P. Taeniatus ID

[Alex92]

Hi,

I just received a couple of wild P. Taeniatus sold as 'nigeria green' form. This is my first west african fish. Took a few shots upon arrival, so they are pretty stressed out and still very pale from transportation, but maybe someone could give an opinion on the ID? What bothers me is the yellow colour dominance on the male's front belly, doesn't look like what i was expecting from other pics.

They are kept in a 60x30x20cm tank (that would be approx 24"x12"x8"). Water parameters are probably too low right now (cond 50µS and pH 5.7) as a bad habit from blackwater apistos i'm more familiar with... I'll get that closer to neutral with water changes.

Cheers,

Alex

 

[tjudy]

My first impression is that they are from Nigeria. They are pretty washed out in these pictures though, and the colors in the fins should become more intense once they settle in.

 

[Alex92]

Thanks Ted, I'll let them a few more days to color up and try to get a profile pic with more details of the fins.
About the yellow colouring on the belly, could that rule out nigeria green vs a nigeria yellow form?
Great website you have btw, very interesting.

 

[tjudy]

The differentiating feature between Nigeria Green and Nigeria Yellow, in my experience, is the color of the males cheek. The Nigeria Yellow will have more yellow highlights in the fins too, but that is highly variable.

 

[Alex92]

Update with a few pics from last tuesday, with more colours than on the first series.
Very interesting behavior with these two, they seem quite bonded and have started digging out the sand that I piled up under one of the coconuts. Looks like there's some courtship going on and the female's belly is rounding up.

 

[tjudy]

Looks like a very nice pair.

 

[Racine Vice]

Very pretty fish.

 

[hapaluku]

Yes very nice pair you got, they look like a "Moliwe" pair i once had..

 

[sasikan]

great job on the photos , very clear !

 

[AndySch]

Hi,

very nice P. taeniatus Nigeria yellow, and this is 100% nigeria

 

[Alex92]

Hey, thanks for the feedback. Here's a serie of shots from this afternoon.
Now it's getting really serious in that coconut, and madam is wearing her golden dorsal fin, looking good!
I could swear that at some point I saw the male's eyeballs pop out from excitement

 

[Alex92]

Not really sure when this happened but the breeding apparently went very well.
The male is a really good father and keeps the fry constantly (approx. 50 young ones)

 

[Alex92]

Pics from the new brood:

 

[Culprit]

Outstanding pix !

 

[bbetta]

Wow great fish,great tank and great pics!Congrats

 

[crystalview]

what are the pine cone looking brown things in the early pics? Nice pics I get my pair next week can't wait.

 

[tjudy]

what are the pine cone looking brown things in the early pics? Nice pics I get my pair next week can't wait.

Those are alder cones. They leach chemicals that are mild antiseptics, and are often used in soft water tanks to help prevent bacterial or 'fungal' attack on eggs. They are much more prevalent in Europe than in North America, simple because there are a lot more alder trees there. But the North America alder trees also produce cones. The best place to find them are websites that sell pine cones for craft supplies, which sell the alder cones as miniature pine cones (but the alder is not a pine).

 

[Wuwuwu54]

OMG beautiful fish, convinced me to open up a spot for them. I hear where the male is coming from, that gold fin on the female even turns me on LOL.

 

[Ekona]

Really nice pair of what looks almost identical to the P. taeniatus Nigerian Yellow I had. The patterning on yours is really nice!
Also, great aquascape for them - nicely done! I'm sure they feel very comfortable and happy with their home