fish or only their kind?

thanks

g

 

[tjudy]

Sacrimontis will bully any fish that they see as a territorial threat... which means that the P. taeniatus will eventually be picked on. I would move the P. taeniatus when you notice them getting harassed a lot and not able to get away. If all the male the P. taeniatus, once they are out of juvenile color patterns (meaning you can determine their gender easily all the time), show their stress colors (which is a light body color with a strong lateral line stripe), then they are getting harrassed too much.