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Pelvicachromis drachenfelsi

Ekona

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
453
With the recent imports from Cameroon, I was glad to get P. drachenfelsi (fromerly P. taeniatus "Wouri") again. I received a WC pair three days ago. They came in somewhat worse for wear. With good water, frequent changes to keep nitrate low as possible, and regular feedings they are beginning to recover. I'll post progress here on a regular basis. Really good to see the improvements to the forum, with images being much easier to upload without the need for an image hosting site.

male darchen day 3.png



Drachen Female Port OK.png



pair display day 2.png
 

anewbie

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,366
What sort of water condition are you keeping them and what sort of food? I realize they are WC so i suspect very soft water but not sure if they are picky eaters... or easy to ween to dry food. Just curious. Nice looking.
 

Ekona

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
453
What sort of water condition are you keeping them and what sort of food? I realize they are WC so i suspect very soft water but not sure if they are picky eaters... or easy to ween to dry food. Just curious. Nice looking.
The came in at 300ppm and I've been lowering the TDS gradually with each water change, adding peat pellets to the filter to add tannic acids. Right now TDS down to about 200ppm. pH about 6.5. Trying to keep nitrates about 5ppm or lower. Feeding frozen spirulina brine shrimp, live gridals, and small nutiritious pellets. They take them all, not picky.
 

Ekona

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5 Year Member
Messages
453
Surprise the water is so hard; thought they were a soft water fish by nature...
They are soft water in nature. However, the commercial importers and dealers sometimes find that keeping softwater fish at higher TDS actually prevent some problems. I don't know the science behind that observation.
 

dw1305

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
2,755
Location
Wiltshire UK
Hi all,
softwater fish at higher TDS actually prevent some problems. I don't know the science behind that observation.
It might be to do with the presence, or absence, of humic substances. Very soft water, without humic substances, isn't suitable for the long term maintenance of fish.

Have a look at <"All the leaves are Brown">.

This references "Steinberg, C. 2003. Ecology of Humic Substances in Freshwaters: Determinants from Geochemistry to Ecological Niches. ISBN-10: 3540439226 ISBN-13: 978-3540439226" and it is Dr Steinberg who has done a lot of research in this area.

cheers Darrel
 

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,958
Location
Germany
They are soft water in nature. However, the commercial importers and dealers sometimes find that keeping softwater fish at higher TDS actually prevent some problems. I don't know the science behind that observation.
I agree with Darrel that it's the lack of humic substances in the holding tanks at wholesalers and stores. Not every importer is willing to house them in soft acidic water until selling them on.

But there is another practical reason: The importers and wholesalers acclimate wildcaught fish mostly to harder water mostly just to make it easier for customers and retailers to keep them, as not everyone is able and/or willing to adjust their water parameters to the fishes actual needs. That way they are much easier to sell. Some people only want to keep them, whatever their water parameters are, so this is basically customer service.

So these guys here can definitely go further down with the TDS.

Sidenote: I live in viewing distance of the "Drachenfels" (Dragon's Rock), a steep hill with a castle on top right on the River Rhine. The person this species was named after, had his family name from this hill. In that castle is a Reptile Zoo and on its foot is a public aquarium. I probably should suggest to one of these institutions to keep these fish. :D Edit: Ha, the aquarium already has Pelvicachromis in their stock.
 

Ekona

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
453
Hi all,

It might be to do with the presence, or absence, of humic substances. Very soft water, without humic substances, isn't suitable for the long term maintenance of fish.

Have a look at <"All the leaves are Brown">.

This references "Steinberg, C. 2003. Ecology of Humic Substances in Freshwaters: Determinants from Geochemistry to Ecological Niches. ISBN-10: 3540439226 ISBN-13: 978-3540439226" and it is Dr Steinberg who has done a lot of research in this area.

cheers Darrel
Thank you Darrel. I'll give it a read.
 

Ekona

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
453
I agree with Darrel that it's the lack of humic substances in the holding tanks at wholesalers and stores. Not every importer is willing to house them in soft acidic water until selling them on.

But there is another practical reason: The importers and wholesalers acclimate wildcaught fish mostly to harder water mostly just to make it easier for customers and retailers to keep them, as not everyone is able and/or willing to adjust their water parameters to the fishes actual needs. That way they are much easier to sell. Some people only want to keep them, whatever their water parameters are, so this is basically customer service.

So these guys here can definitely go further down with the TDS.

Sidenote: I live in viewing distance of the "Drachenfels" (Dragon's Rock), a steep hill with a castle on top right on the River Rhine. The person this species was named after, had his family name from this hill. In that castle is a Reptile Zoo and on its foot is a public aquarium. I probably should suggest to one of these institutions to keep these fish. :D Edit: Ha, the aquarium already has Pelvicachromis in their stock.
Good points on the humic substances and wholesalers. And Ha! that you live so close to the Dragon Rock. Yes I've seen the photos of that castle and interesting that there is a zoo and aquarium in it. The research of A. Lamboj, et al. on the reclassification of genus Pelvicachromis was partially funded by Ernst-Otto von Drachefels, possibly why P. taeniatus "Wouri" was named after him.
 

MacZ

Well-Known Member
Messages
2,958
Location
Germany
Good points on the humic substances and wholesalers. And Ha! that you live so close to the Dragon Rock. Yes I've seen the photos of that castle and interesting that there is a zoo and aquarium in it. The research of A. Lamboj, et al. on the reclassification of genus Pelvicachromis was partially funded by Ernst-Otto von Drachefels, possibly why P. taeniatus "Wouri" was named after him.

I've been watching a lot of footage from wholesalers and read a lot of interviews with people from Ruinemans and others and had some talks with one myself. Seems usually only absolute specialties are housed in fitting water, rest gets acclimated to tap. Which economically absolutely makes sense to me.

Btw, looked up some things, says they measured 24µSI/cm conductivity at the type locality, so TDS can definitely go down a lot further.

The Aquarium is not in the castle, but on the riverbanks in the village below. Up on top they only have the reptiles. Von Drachenfels was also president of the biggest german cichlid society (DCG) for years.
 

Ekona

Well-Known Member
5 Year Member
Messages
453
I've been watching a lot of footage from wholesalers and read a lot of interviews with people from Ruinemans and others and had some talks with one myself. Seems usually only absolute specialties are housed in fitting water, rest gets acclimated to tap. Which economically absolutely makes sense to me.

Btw, looked up some things, says they measured 24µSI/cm conductivity at the type locality, so TDS can definitely go down a lot further.

The Aquarium is not in the castle, but on the riverbanks in the village below. Up on top they only have the reptiles. Von Drachenfels was also president of the biggest german cichlid society (DCG) for years.
Yes, I saw that low conductivity reading and a interestingly enough, a pH of 7.4, if I recall correctly. I'm consistently lowering the conductivity with each water change.
 

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