Pelvicachromis taeniatus "Kienke"

[fredmir1]

Hi

I just got a wild pair of Pelvicachromis taeniatus "Kienke"

Is a 15 gallon tank big enough??

Also what PH ??

Thanks

George

 

[Rod]

15 gallons should be big enough...provided you have a few hiding places

In my experince They are a soft water fish......they need water with low conductivity....No if's no but's....
I have my taeniatus in 80% rainwater 20% treated tap water + ketapang leaves to Help acidify the water.
I'd focus on water hardness and let the ph sort itself out.....If you start adding chemicals to lower ph you increase TDS....it just doesn't work

I also have killies with them(A gardneri) as dither fish.....both species repopulate the tank

Nice fish....I love em!

 

[fredmir1]

Do you use Gravel or sand??

i use to breed regular kribs in this tank

So I`m guessing I don`t have to do that much to the tank??

george

 

[Rod]

I use fine sand....they are always sifting through it

Kribs aren't as sensitive to water chemistry in my experience....but if it works for kribs it should work for taeniatus

 

[tjudy]

The water parameters in the Kienke RIver are approximately 25 mS conductivity, pH 7.0 and temperature between 72 and 76F.

 

[Rod]

Interesting Info Ted.....not wishing to be negative.....but

It would be interesting to get data on collection points morning and afternoon over a 12 month period.....I assume a river will change between wet and dry season.

If data is in dry season it maybe at the limit of whats acceptable??.....not what it is in wet season when fish maybe induced to breed??

 

[tjudy]

That would be great information to know. However, we did observe breeding cichlids in those water conditions. As far as multiple sites go, we collected at more than a dozen locations in multiple systems in southern Cameroon and all the conditions were similar. As far as different times of year goes, someone would have to go and live there for a while.

 

[Rod]

Fair enough...Ted

What time of year was your trip?
I assume it was Dry season?
that is assuming they have a wet/dry seasons??

 

[Heiko Bleher]

Hi,ù

I just wanted to mention that during all my 6 Cameroon colelcting trips in the past and 2 recent ones:
http://www.aquapress-bleher.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=23&Itemid=49#2

I have never ever found any habitat of any one of all the Pelvicachromis taeniatus variants, nor Parananochromus, benitochromis or any other cichlid species where the water parameteres were pH 7. All of them were always beflow 6.5, in some areas 5.5 and less. (See also my reports in PFK recently, Christmas issue 2009, in TFH, in the 1980s and aqua geographia volume 21). And always used the professional WTW equipments. P. taeniatus "Kienke" I collected in 1983 already with pH 5.9 and 19 µS/cm.

best regards from a collector,

Heiko Bleher
www.aquapress-bleher.com

 

[tjudy]

We were there in February, near the end of the dry season. We used Hanna pH meter that I calibrated daily. The lowest pH we observed was 6.9 and the highest was 7.2.