Pelvicachromis Roloffi..

[ste12000]

Hi people, i recently found these rare fish after looking for what seems like years. I managed to pick a pair out and ignoring (the very good advice) i was given i only took one pair. I am now totally paranoid about the fish actually being a pair!! They are genuine (i think) wild fish and the shop told me in a phonecall after purchase that they came in from Guinea.
This is the female?? a lot smaller than the male but with slightly rounder pelvic fins(there is no question of the male being male, just if this is a juvenile, undeveloped male or a young female) Pelvicachromis are usually very easy to sex and i am very suprised to find myself stumped like this..I have been looking at Ted Judy's website and his female pictures are unmistakable..My fish are in the shock/scared colouration but what do you think??

 

[ed seeley]

Well I reckon from the pelvic fins that it's a female, but I've never kept them, as you know, so can't be sure! Hopefully someone on here who has can be 100% sure.

I'm sure a young male would be showing longer first pelvic rays like subadult male on pg 181 of Lamboj's book. However I can see why you're not sure with the colouration...
Pretty sure she's a girl though.

 

[westafrica]

Hi! I had the same doubts with mine. At the first time I even made a mistake in chosing them. However, I agree with Ed, this roloffi is a young female. They really look like the ones I had, does the male have an orange anal fin, and some orange on the lowest half of the caudal fin?

 

[ste12000]

Here is the male...

 

[ed seeley]

That's a pair Ste. 99% sure now!!! Well 98ish%!

 

[tjudy]

I agree that you have a pair. P. roloffi, in my experience, is the SLOWEST maturing Pelvicachromis species. I raised some from fry that took almost eight months to sho any sexual dimorphism other than the ventral fin shape. Based upon the color of the fish in your pictures, the male is just reaching maturity and shows the orange in the fins. The female is still in the juvenile coloration. Stress color in adult female P. roloffi is different than juvenile color.

 

[ste12000]

Thanks guys, you have all put my mind at rest.. I still might go and buy another pair just to cover any potential losses.. Why is it that the most subtle coloured fish that no-one else looks at in shops hold the greatest attraction to us cichlidiles.. My wife cannot understand why i head straight for this kind of fish!!! Hard to explain to a non hobbiest is'nt it !!!!!!!!!!!!
Ed Seeley's P subocellatus are going someway to convince her not all my fish in the fishhouse are boring brown ones that spend over half there day hiding from view...Lovely coloured fish Ed...

The male was giving the female a very hard time, so for now i seperated them into adjacent tanks, i normally have a sheet of black plastic covering the sides of the tanks but i have removed this so both fish can see each other. I am hoping they will get used to the sight of each other and eventually pair between the glass, minimising problems when they eventually get a tank together.

I am completely happy that they are a pair and am more excited at working with this fish than with most of the other fish in my fishroom. For now i will leave them to settle and continue to feed a varied diet and change my usual 5-10% water daily...I will keep you updated on my future progress. Thanks guys.

 

[firetank]

looking good ste, did you get them at BAS??

think these may be the original importer.....
http://www.aquarium-system.com/fish.html

how are the transvestitus coming along, are you keeping them in sub 5 ph???

craig

 

[ed seeley]

Ed Seeley's P subocellatus are going someway to convince her not all my fish in the fishhouse are boring brown ones that spend over half there day hiding from view...Lovely coloured fish Ed...

Glad to hear they're helping with the OH! Maybe you'll be able to put your camera skills towards getting a shot of the girls displaying? I never seem to be able to catch them as, as soon as the camera appears, they stop and lose the colours!

 

[ste12000]

Cheers guys, Firetank, yes they came from B.A.S, i got them a week ago and i dont think they will have sold many since! the vast majority of "normal" people walk straight past them because they dont have bright colours..
Dont ask about the Transvestitus!!!!! I came down this morning to find the female in the last throws of life and the male brutaly nipping her.. She lasted ten minutes.. I will have to buy an oscar again and have a punishment tank!!!!!!!!! They were in a 3ft tank with plenty of cover, i think i will leave them until i can fit a 4ft or larger into the fishroom.

Ed iv been trying to get decent snaps of the fish today, all my male Pelvic's seem to be extreamly camera shy today??? I have given two pairs their own tanks today, they paired off very quickly in the group tank and were scooped out and put in 18x12x12 breeding tanks filled with a deep layer of kids playsand and loads of half coconut shells (try cutting 10 coconuts in half with a blunt saw ... Bl**dy hell, my arm is half falling off), bogwood,oak leaves and a bit of java moss finished off the decor. I got this one a few minutes after introduction to the tank..

Here are a few more of the female Roloffi (looking more and more female)

FEMALE TANK

MALE TANK

REST OF THE BOTTOM RACK

 

[ed seeley]

Sorry to hear about the Nanos. That was my experience with them too.

Good photo of the Matadi. I'm sure you'll have spawns from the pairs within weeks! You did better than me as they always hid as soon as I went near!

The roloffi female is looking better and better. :biggrin:

 

[georgedv]

ST12000, you must eat a lot of coconuts.....BTW got on YOUTUBE yesterday and watch your videos...keep up the good work!!

 

[ste12000]

Ha ha, i took the coconut flesh round to my mother in law, she made coconut biscuit's with it...MMmmm very nice with a cup of tea (How English is that!!)
I always get some funny looks in our local super market when i buy all the coconuts from their shelves!! i now have hundreds in my tanks, i like to have as many as possible(without looking stupid) roughly 3-5 in a 18x12x12pelvicachromis tank.
Thanks for the comments, i hope you liked the videos? I try and get some new stuff on every month or so, words can only convey so much, i find that by watching 30 seconds or so of video is so much more informative. I also enjoy taking video in my fishroom, it makes a nice change from endless water changes, sometimes it is the only chance i get to actually spend some time just observing my fishes up close.
I will post some video of the Roloffi when i try to pair them off in the same tank? And hopefully when i spawn them..